500 Internal Server Error

[DaisyJen]

I don't know if it's coincidence or not but I just noticed that after all the upgrades around here, my website is now throwing 500 Internal Server errors on my index page. I am running WordPress and checked my server log and I am getting the following error message:


[Wed Jan 17 18:17:47 2007] [error] [client 70.226.9.46] Premature end of script headers: /home/xxxx/public_html/index.php

I've submitted a help desk ticket but haven't heard anything yet. Just curious if anyone else is having any problems or if they have run into this problem before?

[DaisyJen]

And here is support's response:

I have checked in detail. Everything is same as before on the server. Nothing has been changed regarding any setting. The problem seems to be with scripts. Please make sure that you have not changed any paths of your scripts. I have checked few of your scripts are using the "require_once()" function.

The funny thing is, I haven't done a damn thing so I'm at a loss as to what is causing this. I know that Jag doesn't support any external applications such as WordPress but I feel that every time I have an issue that might involve my WP, they automatically dismiss the problem as being something wrong with WP instead of taking a closer look. I've had a couple of problems lately that they've tried to blame on my WP installation but it turned out to be something else.

I have also posted on the WP support forums to see if anyone can help me there, but so far no luck.

PS - I'm trying not to sound bitchy either but it's hard to take someone seriously when they aren't even using proper grammar. Ugh!

[Vin DSL]

I have a dog. When I pick my nose, 'she' thinks it's something to eat... and begs for boogers.

I tell 'her' that I'm just picking my nose, and there's nothing to eat, but 'she' doesn't believe me...

Either you believe the techs, here at JagPC, or you don't -- and that's a personal issue!

Personally, I have never caught them in a lie, and my WP install is working just fine, thank you...

If it was me, I'd start checking my scripts, and quit flinging boogers in these threads!

[DaisyJen]

I'm not flinging boogers, thank you Vin and I didn't mean anything by my post. I am frustrated because I have made no changes to my WP today and my WP driven pages are working as is my WP admin area, just not my index page. So I come here for help and I get circles. I've had a recent bad experience where support tried to blame my WP on a problem and that wasn't the problem at all. I had to keep explaining to support what the problem was and guide them to get the help I want. I think it's only fair that I am a bit skittish when it comes to support.

And don't get me wrong. 95% I get great support. That wasn't the purpose of this thread. I was asking if anyone else has had a similar problem as I can't seem to figure this out on my own. My apologies if I have offended anyone here, I honestly didn't mean to.

[DaisyJen]

Also, here is my latest response from Support:

I have checked, you are suing include paths in your scripts frequently. Please make sure that you place "php.ini" in all the directories that contains the scripts with "register_globals" On.

The thing is, I use include paths on all my WP pages and those pages work fine so that leads me to believe that this isn't the problem. And if it was the problem I still have no idea what "php.ini" is where to get it.

UPDATE: Apparently I already have a "php.ini" file in my root directory so this isn't a fix for my problem. I am now stumped. Vin, when you say start checking scripts, what scripts would I even begin to look at? I'm not running a lot of them outside of WP.

[DaisyJen]

Well, I'm getting the same song and dance about it being a script issue within WP and therefore they can't give me any help. The thing is, they keep telling me it's because my index page uses includes and is calling files from other directories, etc., so I have to put that "php.ini" file in those directories. Fine. I did that. It f*cked my site up even more so I removed the file.

My question is this. My sub-pages are set up the EXACT same way as my index file. They use the same includes and call the same EXACT files. If it was a problem on my end with my index page calling files and using includes, then why do my sub-pages work fine? I get no 500 Internal Server Error on those pages, yet my index page still doesn't work and I am getting no help.

That's why I was frustrated when posting about support earlier. I'm sorry but it seems at times they just use the script issue resolution as a way to get out of actually going the extra mile to troubleshoot and help a client.

I am continuing to post on the WP site and here in the hopes that maybe someone else who has had this problem will offer some additional help. Thanks for letting me vent and thanks in advance for any help that anyone can offer.

[Ron]

Just curious -- When was the last time you saw wp working?

Check to ensure you do NOT have any PHP directives inside your .htaccess file(s).
They now belong inside your php.ini files.

