chattan

Ok, that’s done. There seemed to be no error log produced, but there was one notification on the login panel page:

Notice: add_option was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.3 with no alternative available. in /vhost/vhost14/s/o/u/soutarwriters.co.uk/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3510

I couldn’t see a php.ini file in my root, nor in wp-admin or wp-includes.

Hope you enjoyed the bbq!

Hi Jackie

I always do manual installs of WP releases, having experienced difficulties with auto-install on multisite a few releases ago. So, 4.2.1->4.2.2->4.2.1->4.2.2 were all manual during this problem span. My wp-config.php file on the server was last updated in Oct 2014, while .htaccess is dated Nov 2014. All other files are per my last install of 4.2.2 (on 22nd May as requested by my host who were hoping that would cure things).

The url sequence is as follows: bookmark the site (www.soutarwriters.co.uk), click Meta login on home page (www.soutarwriters.co.uk/wp-login.php); click login button in panel (www.soutarwriters.co.uk/wp-admin) after 2-3 min wait and 504 message.

By way of variation, I stayed with plugins.old, but reinstated the twentyten theme. Result – I saw the home page, clicked meta login, got the login panel and clicked the login button – a couple of minutes wait time, then 504 again.

One correction – I didn’t login; I just clicked on the bookmark for the site which didn’t display.

Hi Jackie

I renamed the root plugins folder to plugins.old
I renamed the twentyten theme folder within the root themes folder to twentyten.old
I logged in and could see the site favicon + url in the tab, but the screen was completely white and there were no error messages.

Hi Jackie

A 3-day gap where my host didn’t manage to find anything. They won’t release error logs – here’s their reply:

I’m afraid my colleague is correct, we can’t provide log entries as the logs for the server are for all sites on the system.

I have, however, checked through the logs using tail -f and I can confirm that there are no errors output at the time of the issue. Additionally, I have checked for anything in our access logs for my IP while I load your site and there are no error codes output, only a 302 status (which is simply a “found” status, your page was found and whatever was on it was done). Additionally, I note that there is nothing returned in Firebug to suggest this is going to any other host. This is configured by a curl check which outputs the following:

=============
[root@abbadon ~]# curl -v https://www.soutarwriters.co.uk/wp-admin/
* About to connect() to https://www.soutarwriters.co.uk port 80
* Trying 62.233.121.36… Connection timed out
* couldn’t connect to host
* Closing connection #0
curl: (7) couldn’t connect to host
=============

Since there are no errors here, there is nothing we can troubleshoot, but I would recommend trying to bring your installation to a bare-bones install. Try removing your plugins and themes one by one (if you have any) and see if that resolves the issue? If not, I’m afraid this would be something WordPress would need to assist you with.

I’ve tried the plugin/theme disabling but will do so again if you think it would help. Meantime, still getting 504 messages every time I login.

Hi Jackie

I’ve contacted my host who say they will escalate the issue and get back – I noticed from phpinfo.php that a new server build had been implemented on May 14, just before I started to get 504 messages. I think maybe they want to look at the error logs first! More as I get it…

Hi Jackie

Shared, Linux, with easyspace.com (based in Glasgow, Scotland). I login to https://controlpanel.easyspace.com/controllers/domain_management/main.cfm using an id and password provided by the supplier. This gives me access to basic controls, e.g. email, ftp, domain administration. No sign of error logs though.

phpinfo.php reveals PHP Version 5.4.41 being used. What should I ask for?

I only have a desktop and operate a home office. My partner uses a laptop, with no browsing history for this site, and a different browser (IE opposed to Chrome). We access the internet through the same wireless router. She gets 504 as well.

Hi Jackie – thanks for your interest.

I’ve tried using wp-login.php as well as clicking login on the home page. Both methods give me a login screen and both give me the 504 message after a minute or so. If I do a browser backspace after the 504, the home page meta indicates the logout option – suggesting I have actually logged in. If I then click site-admin, I go through the 504 routine again. If I click logout, it logs me out and gives me the login screen again.

Here is my .htaccess file (I believe it’s part of 4.2.2):

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]

# uploaded files
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?files/(.+) wp-includes/ms-files.php?file=$2 [L]

# add a trailing slash to /wp-admin
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?wp-admin$ $1wp-admin/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ – [L]
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) $2 [L]
RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(.*\.php)$ $2 [L]
RewriteRule . index.php [L]

I can’t see any error logs in my control panel, the root directory, or in the plugins or themes folders.

If I rename the twentyten theme folder, I can’t get the home page to display at all. The theme seems current – folder date is 24 April.

