Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

gaekwad · 2022-02-02 15:58:21

6sigma wrote #332600:

When I am in Filezilla and want to edit a file, Linux loads LibreOffice & the file I want to edit. I paste the contents into the file & save it. I’m then told that the file is being transferred to the (host) server. Are there any problems with that workflow?

Bingo. That’s very likely it. LibreOffice is potentially adding extra formatting which breaks the .htaccess stuff. The contents of .htaccess control the web server and its behaviour…how it handles URLs, for example. It has to be plain text, it has to be formatted in a certain way, and if the web server has any hurdles in the file itself, it often just throws a 500 error…meaning: there was an internal server error.

So, let’s fix that. Remove the version of .htaccess that LibreOffice messed with, that’ll get your site at least partially up and running again. Save this link to your laptop (note: don’t view it, right click and ‘save as’):

raw.githubusercontent.com/textpattern/textpattern/dev/.htaccess

[EDIT: fixed link, Bloke]

That should save as htaccess.txt. Note: no leading ‘dot’ and there is a ‘dot txt’ at the end. Upload this file as htaccess.txt to the root of your site. When it’s uploaded, rename it to .htaccess (note: leading ‘dot’ and no ‘dot txt’ at the end. No LibreOffice mess, and that will fix your URL rewrites, that sort of thing.

Last edited by Bloke (2022-02-02 16:40:02)

6sigma · 2022-02-02 16:18:26

gaekwad wrote #332601:

Bingo. That’s very likely it. LibreOffice is potentially adding extra formatting which breaks the .htaccess stuff. The contents of .htaccess control the web server and its behaviour…how it handles URLs, for example. It has to be plain text, it has to be formatted in a certain way, and if the web server has any hurdles in the file itself, it often just throws a 500 error…meaning: there was an internal server error.

So, let’s fix that. Remove the version of .htaccess that LibreOffice messed with, that’ll get your site at least partially up and running again. Save this link to your laptop (note: don’t view it, right click and ‘save as’):

raw.githubusercontent.com/textpattern/textpattern/dev/.htaccess

That should save as htaccess.txt. Note: no leading ‘dot’ and there is a ‘dot txt’ at the end. Upload this file as htaccess.txt to the root of your site. When it’s uploaded, rename it to .htaccess (note: leading ‘dot’ and no ‘dot txt’ at the end. No LibreOffice mess, and that will fix your URL rewrites, that sort of thing.

I’ve made multiple attempts at this. I’m on a Chromebook that also runs Linux. The ChromeOS file manager would not let me save that file. So…I went into Linux, set up Firefox and downloaded the file. However, it wanted to save it as an html file. I changed it to htaccess.txt, moved it to the server & renamed it .htaccess with no extension. However, I can no longer access the site or the admin page.

I’m going to try to figure out why I’m having such trouble with saving that link properly. Back after some more troubleshooting.

colak · 2022-02-02 16:28:21

Did you try pointing your browser directly to https://rodentregatta.com/?event=diag or http://rodentregatta.com/?event=diag? It may load, and if it does, it will give you a hint.

6sigma · 2022-02-02 16:36:52

colak wrote #332603:

Did you try pointing your browser directly to https://rodentregatta.com/?event=diag or http://rodentregatta.com/?event=diag? It may load and if it does, it will give you a hint.

I get “this site can’t be reached” with the first and “internal server error” with the second.

I imagine this is now some combo of problems with my Chromebook, the version of Linux on it, my use of Filezilla and some kind of settings that are forcing the wrong apps to open when I simply want a text editor.

My next step will be a trip somewhere to by a proper Windows PC, but that probably cannot happen today. This latest attempt to begin updating Textpattern & my old weblog is now more than 24 hours of time. It doesn’t look as though this 68 year old should be trying to qualify for the Olympics :-)

Bloke · 2022-02-02 16:43:31

The link Pete posted was unfortunately not the file itself, which may have complicated matters. The forum got in the way and thought the file was destined for this domain. It’s a Textile thing!

Anyway, I’ve updated the link in the post above so try right-clicking that one and saving it again.

If it saves it as ‘htaccess.txt’ then go through the upload/rename dance that Pete highlighted. Since you’re on a variant of Linux, it may save the file directly as ‘.htaccess’. In which case, just upload it as-is, refresh the site and see how you get on.

EDIT: P.S. Great sleuthing with the LibreOffice snafu, Pete. I remember trying to talk someone through a similar issue once when they were editing a text file on Windows. It was defaulting to Wordpad, which was essentially saving it with all the hidden internal metadata. Penny dropped after a few cycles and I got them to switch to Notepad to save it as raw text. Job done.

Last edited by Bloke (2022-02-02 16:49:37)

6sigma · 2022-02-02 17:11:50

Bloke wrote #332606:

The link Pete posted was unfortunately not the file itself, which may have complicated matters. The forum got in the way and thought the file was destined for this domain. It’s a Textile thing!

Anyway, I’ve updated the link in the post above so try right-clicking that one and saving it again.

If it saves it as ‘htaccess.txt’ then go through the upload/rename dance that Pete highlighted. Since you’re on a variant of Linux, it may save the file directly as ‘.htaccess’. In which case, just upload it as-is, refresh the site and see how you get on.

EDIT: P.S. Great sleuthing with the LibreOffice snafu, Pete. I remember trying to talk someone through a similar issue once when they were editing a text file on Windows. It was defaulting to Wordpad, which was essentially saving it with all the hidden internal metadata. Penny dropped after a few cycles and I got them to switch to Notepad to save it as raw text. Job done.

Perfect. This one saved exactly as expected and both the site & the admin page are visible now! Thank you for your patience. I’m going to figure out how to set a default text editor in Linux. In theory, having Linux on a Chromebook should be the best of “both worlds” for me. I’ve been away from Windows since 2010 and don’t relish a return to that world.

This is great news. Bloke, I’ve sent you an email and am working on the second one. Again, I appreciate the explanations and all the attention to my “ignorance.”

gaekwad · 2022-02-02 20:26:57

Bloke wrote #332606:

The link Pete posted was unfortunately not the file itself, which may have complicated matters.

I had one job! Thanks for sorting it.

6sigma · 2022-02-02 21:17:50

gaekwad wrote #332609:

I had one job! Thanks for sorting it.

You and Bloke have gotten me further down the road than at any point in 10 years. I appreciate the help and the patient way you listened to my questions and confusion. I learned a lot just from the back-and-forth today. Again, many thanks.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#37 2022-02-02 15:58:21

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

6sigma wrote #332600:

#38 2022-02-02 16:18:26

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

gaekwad wrote #332601:

#39 2022-02-02 16:28:21

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

#40 2022-02-02 16:36:52

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

colak wrote #332603:

#41 2022-02-02 16:43:31

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

#42 2022-02-02 17:11:50

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

Bloke wrote #332606:

#43 2022-02-02 20:26:57

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

Bloke wrote #332606:

#44 2022-02-02 21:17:50

Re: Can't load site or Txp admin after update to 4.8.8

gaekwad wrote #332609:

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