Database creation stops after creating course_list

Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Adam Chapman -
Number of replies: 18

I have been trying for the last few MONTHS to install moodle on a webhost (streamline.net).

Latest build of moodle downloaded a few days ago.

The config.php file is created without any problems.

when I get to page 6 of the database setup, it stops after creating course_list. It stops at the same point everytime and no error messages are displayed. When I refresh the page, all I get is a blank screen and I have to drop the database and start again.

I really want to get this sorted out as its been driving me mad!!!!

Thanks Guys,

Adam

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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Jez H -
Have you checked your hosting to see if the versions of PHP / MySQL are correct and have all the required extensions???

Perhaps you should try another host.....

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In reply to Jez H

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Adam Chapman -

Hi, Thanks for that

Server PHP version: 5.1.6

SQL Server Version: 5.0.27  protocol version 10

the PHPinfo file can be seen at http://moodle.essentialassortment.co.uk/info.php

Adam

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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Jez H -
Hi Adam,

If you read

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Environment

With reference to PHP it says:

"but don't use versions 5.0.0 to 5.0.6 which were buggy"

Also, Moodle was written for MySQL, the syntax is different for SQL server.

I have seen a few people run it on postgreSQL but have not heard of anyone using SQLserver, I don't think its compatible.

I could not access your info file, but assume this is a windows server (as you are using SQLserver).

I think you would get on better with Linux hosting, and it will cost you less.

If I were you I would look for some cheap LAMP hosting, you should be able to find something suitable for around a fiver a month. I would recommend you look for hosting that offers Cpanel to help you admin your hosting.

If you just want to play you can easily install it on a PC using

http://www.easyphp.org/telechargements.php3 or

On your PC you can then download the MySQL Query Browser and MySql administrator to make the admin of your database easier.
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In reply to Jez H

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Jez H -
Sorry, looks like your PHP version is ok, but I think you will need to change SQL Server. Rather than move host, you could ask whether mySql is also available on your existing host....
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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Ken Wilson -

Hi Adam

A couple of things from your phpinfo file:

  1. Fasthosts are limiting a lot of php system calls in the disable functions section. Some of these may well be interfering with the installing - probably the system calls.
  2. The memory_limit value for moodle 1.8 is 40M - yours is set to 20M. If they cannot increase that limit, try Moodle 1.6.5 instead which runs fine with 16M memory limit.
  3. The open_basedir setting also is worrying - but see how that goes.
  4. One positive aspect is that PHP safe mode is Off - which is good.
  5. As far as I can see all the PHP modules required for a functioning moodle install are available.

One thing though - the php client API for MySQL is version 4.1.11. The installation requirements state that 4.1.12 is needed - so this may be the cause of the database problems. It's strange though that you have 5.0.27 as your version number, so it looks like the hosting company has updated mysql but not got rounf to updating the php api library to match the version.

Maybe you could try getting in touch with their helpdesk and finding out what the position is.

Let us know how you get on please!

Thanks

Ken

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In reply to Ken Wilson

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Richard Enison -

KW,

I too have looked at AC's PHP info. It shows support for both MySQL and PostgreSQL. How you conclude from this that he is using MySQL when he says he is using SQL Server (presumably MSSQL Server) is beyond me. JH took him at his word and told him to change to MySQL because he "never heard of anyone using Moodle with SQL Server". I have already replied to that outrageous post.

Am I missing something?

RLE

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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Richard,
> Am I missing something?

To be honest, I felt your responses to Jez and Ken lacked tact. In the past, I have seen your posts on other threads and noted how helpful and supportive they were, but today I think your posts were "combative", to put it mildly.

I would like to suggest that if you adopt a more conciliatory tone, your knowledgeable contributions will generate a far more positive climate for mutual help and learning.

respectfully
Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Richard Enison -

GB,

You seem to be lumping my responses to the two posts together as both combative. As to my reply to JH, I agree. There are situations that call for tact and there are those that call for combat. When someone is holding a loaded gun to someone else's head and is about to pull the trigger, the time for negotiation is over. I wanted to do something as soon as possible to try to save AC a lot of unnecessary trouble, and to call a spade a spade so that JH (and others who may be reading our posts) doesn't do something like that again. I must admit that I have been guilty of giving bad advice myself in forums like this in the past, and I have tried to avoid repeating that mistake.

