Thread

Jeff,

Should the ‘system_folder’ value match the ‘cp_url’ value?

It should match the folder name used in the the cp_url value, yes.

Can you provide a little help on the work on the htaccess file? Not 100% sure where/how to work on it.

We just need you to disable it. You can do this easily by renaming it temporarily. Are you using any third party add-on to control it like Leevi’s

When I look at the contents of some of my previous backup folders, the values for system_folder and the cp_url are NOT the same.

Should I be looking at the option of a completely new install? Would that be easier?

My biggest concern is all the time we have invested in setting up our templates and css files. Is that info stored in the database?

When I look at the contents of some of my previous backup folders, the values for system_folder and the cp_url are NOT the same.

As John Henry said, they should. Be sure to have the correct directory name in your config file.

Should I be looking at the option of a completely new install? Would that be easier?

My biggest concern is all the time we have invested in setting up our templates and css files. Is that info stored in the database?

I wouldn’t recommend that just yet. Essentially, a blank screen usually indicates an error behind the scenes - can you enable error reporting as well as check your server error logs to give us some clues?

Since I cannot access the Control Panel, I have changed the following in my system/config.php file:

$conf['debug'] = "2";

What’s next?

For our server logs, I have access to all of the log/access files as well as the error logs for all of June 2010. Some of them have been compressed as .gz files. The last known “good” date for the site when I was able to access the CP and add content to the site was Sun, Jun 13th.

Is there a knowledge article for reinstall in case that is necessary?

Did you also make that change to /system/index.php:

"error_reporting(E_ALL);"

If you still aren’t seeing anything, download the current, live error log on the server. Then access the control panel. Then download the error log again and see what changed. Hopefully that will shed some light on the issue.

OK, changed my system/index.php as instructed.

The only errors I can find relate to graphic files:

[Wed Jun 23 11:22:51 2010] [error] [client 74.167.XYZ.58] File does not exist: /www/htdocs/domains/s11/01703/www.firenews.net/webdocs/themes/cp_global_images/ee_logo_sm.gif

[Wed Jun 23 11:46:08 2010] [error] [client 74.167.XYZ.58] File does not exist: /www/htdocs/domains/s11/01703/www.firenews.net/webdocs/themes/cp_themes/default/images/bg_top.gif

[Wed Jun 23 11:46:41 2010] [error] [client 74.167.XYZ.58] File does not exist: /www/htdocs/domains/s11/01703/www.firenews.net/webdocs/themes/cp_themes/default/images/bg_top.gif

[Wed Jun 23 11:46:54 2010] [error] [client 74.167.XYZ.58] File does not exist: /www/htdocs/domains/s11/01703/www.firenews.net/webdocs/themes/cp_global_images/ee_logo_sm.gif

And this, which is not my IP address:

[Wed Jun 23 08:20:28 2010] [error] [client 66.249.71.98] File does not exist: /www/htdocs/domains/s11/01703/www.firenews.net/webdocs/robots.txt

Do not see this error with my IP.

Well, we’re getting closer, but those are Apache errors, not PHP errors. Create a file called errortest.php and upload it to the root of your site, then call it from a browser:

<?php
error_log('Hi, I am an error.');

You won’t see any output, but you should see ‘Hi, I am an error.’ in a log somewhere. You may need to contact your host and ask where PHP errors get logged.

Attacking this from a different angle, is there any change if you alter that line you added in config.php from

$conf['admin_session_type'] = "s";

to

$conf['admin_session_type'] = "c";

? If not, try removing that line completely. Are you able to access the control panel, albeit without any styling?

I’ll check with my host on the php error reporting.

On the second attack strategy,

If I insert this

$conf['admin_session_type'] = "s";

or this

$conf['admin_session_type'] = "c";

or strip it out all together:

I do get the login in screen, (it actually redirects to http://www.firenews.net/(system_folder_name)/index.php

After entering the admin user name and pwd, it goes to a blank page with this URL:

http://www.firenews.net/cms_system/index.php?S=3959d1ca7cc70fb1a1b96d03f4529099d690dd30

(And that random URL is different each time I try)

So, still can’t even get into the CP.

Assuming you have a full backup, try completely removing your system folder and re-uploading it from the download package to ensure everything is there and intact. If there’s still no change we’ll really need to find the actual errors being generated in order to troubleshoot further.

(Boneheads at the hosting company were no help with finding php errors).

So the strategy as I understand it:

Back up the database. Back up the database. And then do it again.

Delete the system folder from the server. (Do EE files live anywhere else?)

Are templates and the css files held within the database? Any other critical files I need to copy and save?

The Control panel log-in shows we were on 1.6.8. Should I load that or go with 1.6.9? (Don’t feel like we should introduce 2.0 quite yet).

Would you recommend coming up with a *new* system folder name, or stick with the previous one?

Any conflicts we should look out for? Any Knowledge Base articles on this, or should I just follow the installation instructions.

Thanks as always.

jfh

My understanding is that you had already upgraded to 1.6.9, is that not the case? That would be recommended first, since EE 1.6.8 is no longer available for download.

In any case I’m not suggesting a re-installation, just verifying that everything in the /system folder is there, as it sounds like there was a history of files not all getting where they need to be (with your /themes folder). Hope that makes sense.

Yes, last week after we starting having issues, I did an upgrade (hoping that would fix the issue). Not sure why the log in is showing verion 168.

Can someone address the questions/concerns in post #26 above? Not sure of my next step (and approaching being off-line for 2 weeks with a site that is usually updated daily).

Regards,

Jeff

Jeff ,

I did an upgrade (hoping that would fix the issue). Not sure why the log in is showing verion 168.

Lets just address this first. When you upgraded did you do a build update or a version update do you remember?

Can you run through the version update again for us please?

These instructions tell you specifically what to back-up when doing so.
To add to it. If you are saving templates as files make sure to back them up also.