Corrupted database

jusisan · 2006-05-13 07:16:11

Hello everybody. This is an urgent call for help.

I was updating my site yesterday when something really similar to jameslomax’s recent serverhack -suspicions happened to me. The Textpattern admin interface just plain died, and left me with nothing more than this simple line whenever I try to open anything from the admin side:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function parse() in /data/home/vmfi/public_html/textpattern/lib/txplib_misc.php on line 1309

After this I checked my site, which has the correct layout but all the content was missing. I then proceeded to a)take another cup of coffee, b)check my database for anything suspicious and c)call my hosting provider for help. Now, mysqladmin reported following:

- Can’t open file: ‘txp_textpattern.MYI’ (errno: 145)

My hosting provider confirmed that my database was indeed corrupted, and fixed the issue “using mysql’s admin tools”. They suspected that there might be a bug in the MySQL-version they’re using (MySQL 4.1.19-standard). Nevertheless, after a half an hours slight panic everything was reset to normal and the site worked flawlessly once again.

Today I noticed that there are a couple of articles which I couldn’t edit. I tried to delete the other, and immediately after that… BANG. The exact same thing, the same error as above and a corrupted database. All the other tables work, but the one containing all the content (in my case, txp_textpattern) is corrupted once again and the site is dead.

I checked the site itself using IE and in my case the was no indication of any hacks: Crawling through the site’s contents revealed no suspicious files.

I’ve done a good number of Textpattern installs, and I do know that I was doing nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t have ssh-access open to my server and I wasn’t uploading anything. If this is indeed a bug in this particular MySQL-version then there is a problem: If it is a problem with textpattern’s structure then there is a bigger and scarier problem.

My site was running only two plugins, rdt_dynamenus and asy_jpcache. If any of the developers are interested or can can give me a hand with this issue I would appreciate it. I know how to repair the corrupted table, but it would be nice to point out the reason for this to happen.

With thanks, Jussi

EDIT: It seems that similar problems have been reported in the past. As in the other case, my site has been working fine for a long time without any need for repairs.

EDIT2: I am unable to access MySQLadmin’s interface for repairing the corrupt table: The error prevents the entire mysql-table list from showing, so the “with selected: repair table”-dropdown isn’t showing. And of course I cannot shut down the mysql-server and do this manually, or wouldn’t even have the permissions for that. Oh well. More coffee.

Last edited by jusisan (2006-05-13 07:58:30)

marios · 2006-05-13 08:28:06

Keep in mind not to post any specific details publically, if you suspect the obsolete, contact the developers directly through the forum e-mailer.

regards, marios

colak · 2006-05-13 08:40:12

do you have a backup of your site?

jusisan · 2006-05-13 09:29:18

colak wrote:

do you have a backup of your site?

Yes I do. I can always roll this on top of the corrupt database but this would – of course – null the updates I was working on before the incident.

I just got email from my trusty hosting service’s support – they have succesfully repaired the corrupt database table and the site is up once again. So now everything works but the reason is left unclear. I’ve checked the config.php -file and the path is correctly set: where to go from here I do not know.

Mary · 2006-05-13 10:06:35

It has not been established that James’ server was in fact hacked, nevermind how that would have been accomplished. Thus far, all evidence gathered and examined shows it was not.
Grab this plugin. Among other helpful things, it will allow you to repair your Txp tables from the Txp admin interface.
Please post your full diagnostics info.

zem · 2006-05-13 12:20:24

It has not been established that James’ server was in fact hacked, nevermind how that would have been accomplished. Thus far, all evidence gathered and examined shows it was not.

Correct. It was a common or garden variety MySQL crash. The spam links appear to be caused by a browser infected with spyware, and aren’t present on the server.

Regarding table corruption: nothing Textpattern can do will cause, prevent or recover from a corrupt table. It takes a MySQL bug, filesystem problem or hardware issue to corrupt a table. If you’re experiencing table corruption or MySQL crashes, you should discuss it with your hosting company.

In almost all cases, ‘repair table’ will automatically recover with minimal or no loss of data. If the mysql administration tool provided by your hosting company isn’t working, you should take it up with your hosting company.

Last edited by zem (2006-05-13 12:21:36)

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#1 2006-05-13 07:16:11

Corrupted database

#2 2006-05-13 08:28:06

Re: Corrupted database

#3 2006-05-13 08:40:12

Re: Corrupted database

#4 2006-05-13 09:29:18

Re: Corrupted database

#5 2006-05-13 10:06:35

Re: Corrupted database

#6 2006-05-13 12:20:24

Re: Corrupted database

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