Problem with xampp - Apache

[Izzy]

What do you see when you type http://localhost/xampp/index.php in your browser?

[supercat]

Browser cannot resolve to the page.

[Izzy]

Faulting application httpd.exe, version 2.2.11.0, time stamp 0x493f5d44, faulting module php5ts.dll, version 5.2.9.9, time stamp 0x49a56925, exception code 0xc00000fd, fault offset 0x00151f03, process id 0x15e0, application start time 0x01ca6a38aa69106d.

Susan, these forum search results may give some ideas for troubleshooting this like checking that you are using the correct php.ini file - look for php.ini files on your PC and rename or delete any you find that are not in the \xampp\php folder in 1.7.1+ XAMPP versions, then try again.

Some one else had success by copying the php5ts.dll to other locations mentioned in the search results.

Others had success by rebooting their PC, so as you can see the answers are varied indeed.

I have not been able to find a definitive solution for this.

If you can access phpMyAdmin before Apache crashes by using the http://localhost/phpmyadmin URI then you may be able to access http://localhost/xampp/phpinfo.php file to check the Loaded Configuration File (php.ini) setting.

Also try making a copy of the Drupal folder out of the xampp folder then deleting it and testing your XAMPP installation again - this is to isolate Drupal as the possible cause of this issue - you can reinstate the copy after testing.


A couple of Google links that may also give some ideas as this seems to have affected not only Drupal but also Wordpress.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=drupal+php5ts.dll
http://www.google.com/search?q=wordpress+php5ts.dll

This issue was very evident in 1.7.0 of XAMPP and for that there was a fix here:
viewtopic.php?p=136705#p136705
But I thought that this was fixed in 1.7.1

Perhaps a more definitive solution may be provided by an XAMPP for Windows developer if your topic is spotted.

Sorry I can't be of more help Susan.

[supercat]

Thanks for this information. My problem is still not resolved, but here's what I've tried so far....

1. Searched for "php.ini" files in other locations on my computer other than \xampp\php (yes my Xampp version is 1.7.1). Only found a file called "my.ini" sitting inside Windows. Deleted it. Restarted. Tried to browse to localhost. Same error message "Apache server stopped working" (even though Xampp Control thinks that apache and sql are running!). At the CMD prompt I ran php -v, php -m and php --ini (which is how I found the "my.ini" file!). Versions and modules appeared to be as expected.

2. Couldn't find the reference in the link provided above that mentioned copying php5ts.dll to "other" locations. I have two php5ts.dll files: apache\bin\php5ts.dll and apache\php\php5ts.dll. What "other" locations might I be copying to or from?

3. Yes I can access http://localhost/phpmyadmin/index.php. You mentioned to check the Loaded Configuration File setting. How do I do this from the phpMyAdmin? It does not seem obvious where this is.

4. Reviewed the information about the bug fix for Xampp 1.7.0, but somewhat leary about downloading a bug fix for an older version of Xampp to fix 1.7.1. Won't this mess up the newer version?

5. Checked out the Google links you provided. This one seemed similar to my issue: http://www.issociate.de/board/post/4977 ... s.dll.html. However, I couldn't follow - as in understand - the solution used:

Okay, found the problem; it's with simplexml_load_string() and with some bad code.

simplexml_load_string() under 5.2.8 will return a proper SimpleXMLElement
object from a non-UTF-16-encoded bit of XML, even though the XML says that it
*is* encoded with UTF-16.

Under 5.2.9+, simplexml_load_string() tosses a warning and returns FALSE.

Apache was crashing because a poorly written SimpleXMLtoArray() function was
recursively calling itself without checking the arguments first. I suspect it
simply ran out of memory, but I didn't step through it enough times to verify.

Here's a bit of code that can reproduce the "problem":

$xmlstr = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><foo
xmlns="http://www.foo.com/service"><bar name="foobar"></bar></foo>';
$xml = simplexml_load_string( $xmlstr, "SimpleXMLElement", LIBXML_NOCDATA );

Why the change in encoding-handling between the PHP versions? I

I tried to find the simplexml_load_string() line. Where might I find this?

6. The option I've been putting off because of what feels like the complexity it threatens - moving the Drupal folder out of Xampp. I'm going to try this tomorrow when my brain is more refreshed. I'm figuring I'll have to change the httpd.conf and vhosts files to make this work.

I'll check back Monday, November 23.

[Izzy]

3. Yes I can access http://localhost/phpmyadmin/index.php. You mentioned to check the Loaded Configuration File setting. How do I do this from the phpMyAdmin? It does not seem obvious where this is.

...you may be able to access http://localhost/xampp/phpinfo.php file to check the Loaded Configuration File (php.ini) setting.

Because you can access phpMyAdmin then one has to suspect your Drupal installation, in the htdocs folder, is the cause of your issue - so it may be worth trying again, after first removing all traces of Drupal, to access XAMPP in the default "out of the box" state.

If this is possible, to access XAMPP in it's "out of the box" state, then reinstall Drupal and see if you get your issue return, then you can safely say that Drupal is at fault.

I know the above reset will be a hassle but until you can isolate the cause of your issue then you will be forever going round in circles and wasting so much of your precious time and effort.

BTW if I recall correctly, your XAMPP installation did work just fine before you installed Drupal.
So double check all the configuration setting you changed in XAMPP and those in Drupal are indeed not hindering your progress, especially those in the Apache configuration files and any MySQL database configuration settings.