As for KW, I have seen many of his posts in this forum over the last half year or so and I respect him as an expert. Which is why it is out of character for him to make such a mistake. I don't think I was as "combative" with him as I was with JH, but to whom much is given, much is required. I think you know that when I asked if I was missing something, I was talking about the technical details of the subject of my post. I asked him that precisely because I do consider him an expert on Moodle. It occurred to me after I sent the post, and took a closer look at the Moodle doc page to which I referred JH, that maybe the lack of a PHP extension for MSSQL Server is precisely AC's problem.

And I would point out that, even in my exhortation to JH, I said "please".

By the way, coincidentally, I got that link to the Moodle docs page from a post by KW in January!

Also btw, you may have seen a previous post of mine in which I confessed that I believe I have Asperger's Syndrome. This makes it difficult to be tactful and those of us who have it are frequently misunderstood. That's the story of my life. It's only recently that I found out why, in a website on Autism.

For these reasons, and because I am not yet a Moodle expert, I spend most of my time in this forum lurking. I only post when I see something I do know something about, and which cries out for a response that I am capable of giving and that no one else seems to be giving. Sometimes I don't know enough to solve the problem being described, but I know enough to correct part of it or fill in some missing info, and when I do, I say so.

RLE

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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hello Richard,
> You seem to be lumping my responses to the two posts together as both combative

Yes that's right, I felt that both your earlier posts contained phrases which could easily cause offense. Specifically these two phrases:
  • In your first post, you wrote:
    Please do not use your ignorance as a basis for instructing other Moodlers ...
  • In your second post, you wrote:
    How you conclude ... is beyond me
Both these phrases are disrespectful and seem likely to lead to a "flaming" row. I suggest you avoid them. Try something more friendly like this:
Whoa, steady on there guys. Let's make sure what Adam means when he says "SQL server". The phpinfo file says MySQL (4.1.11) and PostgreSQL (7.3) which are both too old for Moodle 1.8. (see http://docs.moodle.org/en/Installing_Moodle#Requirements), so he's probably talking about MS SQL because that is mentioned in the Fasthosts server packages (http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/productKB/default.asp?article=Fasthosts/MSSQL)

Since the Moodle docs page on installing Moodle on an MSSQL server states that you need to install an mssql extension alternative, probably the first thing to do is check with Adam that he has been able to do that, possibly with the help of the support desk at the hosting company. Adam?
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Richard Enison -

GB,

Thank you for your lesson on flaming. But in the case of the first post, I think "using one's ignorance as a basis for instructing someone else to change their system" is a perfect description of what happened. The guy admittedly didn't know of anyone using MSSQL Server with Moodle, and that is a form of ignorance, which just means not knowing something, and there is nothing wrong with that. We are all ignorant of almost everything there is to know, of which there are an infinite number of things, and we can only know a finite number. But to tell someone else they need to make major changes because of that is using that ignorance as a basis for instructing others, and in this case it turned out to be false instruction, and that's what I found outrageous.

You may have noticed that, around the time of my last post to you, JH sent another post addressed to me. I wasn't planning on doing any more posting, but I had to respond to that one. I hope you agree that I calmly and civilly addressed his issues, and explained what I meant. I also confessed my own ignorance (that I am not a Moodle expert) which, unlike him, I am not willing to use as a basis for instruction.

 Your suggestion as to what I should have said is something I could not have said because it contains facts I did not know at the time without doing further research. I didn't want to take the time to do that because, as I said before, I wanted to correct a grievous piece of wrong advice before someone went to (potentially) a lot of trouble changing their system environment, learning a new database manager, etc., unnecessarily. The only research I did was to find the reference to the Moodle doc page on MSSQL Server in the January post from KW, as I mentioned before, so I could show it to JH. At the time he and I had both understood that AC was using that database server, and even now as far as I know he is, because he said so. I also mentioned in my previous post to you that I hadn't noticed that this requires a PHP extension he doesn't have until after my first post, although I admit it would have been a good educated guess. Again, time was of the essence.

