Update: Apparently, the problem was an incomplete upgrade. To fix it, I downloaded the latest version, re-included my modules and themes, and then went to the admin. The upgrade took all of two seconds and my error messages disappeared. Way to go, Moodle!! This change a last minute Moodle disaster into a great learning opportunity!

Ok, there are some disasters that you’re just grateful to survive. Everything is devastated, completely destroyed but you walk away and start over. Others, you have to clean up because…frankly…you have no other options. I also feel like Gimli the Dwarf in The Lord of the Rings where the elf reaches out and grabs him by the beard to save his life…saved by the hair on your chinny-chin-chin, so to speak. Now that you know my emotional state, let’s set that aside.

I was playing around with backing up a Moodle installed site–well-established with tons of data at this point–and in installing a new Moodle on the site, I must have done something wrong because I triggered an upgrade. I’m not sure what I did or how–I was working on a Mac server, not my typical Windows so I was a bit out of sorts (a warning in itself)–but I sweat through blank pages on the Moodle install.

To fix the blank pages, I had to re-do the configuration file, drop in a fresh install of Moodle (the folder), put in my favorite modules, and the site came up again. It appears to be working, my databases appear to be intact, but i get a disturbing message when I go to Moodle Admin:

I’m a bit at a loss as to what to do next short of downloading the latest Moodle, installing it, throwing my old tables into the new dbase, fixing the config file, deleting install.php and praying that it all works well.

Worse, I have to do this on a Mac (good learning experience, right?)…sigh. Any suggestions?

Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net