Thread

Hello guys!

I receive the error: “Site Error: Unable to Load Site Preferences; No Preferences Found” on EE 2.6.1.
This happens when I switch the PHP version used from 5.3.23 to 5.4.1.3.
My site is hosted on a MediaTemple (gs), and they offer a fast way to choose the PHP version used on a per-domain basis, right inside the control panel. When switching back to PHP 5.3.23, the error disappears immediately.

My .htaccess file is not causing this, since I tried removing it, but the error still persists until I revert to the previous version of PHP using the AccountCenter (host’s control panel).
Also, I tried clearing the all caches before switching PHP versions, no luck. The EE control panel is also affected by this error, so I am unable to login while PHP 5.4.1.3 is activated

Any ideas why this would happen?

You might have to update your php.ini file with a version that is compatible with PHP 5.4.x.

I encountered a similar problem upgrading my PHP version. Grabbing the proper php.ini file, and then replacing the old version cleared up the issue. I would have thought that my hosting service would do this with automatic PHP version updates, but no. You may have to reset some custom settings (like PHP memory and file size, uploads, etc), but your old php.ini file should contain those settings for reference.

Where your hosting services keeps the php.ini file, and whether or not you have access to it is another issue. Also, where you find a default PHP 5.4.x php.ini file for your hosting service can be problematic.

Hopefully this helps gets you underway…

-jim

Thanks for the reply Jim, but it didn’t work for me. I took your suggestion and took a close look at my php.ini.
I removed everything except the memory_limit, upload_max_filesize and post_max_size, especially the php_flag register_globals and php_flag expose_php directives which have been removed since 5.4.0. No luck.

I’ll take it to the host for a solution, maybe the php.ini should contain something for 5.4.x, not just exclude something.

Anyways, it’s weird that for my other domains which include ecommerce software and wordpress the switch doesn’t cause any issues. It’s only with EE that the bells go off.

Figured it out. In case anyone has this issue, try this:
- Change to newer PHP version.
- Change the database user’s password (the user defined in your ‘system/expressionengine/config/database.php’) using phpMyadmin or your host’s control panel
- Update the password in config.php.

My guess is that it has something to do with the password’s encryption being handled differently in php 5.4.x.

Good luck!

Thanks for posting this!
I got this error after forgetting that I changed my db username and password!
This did the trick!