Upgrade News: Database Downtime and Preparing for Forum Reopening

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The forum experienced significant downtime due to extensive database updates, which led to corruption and required multiple repair attempts. The forum is reopening, albeit with some features and templates still unupdated, which may cause functionality issues. Users are advised to clear their browser caches to see recent changes. Some users reported problems with involuntary log-offs and post visibility, which are expected to improve as the upgrade is finalized. Overall, the community is encouraged to be patient as further adjustments and enhancements are made.
Greg Bernhardt
Admin
Insights Author
Messages
19,774
Reaction score
10,728
Sorry for the long downtime. There were several very large update queries that each took about an hour. It didn't help when during one of them I lost the connection to mysql which ended up corrupting the database. Repairing it took another hour and of course that wasn't the end of it, during repair a tmp folder ran out of space and I had to kill the repair process and remount the folder with more space and do everything all over again. But finally all is well... fingers crossed.

I'm opening the forum a bit premature because I know everyone is itching to get back on. Be aware I haven't updated any templates or hacks yet so some things may not work or act strange. Right now I'm going to eat dinner and relax as it was a long night and long day.

It would be a good idea to clear your caches as a lot of JS files have changed
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Cache cleared -- thanks for the reminder. Hang in there Greg!
 
Thanks, Greg!
 
Thanks Greg! Sounds like your night was as rough as mine (I used the downtime to finish writing a grant). Get some sleep!
 
What the hell is a 'cache', and how does one clear it? :confused:
 
I don't remember how to give you instructions for other browsers, but if you're by any chance using Safari on a Mac, click on "safari" in the menu, and then choose "empty cache."

The cache stores information about websites you visit so they load more quickly when you revisit them, but it also means you don't see all the recent changes to a site.

Greg, when the upgrade is finished will the "last post by" names reappear on the main index page?
 
Can't "Mark Forums Read," not showing authors for "last post."
 
Moonbear said:
Greg, when the upgrade is finished will the "last post by" names reappear on the main index page?
Yes, I noticed that's missing too.
 
Thanks, Moonbear. I was on the iMac using Safari a couple of days ago, but it was W's PC (which I'm on now) that I was using both when it went down and when it came back up. In between was my boss' PC at work.
 
  • #10
Thanks, Greg! :)
 
  • #11
More instability issues (hopefully only temporary)

Hi all,

For what it is worth, I have been experiencing considerable trouble using PF: I have been involuntarily logged off several times, thus losing work, and then I have had trouble logging back back on. I hope this will be ameliorated once Greg has a chance to finish recovering from the database problem. I should add that I am a very new user, whose tenure at PF seems to have coincided with the system problems over the past few days--- purely by coincidence, I trust! I take it this kind of instability at PF is unusual?

Danger: regarding "clearing your cache": at a guess, Greg meant that we should clear our browser cache. Precise instructions will depend upon which browser you happen to use, but for the always popular Firefox, try Edit -> Preferences -> Cache -> Clear Cache Now. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that anyone experiencing problems logging back in after being involuntarily logged off should also try clearing any cookies.

Chris Hillman
 
Last edited:
  • #12
I have been involuntarily logged off several times, thus losing work
That's not a new problem. You might to be able to recover your work with your browser's "back" button. But in any case, if you're spending a substantial amount of time on a post, you should probably be doing it in a text editor.
 
  • #13
Ack, I see Greg's still playing with the formatting! When I view a thread, the posts now arrange themselves in this lovely triangular shape, with the last posts in a thread being very, very narrow. :-p I'm tempted to write neoantidisestablishmentarianism in a post, just to see how it messes things up. :wink: (Yay, and things are now back to normal)
 
Last edited:
  • #14
Hurkyl said:
Ack, I see Greg's still playing with the formatting! When I view a thread, the posts now arrange themselves in this lovely triangular shape, with the last posts in a thread being very, very narrow. :-p I'm tempted to write neoantidisestablishmentarianism in a post, just to see how it messes things up. :wink: (Yay, and things are now back to normal)

haha its going to be ugly for a little bit, going though all the changes and trying to apply the past skin can be challenging
 
  • #15
Chris Hillman said:
for the always popular Firefox, try Edit -> Preferences -> Cache -> Clear Cache Now.
(emphasis mine)

That would be in the Linux version of Firefox, I believe. For Windoze (Firefox 2.0), it's Tools->Options->Privacy-[Private Data] Clear Now... and there check the 'Cache' checkbox (the highlighted part is the same for both versions, though)
 
  • #16
Are you still working on the upgrade, Greg? There's not much point in us all reporting ongoing problems or trying to locate new features or whether old features are gone for good until you've had a chance to complete the upgrade. After it's completed to your satisfaction, we can report things that have gone missing and need to be found. :wink:
 
  • #17
I'm not able to view my journals, and I've saved some important informational files to them, so I'm kind of getting concerned. When will I be able to look at them?
 
  • #18
There's a couple of new threads in the homework help forum for calculus and beyond that have nothing in them, and I can't reply to them (invalid thread).
 
  • #19
Whatever is wrong with GD now??
 
  • #20
Post editing has problems.
 
  • #21
GCT said:
I'm not able to view my journals, and I've saved some important informational files to them, so I'm kind of getting concerned. When will I be able to look at them?

Journals I'm still working on, the new journal system is completely revamped, I think you'll enjoy it. Hopefully will be ready within the next couple days, all entries preserved.

Templates are about 90% done.
 
