Need advise

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DWFII
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Need advise

Post by DWFII »

I have a PHPBB forun set up several years ago. I am not asking for specific support there but rather advice about how to get suppor

My phpBB software is 3.x --I am not sure whether it is 3.1 or 3.2 or what.

The forum has been running happily until several days ago when users started getting a General Error message:

==========================================================
SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]

mysql_connect function does not exist, is mysql extension installed? []

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited
==============================================================

I don't know how to fix this. I can't even access the forum to get the version number. I called the server and tech support suggested that the current version of the phpBB software does not support mysql 7? does that make sense? Although the htaccess (?) say s it supports mysql 5 and 7).

Techsupport at the server suggested i contact phpBB...so that's why am here (and maybe even in the wrong subform--my apologies).
DWFII
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KevC
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Re: Need advise

Post by KevC »

Your host has updated the server version of php and the version of phpBB you're running is no longer compatible.

Most likely you're running 3.1 (you can find out by looking at the style.cfg file) and the server is now over php7.0

You'll need to update.
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DWFII
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Re: Need advise

Post by DWFII »

Really appreciate it, @KevC.

The problem I have is that I am 75 years old. I run this forum for my Trade Guild (a 501C3 non-profit organization) and I had someone (someone I met On this forum) customize my version--changing background colours and some of the structural formatting,. I also have a few 'mod' installed.

I am afraid that updating phpBB i will lose the 'look and feel' that we have preserved for over 25 years and three or four different software packages.

Any advice or thoughts?
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KevC
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Re: Need advise

Post by KevC »

Yes you will but your options are very limited.

You can see if the host will downgrade the php version again but I doubt it or find a host that is still running an old and probably insecure version of php but again that's pretty unlikely. The only other option is to find someone to can hack it to work with php7 but that will be expensive and you might have the same problem again another time.

Sooner or later you have to update.
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EA117
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Re: Need advise

Post by EA117 »

The changelog on your site indicates phpBB 3.2.0, and your prosilver style version agrees.

That does still mean your phpBB version is only compatible up to PHP 7.1, and will have some issues if your host is now running PHP 7.2.x or later. Which they presumably would have chosen a later version; but we don't actually know what version they moved you to. Your NGINX web server doesn't give us any hints as to what PHP version is currently in effect.

However, the full-stop issue you're hitting right now is something more specific, and is something which phpBB 3.2.0 actually can handle. Your phpBB config.php is apparently still specifying the mysql interface, which was deprecated but still usable after PHP 5.5.0, but became completely removed in PHP 7.0 and later.

So this config.php statement has been working for you just fine, until your host finally switched you from a pre-PHP 7.0 version to any post-PHP 7.0 version, at which point the mysql interface no longer exists.

Make a backup copy of your current config.php, and then edit the config.php to now specify mysqli instead of mysql for the dbms driver line in the config.php. Yes it's almost identical, except for the "i" you see at the end.

You should also go ahead and delete the /forum/cache/production/ folder too, to manually clear the phpBB cache after making this change. Just delete the "production" subfolder including all the files it contains using FTP or other file manager for your site, and don't worry when phpBB probably immediately re-creates the "production" sub-folder, which is normal.

After making these changes, if this restores the SQL connectivity for phpBB on your site, you will then only have "the problems we would expect a phpBB 3.2.0 board to have" if your host has moved you to PHP 7.2.0 or later, which is beyond the PHP versions that phpBB 3.2.0 supported. But those issues are mostly "just PHP warnings", and the board may work sufficiently now to allow you to get logged in to phpBB ACP.

From there you can use the PHP Information section in the phpBB ACP there to see what PHP version your host has actually moved you to. If it happens to be PHP 7.0.x or PHP 7.1.x, you may actually be fine -- for now -- and gives you more time to plan your upgrade. Which as KevC said, sooner or later will become necessary, regardless.
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Re: Need advise

Post by DWFII »

Thanks for that.

Isn't there a subforum here (now) to contact people that can 'fix' these problems, upgrade my forum and preserve my colours etc., for a fee?
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EA117
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Re: Need advise

Post by EA117 »

Yes, that is the purpose of the Wanted! forum. Have a look at that forum's rules and then post accordingly.
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Re: Need advise

Post by DWFII »

EA117 wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 9:39 pm
Make a backup copy of your current config.php, and then edit the config.php to now specify mysqli instead of mysql for the dbms driver line in the config.php. Yes it's almost identical, except for the "i" you see at the end.

Well, I opened my remote files with Filezilla and found config.php in the phpbb folder under config public {/public_html/forum/phpbb/config). I opened config.php with notepad and searched for

Code: Select all

$dbms = 'mysql';
. However, the search couldn't find it.

So...what did I do wrong?
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KevC
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Re: Need advise

Post by KevC »

It's the config.php file in the top level /forum folder, not the one in /forum/phpbb
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Re: Need advise

Post by EA117 »

Yes, the config.php is in the /forum/ folder itself, at the same level as index.php, viewforum.php, memberlist.php, and all the other "top level" files at the root of the phpBB site.
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Re: Need advise

Post by HiFiKabin »

Closed as requested, duplicate of viewtopic.php?f=656&t=2592121
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