You are probably right about my use of "beyond me" to KW being a little disrespectful, but what I was saying is that it wasn't anywhere near as "combative" as my post to JH, which I think was appropriately so, for the reasons I have stated.

And last and probably least, your suggested post seemed to be addressed to both JH and KW. I was originally going to use a single post, but the problem was that their posts were on different branches of the thread tree. There didn't seem to be any place to put a single post where they were both sure to see it, so I used two separate ones.

RLE

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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Jez H -
The PHP info file was not available when I tried to view it, so yes I took him at his word.

Unless Adam is committed to his hosting company then moving to another is not outrageous, people do it all the time....... but having now seen his phpinfo you are right, there is MySQL support.


Sorry for my mistake regarding SQL server, perhaps you can now advice Adam on how he should proceed?

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In reply to Jez H

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Richard Enison -

JH,

As I said to KW, the info file shows support for both MySQL and PostgreSQL, so I don't know which one AC is using, if either. All I can do, as you did, is take him at his word.

I agree with you that moving to another host is not outrageous. I was saying that telling someone that they need to do that, unnecessarily, is.

And as I mentioned in my post to GB, sometimes I only know enough to make a comment about part of the problem, but not enough to solve it, and this is one of them. However, I know this much. Before giving him advice on how to proceed, I would like to clear up the question of which database manager he is using. Is it MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL Server, or something else? Maybe he would be willing to post a copy of his config.php file (with the p/w omitted, of course).

RLE

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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Adam Chapman -

I go away for a day and look what happens!!

I'm sorry for misleading you, I am actually using mySQL.

It must be some sort of compatability issue as I've just installed moodle version 1.3! Old I know, but at least it works!!

The problem I face now is that under the administration menu, I click 'Blocks' and I get the 'No Blocks Found!" message, but from what I have read this is because version 1.3 won't run on PHP5

Thankyou all for your help.

Adam

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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Gordon Bateson -
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Adam,
your "phpinfo" page says you have MySQL 4.1.11, so probably Moodle 1.5 will run on your server, but bear in mind what Ken said earlier about the PHP and memory limitations imposed on your server by your hosting company.

For your information, you can download the "latest" version of Moodle 1.5 from here:

Moodle 1.6 may run OK, if you do a manual install and have an English-only site. If you want to do the automatic install, or intend to use unicode characters on your site, you will need to either stick with Moodle 1.5, or ask you host to upgrade to at least MySQL 4.1.12, or switch to a host which satisfies the minimum requirements for the latest stable Moodle

all the best
Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Adam Chapman -

Thankyou for your help! I will keep on moodling! It just takes so long to upload all the files to the webhost via ftp! even using the internet connection here in college.

Anyway, I'm up and running and will look at trying 1.5

Thanks everyone

Adam

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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Gordon Bateson -
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If you have cPanel, then the File Manager has an "Expand this file" option for zip files, which allows you to upload the Moodle zip file, and unzip it on your server.

Other than that, I would think the help desk on your hosting service will be able to explain exactly what your unzipping options are.

good luck!
Gordon

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In reply to Adam Chapman

Re: Database creation stops after creating course_list

by Deepak Aggarwal -
Hi,
I'm completely new to Moodle and have a website that is currently hosted with Streamline.net. I have been searching for some information on whether Moodle is able to run on this host. After searching I have found Adam Chapmans posts... I'm wondering whether you actually got it working with Streamline.net?
I have the home user package at the moment but will upgrade to the power user to get mySQL and PHP support if this is the case and Moodle does work.
Many Thanks

P.s I don't think that Streamline have the cPanel and which version of Moodle should I try to run for a first time novice - 1.3 or 1.5 as I'm not clear on what version will work with Streamline after reading these posts.
Regards,
Dee

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