XF 1.5 Can't Rebuild User Cache + User Edit Errors. MySQL Timeout

[Dave Stromberger]

Have had this issue for a while, and haven't been unable to figure it out. I first noticed it when I had users complain that they were unable to make changes to their profile... change avatar, password, etc. I tried via the Admin panel, but none of my changes would be saved on these users who had complained. I could however make changes to other user accounts, no problem. I attempted a user-cache rebuild, but it hangs after a few cycles, then times out with a Server 500 error. I reduced the batch size for the rebuild lower and lower, even all the way to 1. Only at 1 record per batch would it avoid the server error... but it will still hang for 60 seconds on several records. After a re-try, it hangs at the same records each time.

Some facts:

xenForo 1.5.14
I'm on a dedicated server at Inmotion Hosting
There is no error reported in the xenForo admin panel.
The Apache server error log only reports that it timed out.
MySQL log does not show much of anything... maybe I'm not looking in the right place, or reporting is not turned on?
PhpMyAdmin does not show any of the tables as crashed.


What else can I look at?

Thank you for any insight!
DS

 

[Mike]

When you say you couldn't save these users, what do you mean?

What specifically shows in the Apache error log for the failing requests?

 

[Dave Stromberger]

When I try to save an edit to a user profile field, I see the "busy bars" or whatever you want to call them. They grind away for a while and eventually stop. At this point, one might think that the change has been made. But coming back to the user again shows that no changes were saved. I get the following in Apache error log:

[Thu Oct 26 16:04:30.648671 2017] [fcgid:warn] [pid 10316:tid 140695113209600] (70007)The timeout specified has expired: [client 93.158.161.159:60662] mod_fcgid: ap_pass_brigade failed in handle_request_ipc function​

 

[Mike]

There are some timeout related options that you may need to increase in order to aid debugging at least: https://stackoverflow.com/a/35392227/1480610 Once those are enabled, does the behavior change at all? How about the error logs? (Anything in XF's log now?)

 

[Dave Stromberger]

Thanks Mike,

I've made those suggested changes and saw no difference other than the time it takes to fail. The error in the log is the same. And no errors in the XF log.

 

[Dave Stromberger]

After further digging, I'm pretty certain that the error I posted above was not triggered by the failure of the database change. The IP address is not mine... it just happened to occur right when I expected to see an error from my failed record change.... and searching the error log for my IP address, I find none. Also, considering that various changes to the fcgid configuration as suggested on various websites haven't fixed the problem, I'm starting to think that this problem has nothing to do with fcgid, and may somehow be the database itself. But with NO errors logged in the MySQL error log, I have no idea where to start, and am just guessing!

It's a serious problem though... I have another user today who can't log-in because they lost their password... they can't go through the lost password process, and I can't change it manually in the Admin panel either. Arrrrggghhhh!!

 

[Mike]

I really can't figure why this would happen, so if you can submit a ticket with ACP and FTP login details so we can test, that'd help.

 

[Dave Stromberger]

For the record, I found the problem with the help of an expert.... it was the add-on [XFA] Members Map. It was configured to make calls to the Google Geolocation IP API... for members who had no location entered, it was timing out making that API call. Turning off that feature fixed my problem.

Thanks,
DS