Forum icons out of control

Forum icons out of control

by Fred Robel -
Number of replies: 5

I don't know what's going on.  I am running 1.6.  In one of my courses, in the top area, right below the course description, I have multiple instances of the Forum icon.  I have went into edit, and tried to delete some of them, but when I do I get an error message:

"The required instance of this module didn't exist.  Module deleted."

And to make it more comical, every time I return to the course, the forums have multiplied, usually adding four or five more rows.

I got into the config, and the module appears to be there.  Currently we don't use the forum function, although we will in the future.

I don't think I deleted it.  Any ideas???

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In reply to Fred Robel

Re: Forum icons out of control

by Gareth Davies -
I've got exactly the same problem on a new install of 1.6.1+. Once I started creating a course, this happened. David Jackson mentioned something similar when his database corrupted here:

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=50703

I deleted the course and then created a new one with the number of News items set to 0. The icons have not appeared as a result. I cannot however create forums, trying to do so comes up with the error:

"Could not add a new instance of forum"

Can anyone help on repairing the database without doing a new install?
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In reply to Gareth Davies

Re: Forum icons out of control

by Gareth Davies -
Now re-installed the databases, but the problem happens consistently when I create a new course. As well as forums, it corrupts the label table as well - same error message:

"Could not add a new instance of label"

I'm running

Apache 2.2.0
PHP 5.1.2
MySql 5.0.18-nt

on a Windows XP machine.

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In reply to Gareth Davies

Re: Forum icons out of control

by David Jackson -
Hi Gareth,
When you say 're-installed the databases' what do you mean? Did you re-install mysql or just drop the moodle database and import from a backup?
Have you tried repairing your database tables? Something along the lines of REPAIR TABLE 'mdl_corrupted_table' (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/repair-table.html)
Sorry there are more questions here than answers clown
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In reply to David Jackson

Re: Forum icons out of control

by Gareth Davies -
David,

OK - I have doen the following (remember I have no data in the tables, since it is a new install).

Downloaded the latest stable version of Moodle 1.6.1+

i) dropped the tables affected - all "mdl_forum" ones and mdl_label, then allowed on through the Moodle install process again;

ii) created a new database for Moodle in MySQL, gone through Moodle install.

On both occasions, Moodle does not report any errors on install, but when I try and create a course, forum and labels become immediately corrupt with symptoms outlined previously.

Gareth
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In reply to Gareth Davies

Re: Forum icons out of control

by David Jackson -
Wow, that is weird.
You are pointing a virgin install of moodle at an empty database and it still happens. I can only conclude that either the latest download is buggered (not likely since i am using it myself), or your database is one basket short of a picnic.

The 'mdl_course' table keeps tabs on what activities/resources are present on a course page (i think). Errors with that table can really mess things up.

Double check that your new moodle is pointing to the new database. I clicked through an install too fast once and ended up pointing at an old database and made a royal mess of things.

The following may not be the best solution (or a solution at all) but its what I'd try in your situation...
  1. Create a backup of your database (y'know, just in case)
  2. Backup your 'moodledata' folder (y'know, just in case)
  3. Delete/drop your entire moodle database
    or
    Drop database and reinstall mySQL
  4. Delete everything moodle-like from your server.
  5. Create database and reinstall moodle as per usual
If that doesn't work...

Disclaimer: This post was written by someone whos drugs are making their head all fluffy. Follow the advice at your own risk sleepy
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