  • #22
\LaTeX in the journals? :wink:
 
  • #23
Greg Bernhardt said:
the next couple days, all entries preserved.

Templates are about 90% done.

Thank goodness
 
  • #24
So, what happened just now? :confused:
First, the bloody thing switched to 'typeover' rather than 'insert' mode (and I couldn't get it back--but it's okay now), and then my post won't show up. It was in the Engineering thread about water as fuel. The index box shows that the last post is mine, and when I tried to re-post it I was informed that it's a duplicate, but it doesn't appear in the thread.

edit: By the way, it shows up in the 'Find more posts by ME' when I click on my name, but clicking the link to it takes me to the thread where it isn't.
 
Last edited:
  • #25
Danger said:
So, what happened just now? :confused:
First, the bloody thing switched to 'typeover' rather than 'insert' mode (and I couldn't get it back--but it's okay now), and then my post won't show up. It was in the Engineering thread about water as fuel. The index box shows that the last post is mine, and when I tried to re-post it I was informed that it's a duplicate, but it doesn't appear in the thread.

edit: By the way, it shows up in the 'Find more posts by ME' when I click on my name, but clicking the link to it takes me to the thread where it isn't.
Greg is still working on things, I'm getting messed up graphics.
 
  • #26
Evo said:
Greg is still working on things, I'm getting messed up graphics.

Everything looks correct to me, what is messed up? Refresh the page using ctrl+F5
 
  • #27
Danger said:
So, what happened just now? :confused:
First, the bloody thing switched to 'typeover' rather than 'insert' mode (and I couldn't get it back--but it's okay now), and then my post won't show up. It was in the Engineering thread about water as fuel. The index box shows that the last post is mine, and when I tried to re-post it I was informed that it's a duplicate, but it doesn't appear in the thread.

edit: By the way, it shows up in the 'Find more posts by ME' when I click on my name, but clicking the link to it takes me to the thread where it isn't.
Same,here. If I click on your name and hit "Find more posts" I see the preview of the note you wrote at 10:32, but it's not in the thread. Refreshing does not help.
 
  • #28
I tried refresh, still doing it.
 

Attachments

  • #29
turbo-1 said:
Same,here. If I click on your name and hit "Find more posts" I see the preview of the note you wrote at 10:32, but it's not in the thread. Refreshing does not help.

I don't see any post at 10:32
 
  • #30
Likewise... still ain't there. :frown:
 
  • #31
Evo said:
I tried refresh, still doing it.

wow that is super strange, those are hotlink graphics that should only appear if the graphics are on another site using our url.
 
  • #32
I'm trying to upload another one, but it's too large. That "physicsforums.com" is interspersed all over the website.
 
  • #33
another example
 

Attachments

  • #34
Evo said:
another example

Weird. I don't see any of that, thank goodness!

Danger, has your problem resolved itself yet? I've had that happen to me before the upgrade too, so I don't think it's an upgrade issue, and it seems to eventually self-correct itself, but is nonetheless really frustrating when you can't see the last page of a thread for a while and it's one you're interested in following.

Edit: I think the problem is fixed. For some reason, this problem happens when there is only one post on the last page (I've even sometimes had 16 posts show up on a page instead of 15...something about that one extra post seems to confuse something somewhere). I posted just a filler reply, and the last page with your post appeared.
 
Last edited:
  • #35
Thanks, Moonbear. There it is, right where I left it. :approve:
 
  • #36
I love the new Prime skin! :approve:

I apologise if this question has already been answered, but is LATEX-preview in the works?
 
  • #37
neutrino said:
I love the new Prime skin! :approve:

I apologise if this question has already been answered, but is LATEX-preview in the works?

Thanks for noticing the skin changes, just a few tweaks, but I think it makes a difference. Hopefully smoother and easier to read. I'll prolly keep tinkering a bit.

It's up to chroot whether or not to add latex preview, go bother him :biggrin:
 
  • #38
Aaahh! What's that green gooey stuff?!
 
  • #39
neutrino said:
Aaahh! What's that green gooey stuff?!

What green gooey stuff? :confused:
 
  • #40
The green layer at the top of the the 'bars' that say "view first unread", "Quick Reply", and "Page # of #"
 
  • #41
Nice skin! Really smooth :smile:
 
  • #42
Great Job, Greg! :approve: :-p

I agree with Monique, the new Skin is very nice and smooth.
 
  • #43
I agree, aesthetically very pleasing :approve:. Glad to have PF back again, I can stop working now :-p
 
  • #44
Greg Bernhardt said:
Thanks for noticing the skin changes, just a few tweaks, but I think it makes a difference. Hopefully smoother and easier to read. I'll prolly keep tinkering a bit.
Very soothing...

It's up to chroot whether or not to add latex preview, go bother him
Just wait til he gets back! :wink:
 
  • #45
I like it, Greg. Good job. :approve:
 
  • #46
Am I the first one to notice the Turkey Forums? :biggrin:
 
  • #47
I love the turkey! :biggrin:
 
  • #48
Okay, I needed to clear the cache again to see the green shading (it doesn't look gooey at all! ) and the turkey! Nice touches. :smile:

I guess I'm going to have to remember to clear the cache more regularly as changes appear.
 
  • #49
Okay, it doesn't look gooey; the colour resembles (to my eyes) that of the usual gooey stuff. :D Still I prefer the new Prime without the green.
 
  • #50
On the homepage in the Prime skin, do the times of the last posts appear? All I seem to get are the days only (like Today and Yesterday).
 

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top