In the past two weeks, there have been so many random problems with my flash drive(s)/XAMPP/Joomla/etc. that I’ve just about had enough for one semester. The very first problem happened when the first flash drive I’d been using to run XAMPP on decided that it didn’t really like being plugged in all that much. A tiny adjustment of my laptop, and oops — the connection would be ruined. As it turns out, this is a very bad thing for XAMPP, and can cause some major headache; every time it would happen, I would be unable to use XAMPP and have to reinstall it all over again.
I finally got a different flash drive to use, only this time the problem was with Joomla!, not XAMPP. Whenever I tried to install Joomla!, I would get to step four (database configuration), and it would either get hung up on the loading screen, or run for a bit and then go straight back to the beginning of step four. After a good twenty minutes of troubleshooting with Tim in his office, we figured out what the problem was: it turns out that the php.ini file had MySQL set to timeout after 60 seconds. This problem can be solved by changing the following line in the php.ini file:
mysql.connect_timeout = 60
to
mysql.connect_timeout = -1
The reason this problem kept happening was most likely due to the quality of the flash drive I have. It’s a bit of an older one, so everything on it runs a bit slower than it normally would. If I had the money right now (read: b-r-o-k-e), I would have just gone out and bought a new one already. Unfortunately, looks like I’m stuck with what I’ve got for now, and will just have to suffer the consequences.
Anyone else have similar issues going on with their flash drives, or just something they feel like venting about? Feel free to comment below with your input!
Hey Liz. I feel your pain. I had similar issues with my XAMPP installation. During the Joomla installation, the screen would endlessly load instead of actually working. No idea why it happened. Luckily, I have hosting so I just used that instead. I just did not feel like troubleshooting. I like your humor though “(read: b-r-o-k-e).” Haha. Try not to get too frustrated.
Hey Kayla — Thanks for the empathy, haha. I’m jealous that you’ve got hosting! Troubleshooting can be a pain, but oh well. I’m just happy to have figured out the problem and moved on!
Two immediate ideas: see if someone with hosting might be willing to setup a subdomain for you to use for class. Or try installing XAMPP on your H drive. Either you have to use remotedesktop if you’re working off campus, or have to work on campus, but you’ll get a more predictable work environment. Just a thought.
If I have any future problems, I’ll definitely consider just installing XAMPP on my H drive. Keeping my fingers crossed that things will hopefully go a little smoother from here on out!