XAMPP/Windows-Apache service starts and stops.

[mbwpgh]

The problem: Apache starts, the green running sign shows up and then stops. The XAMMP Control Panel shows Busy..... Apache Service Started, Busy......

The Apache error log is shown below.

I installed for the third time XAMPP 1.7.4 with Control Panel on my Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3. I chose version 1.7.4 because the latest version (1.7.7) did not work for me plus I was following a tutorial that used 1.7.4. The Firewall is turned off. Windows updates are turned on.

The only installed application on this machine other than XAMPP is a port reader by the name of Active Ports. Before I installed XAMPP, Active Ports reported that there are no applications using port 80. After installation of XAMPP, Active Ports reports that httpd.exe is associated with ports 80 and 443.

The Pentium III 500-CPU machine is a DELL Dimension XPS T500 with 768 MEG of RAM .

The first installation worked, but stopped working coincidentally with my fiddling around with the Windows Network Wizard. So I uninstalled XAMPP, restarted, deleted the XAMPP directory and re-installed XAMPP a second and third time with the same result each time. MySQL and FileZilla start and are running.

The Windows Event Viewer shows event 3299 and the problem was described as Apache 2.2's inability to open logs. Apache's error log is displayed below:

[Sun Oct 16 00:03:25 2011] [notice] Digest: generating secret for digest authentication ...
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:25 2011] [notice] Digest: done
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:41 2011] [notice] Apache/2.2.17 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.2.17 OpenSSL/0.9.8o PHP/5.3.4 mod_perl/2.0.4 Perl/v5.10.1 configured -- resuming normal operations
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:41 2011] [notice] Server built: Oct 18 2010 01:58:12
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:41 2011] [notice] Parent: Created child process 1228
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:47 2011] [notice] Digest: generating secret for digest authentication ...
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:47 2011] [notice] Digest: done
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:53 2011] [notice] Child 1228: Child process is running
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:53 2011] [notice] Child 1228: Acquired the start mutex.
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:53 2011] [notice] Child 1228: Starting 150 worker threads.
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:53 2011] [notice] Child 1228: Starting thread to listen on port 443.
[Sun Oct 16 00:03:53 2011] [notice] Child 1228: Starting thread to listen on port 80.
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:19 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] File does not exist: C:/xampp/htdocs/HNAP1
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:19 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] no acceptable variant: C:/xampp/apache/error/HTTP_NOT_FOUND.html.var
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:22 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] File does not exist: C:/xampp/htdocs/TEADevInfo
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:25 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] client denied by server configuration: C:/xampp/htdocs/xampp/
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:25 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] File does not exist: C:/xampp/htdocs/HNAP1
[Sun Oct 16 00:13:25 2011] [error] [client 192.168.1.152] no acceptable variant: C:/xampp/apache/error/HTTP_NOT_FOUND.html.var

Thank you for your help.

[Sharley]

Thanks for the detailed post.

Did you edit those [error] .var files?

If so then you need to replace them with the backup copies you made.

Uninstalling and reinstalling without uninstalling the XAMPP Windows services first may give this issue.

Try these instructions to uninstall then reinstall using a different method as you may be able to eliminate any sticking registry entries and see how you go,
viewtopic.php?p=179699#p179699

Good luck.

[mbwpgh]

Thanks for the reply. My original development machine is a competent Pentium III desktop where I uninstalled XAMPP via Windows Add/Remove the first time and via XAMPP's uninstall app the second. In each case I restarted, deleted the remnants of C:\XAMPP and then reinstalled. I finally solved my problem by changing my development machine to a spare HP laptop on which I re-installed Windows XP Pro, the requisite drivers, virus software, XAMPP v.1.7.4 and finally Micrsoft Works. Everything seems to work fine . I avoided 1.7.7 because 1.7.7 did not work for me in my very first attempt at installing XAMPP whereas my fisr install of 1.7.4 was successful. The laptop proves to be the better choice in that I can carry it with me to demonstrate web site design alternatives. I sure learned a lot about .conf files. One thing I think I observed is that I did not start Apache as a service instead I rely on the XAMPP control panel to manage start/stop. So the adventure continues. Now to load my web site.

[mbwpgh]

I did not edit the .var files.

[its me]

So? mbwpgh, is your problem yet live?
I saw 1.7.7 best version, it made some problems with apache starting in the beginning, but later on worked fine
did you allow services through windows firewall? even it is off, sometimes acting stupid and you need to add a rule
also find something else preventing the service from starting? antivirus or internet security software?
I think if you install it as a service it will be better for monitoring even? run > services.msc and check Apache service, right click > start, see the message, follow it...
did you install in in c:\xampp (1.7.7) version?
did you install those C++ libraries ? they are required for version 1.7.7 to work, as it is compiled using C9
I faced that and when installed those C libraries it works! just search the forums here, it is taboo

Good luck
Mike

[Sharley]

One thing I think I observed is that I did not start Apache as a service instead I rely on the XAMPP control panel to manage start/stop.

That is advisable in all XAMPP installations and should be the default when using the installer exe version for XAMPP's intended purpose of developing server related applications.

Unless you absolutely require XAMPP components to start at every boot then manual starting and stopping presents no problems and in the long run can save much time in troubleshooting vague issues and of course much hair pulling.

Also avoiding the installer .exe version and using an archive version, like the zip or 7zip versions then running the setup_xampp.bat file from the extracted xampp folder, can also avoid many auto install issues and again in the long run can be a much quicker alternative and an obvious added advantage is more control over the installation.


I take it that this topic can now be marked as solved, please let me know back to help prevent any more ill thought through advises.

Best wishes.