Xm Forum Access Problems, Help required please!!!

Hi all,

For the past week I have been unable to log in as normal to the XM forum from the home page menu. Typically I get the following message (which at first I thought was another server problem):

There appears to be an error with the Club XM Forum database.
You can try to refresh the page by clicking here, if this does not fix the error, you can contact the board administrator by clicking here

Error Returned
mySQL query error: SELECT f.*, c.id as cat_id, c.position as cat_position, c.state as cat_state, c.name as cat_name, c.description as cat_desc,
c.image, c.url, m.member_name as mod_name, m.member_id as mod_id, m.is_group, m.group_id, m.group_name, m.mid
FROM ibf_forums f, ibf_categories c
LEFT JOIN ibf_moderators m ON (f.id=m.forum_id)
WHERE c.id=f.category
ORDER BY c.position, f.position

mySQL error: Unknown column 'f.id' in 'on clause'
mySQL error code:
Date: Saturday 28th 2009f March 2009 01:10:20 AM


We apologise for any inconvenience

I have managed to navigate to this page (which tells me that I am logged in as normal as 'kenhall1202') by following a saved link in my favourites. However I am unable to open 'My Controls' (blank page) or open 'New Messages' but I can 'View New Posts'.

Please - Has anyone got any suggestions for remedying this situation. Is it just me or a more widespread problem?

Thanks

Ken

PS
My apologies to GarethXM ("garethxm has sent you a new personal message entitled "Re:Breaking XM 2.1TD VSX estate") for not responding to your PM - I am unable to access it. Please could you resend it to me at [ken dot hall at metronet dot co dot uk]

This post has been edited by kenhall1202 on March 28, 2009 09:59 am

Hi Ken,

We all get that message, there's something wrong with the forum.
There's only a handful of us about at the moment.
Most won't know that they can access the forum by going directly to a previously saved thread.
If you go to the bottom of the page where it says '-XM issues', you can scroll down and go to any part of the forum.
I wouldn't worry about the messages, even if you managed to send one, GarethXM wouldn't be able to receive it at the moment.
Last I heard, PeterN was trying to contact Noz to let him know the forum is down.

Regards,

Paul.

Seems we've all managed to gain access here through old open tabs or bookmarks into
the forum and I've found I'm always logged in anyway. Doubt trying to log in would work.

The area of the site not accessible is the main index page or home when "club xm forum"
is selected or in fact the normal points of contact though the "my assistant" works allowing
selection of posts dating back days and months and the "view new posts" option.

The new posts shown are all linked to their respective areas such as "Xm Issues", "Diesel
specific" etc but you do need to go about things a really convoluted path. What is most
surprising really is the database permitting new entries where you can upload a message
with full editing and quoting etc..

I've opened threads where Noz's entries have a whole raft of options to make contact and
these appear to open and work although I don't want to add to the extra burden of other
emails etc - Noz is obviously a busy bunny as he has mentioned on occasion recently.

Here's hoping for some normality sometime soon where the whole raft of contributors can
participate in this great forum together again!

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on March 28, 2009 01:54 pm

Thanks for those replies. It's useful to know that solving this problem is outside my control. We'll just have to wait patiently for the solution and keep taking the tablets!!

Ken

Hi Ken,

At least the database side of the site seems healthy enough and is working
- it's the actual front end immediate communication via the forum that seems broke!

Andrew

My thanks to all of you, and especially Andrew (via FCF) for showing me the way in

Derek

This post has been edited by DerekW on March 28, 2009 06:18 pm

Thought I would log in here having previously logged in under another topic so we have a tally of who is around at one location. Hopefully normal service will be resumed soon. It is good to have a means of access to the resources of the forum to help sort any problems in the meantime.

Robert.

It does appear to be just the front end index page. Logins are working Ok, surprisingly.

This (albeit minor) issue, does again raise the question of the site hosting, and any contingency plans etc.
Obviously its a very useful resource, which many members use on a daily basis.
I don't know how Chris is fixed for the (kind) continued hosting of a site which he no longer has any day to day involvement in, Norrie may know more on that front.

However, if it came to it, I and others have stated we have the capability to host it, so if needs be it could be moved to somewhere where day to day support, and resolution of issues like this would be much easier (hopefully).

Ciarán

This post has been edited by Ciaran on March 29, 2009 06:57 pm

Its good to be able to find the back door in again!

Its a pity that we have these "tecnhical issues".

But its good to be back.

Hi Ciarán,

As an IT man , could the entire site content be transferred to a new host without losing losing anything? Would it look and operate exactly in the same way?

Regards, Robert.

http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3843&st=0

If you read the comments from Chris where the ownership of the database is discussed,
it's very much his and something he appears to have no intention of letting it get passed
on to anyone. I guess if it's his ball he has every right to take it away if we can't all
behave ourselves?

So if this one's broke, alternative Xm forum anyone?

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on March 29, 2009 10:52 pm

Hi Robert,

It could all be moved yes, but that would require the co-operation of the current owner, as it requires access to the server and database etc.

As Andrew has stated, that may be a problem.

I have no problem with Chris hosting it, its very kind of him to do it free of charge in fact, however my worry is now that he's not here day-to-day, when problems like this arise it makes it hard to get a solution.

Ciarán

This post has been edited by Ciaran on March 29, 2009 10:52 pm

Andrew we could setup an alternate site yes, but I wouldn't want to cause a split in the userbase, ideally we need to get into a position where we have the access to administer this one ourselves.

If however it appears no fix is forthcoming, I'm happy to setup another one.

Ciarán

Andrew,

you say that Chris owns the database, but does that mean that we are not supposed to copy or back up the data on here? After all, we are the authors..........

Don't get me wrong, I like the status quo the way it is and as far as I'm concerned, wouldn't
want anything bar the long term stability sorted or changed. It seems to be happening more
regularly now and I wonder if the increasing volume of the posts is now making the forum's
database/footprint a victim of its own success. Do all these photobucket pictures and avatars
bloat things on the forum out of all viability? A site with no images is a bit dreary to say
the least.

Thing is, whilst Noz may well come to rescue again in the case of this latest wobble, will we
be in the same boat in another 2 months time? I spend too much time here but it stops me
getting into 'trouble' on ebay!!

Andrew