[DaisyJen]

My WP worked before I went to eat dinner tonight and wasn't working when I got back from dinner.

Can you please explain a bit more regarding the PHP directives? Was there a recent change that would require this information to be in the php.ini file? If that were the case, wouldn't I get the error messages on my other pages as well? Not just my index page?

[DaisyJen]

Here's what's in my .htaccess file:

=====

AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .html .htm

# pineapple baby - comment spammer - shhhhh
RewriteCond %{HTTP:VIA} ^.+pinappleproxy
RewriteRule .* - [F]

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

# php_value max_execution_time 120

=====

I removed that and the problem still exists, so that doesn't appear to be the culprit.

[Ron]

No, the change to php-cgi wasn't recent, so that isn't likely to be your problem.

Could be something is causing an error, causing the software to take a different path which is uncovering an old error.

Time to get out the big club! Start tossing fprintf() statements into your code to narrow down where and when this is happening. Have you ever debugged a "large" application before?

You stick in the fprintf statements in a bunch of places, with unique content in their output (to a file), perhaps numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or whatever, so that you can tell how far the proggie gets before it dies.

You put them throughout the main program, then narrow it down to the line(s) of code causing the issue. If it is happeneing inside an application function, then you open up that function and do the same thing, and continue, "recursively" until you find the issue.

Can you create a file with just

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

in it in the same directory as your index page and point your browser at it?

Also, perhaps you want to check to ensure there are no extra lines at the beginning or end of your index file... any blank characters before or after the open/close tags "<? (or <?php) and ?>" may cause the same issue.

Sorry I can't just do it for you! It would probably go much more quickly, but this should be a great learning experience for you, if not an unpleasant one.

PS Be SURE to backup (make a copy) of any file you alter, before you alter it.

PPS Did you recheck the server error log in CPanel for any more clues?

[Ron]

Also, just for the heck of it, try renaming your .htaccess file to something else.

I entered your URL with /JustPokingAround on the end, and I actually got your homepage -- once. Very strange.

[Ron]

Another thought: Since I just stuck "/whateva" at the end of your URL and was treated to your homepage again, and since the .htaccess file looks like it wants to specifically rewrite that back to index.php, perhaps there is another default homepage in the directory, or some such issue?

Also perhpas a simple restart of the Apache server might fix the problem.

Just tossing out ideas.

[DaisyJen]

Thanks for the suggestions Ron! I really appreciate it. I don't think it's my mod_rewrite rules causing the problem. I tried taking them out and I still got the same error. Plus, I've had those rules in place for a few years now and no problems until yesterday.

Here is Support's latest response to me and I'm only throwing these out there in the hopes that someone else might be able to help figure out what's going on:

I have digged this issue further and the problem that I am able to identify is with the IP that was causing the issue. It appears strange but I have checked it because your website was not loading directly but when I accessed it using the temporary URL then it loaded fine. I have changed the IP of your domain and it will take couple of hours for the DNS propagation. After that the domain will start loading fine.

The reply was sent to me at 5:50 this morning and it's now 9:00 a.m. my time and the error is still present. I can access other pages on my website, I.E., http://daisyhead.org/contact-me/ so it appears that the propagation is complete but yet the error is still there. At this point I am clearly stumped as to what's causing this. All I know is that my website has been down since yesterday evening through no fault of my own. I suppose I won't get compensated for it either. Bummer.

[DaisyJen]

And now we're back to it's a WordPress issue. ARRGH!

The line 'require('./wp-blog-header.php');' is loading the page and this is the line throwing the error , but if this page is loaded directory it loads fine , please see the link below :

The funny thing is that I haven't done anything different with my WP lately. It's been running the same configuration for YEARS on the same server for YEARS and all of a sudden yesterday I start having issues.

I've also been doing some reading on the "premature end of script header" errors and it seems that this can be caused by something on the server end whether it be a configuration problem in suEXEC, mod_perl, or another third party module or RLimitCPU and RLimitMEM directives. It's just a little suspect that this all started yesterday after years of everything running fine.

[JPC-Masood]

Your WP is hitting memory limits. I have increased the process memory. You may still check with wp to make sure you have the latest/stable version.

Your site is back up.