SQL Errors

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-steves-
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SQL Errors

Post by -steves- » Sat Dec 10, 2022 6:25 pm

It has been reported that a number of members, but not all, are repeatedly getting an SQL error when trying to make a post.

Whilst we look into this, I would recommend copying all the words you have typed in case you need to type it all again. For those that aren't aware, on a windows based computer, before pressing the post button on screen, select everything you have typed by holding the left mouse button and selecting all your typing, it should highlight it a different colour. Then while holding the "Ctrl" button down, press "c", your work is now held in memory. If you get a failure then simply go back to the editing page where you was, and while holding the "Ctrl" button down, press "v" and hey presto it all comes back.

To give you an insight as to what might be happening, as to be fair we have little in the way of ideas because at the moment as it "appears" random. Below is listed "some" of the potential reasons below. If we have an expert in MySQL in the forum, they may be more aware of what's going on.

At some point we will check and attempt to repair the database , but the check may well cause the database to run super slow while it checks it and therefore may produce even more errors. The repair may well take down the site until it's finished and that could be many hours.

It could be one of a number of things, it is more likely to be down to "something" being busy at the time which is why it isn't happening to everyone.
  • A slow internet connection or very heavily used local lines. (down to how many users in that area are using the internet at the same time, around 6pm to 10pm being the busiest)
  • The server at the host being slow, it's always low on memory as we only have the minimum memory, if it's that, it costs money. We will keep an eye on memory usage over the coming days.
  • The server at the host is being hammered by other customers, not much we can do about that without it costing a fortune. (It's a shared service)
  • The SQL database has managed to corrupt itself, not good. This "could" cause certain topics to be an issue, whereas others are fine, but may also be random too.

Whatever it is, it is inconsistent which makes tracing the issue, challenging. If we need to take the site down at any point we will schedule a maintenance window in advance and post it up.
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

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-steves-
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Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
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Re: SQL Errors

Post by -steves- » Sat Dec 10, 2022 7:06 pm

Following some "quick" research, it would appear that this is very likely to be a "timeout" issue. This is possible to be at the user end (as mentioned above), but it could be the server end if the server is very busy from other users (different forums etc using the same system). If it isn't a user end issue, it appears that we currently have no access to the SQL config files, meaning we can't increase the timeout on the server and it could just be something we have to live with. We will endeavour to contact the hosting company and see if they can shed any light on it.

We are still investigating, so please bear with us.
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

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