CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

I've been reviewing the boards and doesn't seem to be anything on this issue, so my apologies, if this is already covered.

I've been through about 6 installation attempts so far and here's the results:

I do a clean install of J 2.5.4 - and log into admin - everything's great - no sample data (tried that later w/ same result)
- Upload CiviCRM to tmp dir and unzip from cpanel - got the tmp\com_civicrm folder
- Extension manager ->Install from Dir
- White screen w/ a bunch of error messages (here's an excerpt-I'll post the whole thing if you wish - about 15 lines of error messages) -- "Cannot execute CREATE TABLE `civicrm_option_value` ( `id` int unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT 'Option ID', `option_group_id` int unsigned NOT NULL COMMENT 'Group which this option belongs to.', .........."
- I follow the troubleshooting guidelines "If the CiviCRM component does not install correctly (for example you get a blank screen instead of the confirmation page), delete the ~/components/com_civicrm and ~/administrator/components/com_civicrm and ~/media/civicrm directories manually and then try each of the following before attempting to reinstall:"
- I delete the three folders and re-install and - Installation Successful! - but maybe not.
- Go to components --> civicrm - now have a white screen error message "Fatal DB error, exiting, seems like your schema does not have civicrm_setting table"
- Look in SQL, sure enough, no civicrm_setting table.
- I've also made sure the htaccess and php.ini have the declarations specified in the Installation to increase memory to 128 M (my hosting service default and 600 for max execution time.

Since I started on this a yesterday I've tried various things, including deleting the three re-installing again - reinstalling J 2.5.4 with clean install, deleting the entire database and starting form scratch again. I also tried deleting the Civicrm prefixed tables, to try to make Civicrm setup the structure again - and I've just ended up with worse issues and have to re-install J 2.5.4 and delete the database again.

I haven't tried the uninstall before manually deleting the three folders. 

Curious however, each install creates another component with a different ID number, so I have had up to 3 Civicrm components - none of which work.  I even went into the SQL tables and deleted those entries so they wouldn't show in the menu, but that also seemed to cause other database problems - those entries must be linked elsewhere - and had to re-install joomla again.

Sorry for the long post, but that's it ... I'm at a loss of where to go from here, and the support seems like its still pretty thin on J2.5.4.  I'm considering going back to 1.7 to install Civicrm, then upgrade joomla, to see if it works - there goes another 1/2 day of fritzing around.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

Do you actually have MySQL 5.0.32 ? That version is not supported. CiviCRM requires "MySQL 5.1.x+ with InnoDB support" as per http://civicrm.org/aboutcivicrm

Just got a reply from the hosting service that they will not be upgrading the MySQL as it will affect everyone on their servers.
They probably won't support Innodb either.

Off to find a new host service ...

Thanks for the help guys!

Hey Guys,

Got a new hosting service and the install of J2.5.4 and CiviCRM 4.1.2 worked first time without any problems whatsoever. 

In the process I found several other hosting services don't support Innodb, and are not in any rush to do so, and some don't even know what it is.  (I'm no expert, but I can take a few minutes to read a wiki and figure it out a bit.  This is supposed to be their business and they don't know what INNODB is!)

My recommendation to anyone having problems with installing is to DO YOUR HOMEWORK, and follow the first piece of advice on the Installation Page
"Before beginning the install process, please verify that your server meets the requirements for CiviCRM 4.1." ... my bad, I just assumed my host would have the requirements.    So I hope my experience helps someone else!


Here's the results of my homework:
I didn't find ANY hosting service that posted the specs that you *NEED* to know if you want to run CiviCRM.  You have to contact them!
Most sites that I emailed to try to get info regarding their specs, did not actually read my email and just gave me a blanket "yeah we do that stuff" kind of answer.

You have to press them with specifics - I had to email back to several and tell them "They didn't read my first mail and I need to know..." 
One host was still running MySQL 4.x and wanted an extra $5/month to upgrage!!!    WTF!?? Go pound sand!
Another hosting service response to my inquiry about INNODB was (and I quote) "Thanks for your email, we have checked and we do not have INNODB.  We also do not have any experience with this particular program, and unfortunately, have no suggestions.  My apologies for the inconvenience." (end quote)
"...that program "   I bet they run that other program too! what's it called ... Linux or something!  Jeez, I'd have a lot of confidence contacting their support department! 

Anyway, I finally found a hosting service that had all the requirements, answered my questions intelligently, and cost less than the $5 "upgrade" for MySQL 5.1.x that one company wanted.  The install of J2.5.4 and CiviCRM went smooth as silk!
Final word.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Oh ... Herschel, I think there's two pages out there that give different mem requirements.  This one:
http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC41/Joomla+Installation+Guide+for+CiviCRM+4.1
says 64M in the "Trouble Shooting Resources" section.  I did see the other one that says 128 M but I can't seem to find it again at the moment.

Thanks again guys!

Herschel - Yup, that was the one I saw.  Always good to have consistency!