Moodle in English: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

"1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Zaid Alsagoff - Monday, September 11, 2006, 6:11 PM

Dear All experts,

Everytime we restart the server (or it goes down) or Moodle services (using currently Moodle 1.6.1), some files in most courses gets randomly changed: "bytes 1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" (PDF, PowerPoint, Word, etc) in the size and modified sections where they are downloaded. This particular files cannot be downloaded or uploaded again (to over-write). Especially, now that we have many courses, it a super hassle to update them individually on the server.

Other specs that might help us figure out the problem:

database	mysql	version 4.1.16 is required and you are running 4.1.20
php		version 4.3.0 is required and you are running 4.3.9

We have yet to figure out the logic of how this happens, except that it could be due to a PHP problem. Would we solve the problem by updating to a higher PHP version? If so, will all the database corrupted files modification date and size go back to normal?

The files still exists it is just that some files cannot be downloaded or viewed, which are those with the following "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" modification date (before restarting or downtime they had normal size and accurate modification date).

To solve this problem through a preventive measure (instead of corrective one) would be great, and if anyone out there has figured that problem out, we would be very happy.

The rest of Moodle has been great! However, this sour apple thinggy is driving us crazy

The problem is actually very urgent, because students often depend on those affected files for course notes and other course related materials.

Warm Regards,

Zaid

Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Randy Obert - Monday, September 11, 2006, 9:45 PM

I think you are going to need to post a bit more info about your server. Does not sound at all like the behavior of a linux box

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Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Zaid Alsagoff - Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 11:21 AM

Dear Randy Obert,

Thanks for showing concern. We are currently using:

Linux CentOS 4.4

MySQL 4.1.2

Apache version 2.052

We are using a Dell server, Pentium Xeon.

Hopefully, this might help to perhaps enlighten a bit more on the current problem.

Though, on the server side everything seems fine (date and size of files seem ok), it is only when you open on the front end and try to download files from our Moodle site or Files section or within the course outline that those files that was randomly corrupted in terms of date and size could not open or download properly. Really strange

Thanks again!

The good thing is that we are in the process of buying a new server, though in the meantime (1-2 weeks more) we need to ensure that Moodle is running properly and the files are not lost .

Hopefully, this makes more sense

Warm Regards,

Zaid

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Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Arnor Kristjansson - Monday, September 11, 2006, 10:49 PM

Sounds like a Mac with a bad battery....

Replace the battery, press the CUDA switch (the only button on the motherboard), set the time and you're good to go

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Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Henry Johnson - Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 8:52 AM

The time stamp indicates that something is wrong with your server. It seems to have lost track of what time it is. As Randy and Arnor have already mentioned, what steps you take are dependant on your hardware platform. If you have a PC, or a PC based Linux server, your BIOS settings maybe wrong and/or you have a dead battery on your motherboard. With the Mac, follow Arnor's suggestions, but check with the apple support web site in case their are any "gotchas" for your particular model. Same thing goes for the PC.

All server platforms should have the ability to sync their time with time servers off the internet. Hopefully, getting your server to check what day it is may solve the problem short term.

If this problem is not your server loosing track of what time it is, then I am out of my depth. Software is not my strong point!

Good luck

Henry

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Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by N Hansen - Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 10:19 AM

I second the battery suggestion. My husband has been playing around lately with an old computer someone gave him recently and pulled out the bios battery in order to reset the bios password and ever since the date is reset every time he restarts it.

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Re: "1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(

by Zaid Alsagoff - Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 6:30 PM

Thank you ALL so much!

Although, we haven't figured out the root-cause, which seems to relate to hardware probably, we have found a quick way to do corrective action for now. At least until we get the new server, which will probably answer the issue whether its a hardware or software problem. We simply copy the course files in Moodledata somewhere else, and then change the folder name on the server, and then re-upload the course files (e.g. 111), and no more 1970 bug (until the next time the server or services goes down I suppose ).

Now, we will have to figure out the preventive action, which seems to be the new server We hope

Anyway, it is working normal for now.

Thanks again, ALL!

Warm Regards,

Zaid

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"1 Jan 1970, 08:00 AM" Problem everytime restart services or server :(