Server Errors after crash and backup installed

[Frank Woolf]

About 9 days ago the server where my sites are hosted went down. 37 of my domains were wiped out.

After nearly a week they had the sites back on-line but with numerous problems.

My Photopost installation on sportfishingasia.com is OK except that if you click any category the result is an internal server error. This is version 6.01 completely unmodified other than adding a style and a different header that are working OK.

My Photopost installation on carsalesasia.com does not work at all. Every page, including the index results in the internal server error. This install is an earlier version but is heavily modified for languages and integration with vbPortal, vBulletin, etc so I don't want to upgrade until I have more time.

Both were working perfectly before the crash but the hosting company seem to be incapable of getting things back as they were before.

Please can someone offer any suggestions on how I can fix the problem myself?

The server error message is:

Content visible to verified customers only.

[Chuck S]

well without knowing what the error is it is hard to suggest anything. My initial suggestion would be to reupload all files except the config files and run install to go through and make sure all server paths urls etc are correct in the database.

[Frank Woolf]

Thanks Chuck.

I just clicked on a category three times then checked the error log for the last three entries. This is what I got. Does this help?

Content visible to verified customers only.

[Chuck S]

Like I suggested I would reupload all files and recheck permissions and set accordingly

> SoftException in Application.cpp:246: Directory "BLAH BLAH" is writeable by group

that's an error message by your webhost.

please change the directorypermissions of your photopost folder to 755 (read+execute for the group).

[Frank Woolf]

Thanks Chuck I will do as you suggest.

Easy with the new site. I may have to scrap Photopost on the big site cos I just don't have time to redo all the mods.

I was thinking it might be a server problem because two different sites have the same problem as though something has been changed on the server.

[Chuck S]

Yeah thats what that specific issue tells me the issue is if I do a web search for that error.

[Frank Woolf]

Hi Chuck,

I tried uploading all except config files and running install but got a huge list of error messages that I mostly don't understand then when I tried to access the index I got errors saying global.php could not be found.

So I put back my backup copy. I am currently using 6.01 so I tried upgrading from 6.01 to 6.02 I copied all files except config files. Run upgrade.php but the nearest option is 5.61/5.62 to 6.0

Should I go ahead choosing 5.61/5.62 to 6.0 ?

[Chuck S]

global.php not found just means you typed the wrong path to the vb forum

Rerun install disregard the duplicate mysql errors that just means the queries exist already and type in the proper info asked on step 4 and the last step the vb paths urls.

[Frank Woolf]

As usual you were right. I ran install again and corrected the path. Everything went smoothly but unfortunately it didn't fix the problem. I still get server errors when I click on any category.

[Frank Woolf]

Is there supposed to be a file "500.shtml" (a different number depending on the category clicked but not the category number) as indicated in the error?

"File does not exist: /home/asiafish/public_html/500.shtml "

I don't think I have ever seen these files.

[Chuck S]

Thats some standard setup on your server its looking for an error page. I would suggest you check the server setup to determine what is wrong. Looks to me like your sending someome somewhere on the server that does not exist and your site is trying to load its 500 error page but it cant be found.

At any rate this does not appear to be a photopost support issue.

[Frank Woolf]

Fixed it!

I copied all the 6.02 files again and ran install again. The error was the same. I then looked through the files using the site control panel and noticed 3 php files with permissions set to 666 instead of 644. I didn't expect it to fix the problem but changing them to 644 fixed it.

I never thought a file with extra permissions would cause server errors. We learn something new every day.

[Chuck S]

yeah making php files writable can make things hiccup on some servers it is a security measure i am sure on your server.

[accyroy]

I was just having this same problem just after moving servers and upgrading to apache2 and php 5. 2 files set at 666 which caused 500 errors. Thanks Frank for posting your solution, you saved me hours of hair pulling!
For the sake of the search function I'll add what my apache logs showed:
SoftException in Application.cpp
Followed by:
Premature end of script headers: showgallery.php

[Frank Woolf]

You are very welcome.

I was surprised when I found the solution as it was nothing like what I expected. I am glad it helped at least one other person in a similar situation.

[Chuck S]

Not an everyday run of the mill error for sure and only some servers are set this way.