Be not afraid to ask – 4.0.1 is now installed and functioning. I did it the hard way by first trying:

(a) trimming all urls on database to soutarwriters.co.uk – total mess
(b) making them all www.soutarwriters.co.uk – site wouldn’t render correctly
(c) resetting wp_options/siteurl/home to have https:// prefix – site ok
(d) resetting wp_user_roles to include NextGEN values
[NB for (a)-(d) I used 3.9.2 with cookies, cache, etc. cleared before each step, then tried login to test]
(e) installing 4.0.1 and clearing cookies, cache, etc.

Thanks for all the prompts. I still don’t really understand why this should have been so hard, but I can now edit databases which is a plus!

wp_options contains: https://www.soutarwriters.co.uk in both siteurl and home
wp_site and wp_blogs both contain: https://www.soutarwriters.co.uk

Enough messing around. I reset wp_capabilities to its original value, but
left wp_user_roles with the single-site data I’d pasted in. I dug out 3.9.2 and re-installed it. Login worked first time. I was able to update plugins and themes, edit a page and clear out the spam queues in all user sites (NB most of these were near empty – just today’s stuff – but two were very big: one with 32k+ entries and one with 3k+.) The system is running pretty slow, but I seemed to be able to access all the components I tried (though I didn’t go through everything). I don’t know how far back my host keeps database copies: they archive daily but I wouldn’t expect more than a month. Can you explain this minor miracle?

wp_capabilities is now a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;b:1;} as requested, but the redirection is still happening on login.

wp_capabilities contains: a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;s:1:”1″;}

site_admins contains: a:1:{i:0;s:5:”admin”;}

Ok, I tried one of my single-user sites using reading glasses, and here’s what its wp_user_roles contained:

a:5:{s:13:"administrator"?a:2:{s:4:"name"?s:13:"Administrator"?s:12:"capabilities"?a:62:
{s:13:"switch_themes"?b:1?s:11:"edit_themes"?b:1?s:16:"activate_plugins"?b:1?s:12:"edit_plugins"?b:1?s:10:"edit_users"?b:1?s:10:"edit_files"?b:1?s:14:"manage_options"?b:1?s:17:"moderate_comments"?b:1?s:17:"manage_categories"?b:1?s:12:"manage_links"?b:1?s:12:"upload_files"?b:1?s:6:"import"?b:1?s:15:"unfiltered_html"?b:1?s:10:"edit_posts"?b:1?s:17:"edit_others_posts"?b:1?s:20:"edit_published_posts"?b:1?s:13:"publish_posts"?b:1?s:10:"edit_pages"?b:1?s:4:"read"?b:1?s:8:"level_10"?b:1?s:7:"level_9"?b:1?s:7:"level_8"?b:1?s:7:"level_7"?b:1?s:7:"level_6"?b:1?s:7:"level_5"?b:1?s:7:"level_4"?b:1?s:7:"level_3"?b:1?s:7:"level_2"?b:1?s:7:"level_1"?b:1?s:7:"level_0"?b:1?s:17:"edit_others_pages"?b:1?s:20:"edit_published_pages"?b:1?s:13:"publish_pages"?b:1?s:12:"delete_pages"?b:1?s:19:"delete_others_pages"?b:1?s:22:"delete_published_pages"?b:1?s:12:"delete_posts"?b:1?s:19:"delete_others_posts"?b:1?s:22:"delete_published_posts"?b:1?s:20:"delete_private_posts"?b:1?s:18:"edit_private_posts"?b:1?s:18:"read_private_posts"?b:1?s:20:"delete_private_pages"?b:1?s:18:"edit_private_pages"?b:1?s:18:"read_private_pages"?b:1?s:12:"delete_users"?b:1?s:12:"create_users"?b:1?s:17:"unfiltered_upload"?b:1?s:14:"edit_dashboard"?b:1?s:14:"update_plugins"?b:1?s:14:"delete_plugins"?b:1?s:15:"install_plugins"?b:1?s:13:"update_themes"?b:1?s:14:"install_themes"?b:1?s:11:"update_core"?b:1?s:10:"list_users"?b:1?s:12:"remove_users"?b:1?s:9:"add_users"?b:1?s:13:"promote_users"?b:1?s:18:"edit_theme_options"?b:1?s:13:"delete_themes"?b:1?s:6:"export"?b:1?}}s:6:"editor"?a:2:
{s:4:"name"?s:6:"Editor"?s:12:"capabilities"?a:34:{s:17:"moderate_comments"?b:1?s:17:"manage_categories"?b:1?s:12:"manage_links"

I pasted that over my multisite wp_user_roles then tried login, but got exactly the same redirection problem as before.