Thread

I recently had trouble logging into the Control Panel on a fresh install, locally. I could enter my username/password, but could never reach the actual CP. The php error log read:

PHP Fatal error:  Maximum execution time of 300 seconds exceeded in C:\xampp\htdocs\site\system\expressionengine\helpers\version_helper.php on line 47

I have a different site installed locally that has been fine for months, but any new install results in the above error.  I’ve tried multiple users/db’s and both fresh WAMP and XAMPP (Win 7 64) installs.  Also different config overrides and EE 2.5.0 and 2.5.3. 

Finally I decided to just delete version_helper.php, and then acc.expressionengine_info.php which finally allowed me to login to the control panel.  But I’m wondering what the issue could have been?  Thanks.

Hello jbriggs,

I am sorry to hear you are running into this problem.

Which version of ExpressionEngine was it that you deleted the two files from to make things work again?

I am unable to replicate at all with 2.5.3 but I also do not have access to a Windows Server.

Please let me know.

Cheers,

Hi Shane, this was on 2.5.0 though the same issue was present when I tried 2.5.3

And note, this was a standard LAMP install using WAMP and XAMPP

Hello jbriggs,

The issue was present in 2.5.3 - but was in fixed by deleting those two files?

I tried again, but I cannot even hit that issue.

Even though the error calls out that file and deleting it makes things work again, I do not think the solution is to delete that file. It really looks like an environment issue with that install of xampp. Can you look through the logs to see if there is anymore information about why execution on that files is taking so long?

Thank you,

This is all I get in the error logs.  I also tried to replicate on a different computer and network, but couldn’t.  Which leads me to believe that you’re correct that it’s an environment issue.

( ! ) Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 300 seconds exceeded in C:\wamp\www\833\system\expressionengine\helpers\version_helper.php on line 47
Call Stack
# Time Memory Function Location
1 0.0006 701800 {main}( ) ..\admin.php:0
2 0.0017 774776 require_once( ‘C:\wamp\www\833\system\codeigniter\system\core\CodeIgniter.php’ ) ..\admin.php:188
3 0.0271 2810280 CI_Controller->__construct( ) ..\CodeIgniter.php:281
4 0.0298 3177864 CI_Loader->ci_autoloader( ) ..\Controller.php:51
5 0.0309 3186320 EE_Loader->library( ) ..\Loader.php:1047
6 0.0309 3186416 CI_Loader->library( ) ..\EE_Loader.php:142
7 0.0309 3186416 CI_Loader->_ci_load_class( ) ..\Loader.php:138
8 0.0330 3495752 CI_Loader->_ci_init_class( ) ..\Loader.php:873
9 0.0331 3496728 EE_Core->__construct( ) ..\Loader.php:972
10 0.0331 3496728 EE_Core->_initialize_core( ) ..\Core.php:37
11 0.1215 7470176 EE_Core->_initialize_cp( ) ..\Core.php:359
12 0.1663 8552168 Cp->set_default_view_variables( ) ..\Core.php:491
13 0.2345 11295040 EE_Accessories->generate_accessories( ) ..\Cp.php:157
14 0.2399 11587624 Expressionengine_info_acc->set_sections( ) ..\Accessories.php:120
15 0.2410 11591968 Expressionengine_info_acc->_fetch_version( ) ..\acc.expressionengine_info.php:60
16 0.2419 11646568 get_version_info( ) ..\acc.expressionengine_info.php:94

Also, my “fix” only works if I add “$config[‘new_version_check’]=‘n’ ” to the config file.

Hi jbriggs,

I suspect it’s actually just that line in the config that fixed it for you. Regarding the issues you’re running into, it sounds like your system is running into trouble retrieving and reading the versions text file from our servers. That’s how the system knows when a newer version is available. You might want to check to see if your server is blocking PHP functions like fsockopen() or if it has a firewall that prevents PHP scripts from retrieving and downloading files from external servers.

Thanks for the reply Kevin—I’ll let you know how it goes!