mbstring extension missing?

Here is the error that is emailed about a gazillion times a day...

Warning! Dolphin cannot work without mbstring extension.
Please go to the
Dolphin Troubleshooter
and solve the problem.

Here is what it says to do....but I don't see this in the php.ini.

The default PHP installation does not always have the mb_string extension enabled, but the program requires that you run the PHP multibyte-string extension which is not enabled by default. In brief, in order to do this you will need to (in Windows):

• uncomment out the line

  extension=php_mbstring.dll
  

in the php.ini file

• ensure that the path to this file is set correctly, again in php.ini, for example:

  extension_dir = "./ext"
  

• Note that you can ensure that this file is correctly loaded by setting in php.ini:

  display_errors = on
  

• Restart your webserver, e.g. restart Apache
• You can check via phpinfo() that mbstring appears within the information page
• Here's how to do it in UNIX-based systems: http://php.net/mb_string

This is happening after upgrade from v6.1.1 all the way through to v6.1.4. I have two other sites on same server v6.1.1 that are giving this error.

Here is what my php.ini says:

[PHP]
engine = 1
zend.ze1_compatibility_mode =
short_open_tag = 1
asp_tags =
precision = 14
y2k_compliance = 1
output_buffering = 4096
zlib.output_compression =
implicit_flush =
unserialize_callback_func =
serialize_precision = 100
allow_call_time_pass_reference =
safe_mode =0
safe_mode_gid = 1
safe_mode_include_dir =
safe_mode_exec_dir =
safe_mode_allowed_env_vars = PHP_
safe_mode_protected_env_vars = LD_LIBRARY_PATH
disable_functions =
disable_classes =
highlight.string = #DD0000
highlight.comment = #FF9900
highlight.keyword = #007700
highlight.bg = #FFFFFF
highlight.default = #0000BB
highlight.html = #000000
expose_php = 1
max_execution_time = 30
max_input_time = 60
memory_limit = 24M
error_reporting = 6135
display_errors = 0
display_startup_errors = on
log_errors = 1
log_errors_max_len = 1024
ignore_repeated_errors =
ignore_repeated_source =
report_memleaks = 1
track_errors =
html_errors =
error_log = /hsphere/local/var/httpd/logs/php_error.log
variables_order = GPCS
register_globals = 0
register_long_arrays = 1
register_argc_argv = 1
post_max_size = 32M
magic_quotes_gpc = 1
magic_quotes_runtime =
magic_quotes_sybase =
auto_prepend_file =
auto_append_file =
default_mimetype = text/html
always_populate_raw_post_data = 1
http_post_data = 1
include_path = .:/hsphere/shared/apache/libexec/php5ext/php/
doc_root =
user_dir =
extension_dir = /hsphere/shared/apache/libexec/php5ext/
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 1
file_uploads = 1
upload_tmp_dir =
upload_max_filesize = 32M
allow_url_fopen = 1
default_socket_timeout = 60
auto_detect_line_endings = 1
[Syslog]
define_syslog_variables =
[mail function]
sendmail_path = /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i
mail.force_extra_parameters =
[SQL]
sql.safe_mode =
[ODBC]
odbc.allow_persistent =
odbc.check_persistent = 1
odbc.max_persistent = -1
odbc.max_links = -1
odbc.defaultlrl = 4096
odbc.defaultbinmode = 1
[MySQL]
mysql.allow_persistent =
mysql.max_persistent = -1
mysql.max_links = -1
mysql.default_port = 3306
mysql.default_socket = /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
mysql.default_host = localhost
mysql.default_user =
mysql.default_password =
mysql.connect_timeout = 60
mysql.trace_mode =
[PostgresSQL]
pgsql.allow_persistent =
pgsql.auto_reset_persistent =
pgsql.max_persistent = -1
pgsql.max_links = -1
pgsql.ignore_notice = 0
pgsql.log_notice = 0
[dbx]
dbx.colnames_case = lowercase
[bcmath]
bcmath.scale = 0
[Session]
session.save_handler = files
session.use_cookies = 1
session.name = PHPSESSID
session.auto_start = 0
session.cookie_lifetime = 0
session.cookie_path = /
session.cookie_domain =
session.serialize_handler = php
session.gc_probability = 1
session.gc_divisor = 1000
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
session.bug_compat_42 = 0
session.bug_compat_warn = 1
session.referer_check =
session.entropy_length = 0
session.entropy_file =
session.cache_limiter = nocache
session.cache_expire = 180
session.use_trans_sid = 0
session.hash_function = 0
session.hash_bits_per_character = 5
url_rewriter.tags = "a=href,area=href,frame=src,input=src,form=fakeentry"
[Assertion]
assert.active = 1
assert.warning = 1
assert.bail =
assert.callback =
assert.quiet_eval = 0
[Sockets]
sockets.use_system_read = 1
[mbstring]
mbstring.language = Japanese
mbstring.internal_encoding = EUC-JP
mbstring.http_input = auto
mbstring.http_output = SJIS
mbstring.encoding_translation =
mbstring.detect_order = auto
mbstring.substitute_character =
mbstring.func_overload = 0
[exif]
exif.encode_unicode = ISO-8859-15
exif.decode_unicode_motorola = UCS-2BE
exif.decode_unicode_intel = UCS-2LE
exif.encode_jis =
exif.decode_jis_motorola = JIS
exif.decode_jis_intel = JIS
[soap]
soap.wsdl_cache_enabled = 1
soap.wsdl_cache_dir = /tmp
soap.wsdl_cache_ttl = 86400

Can anyone see the forest through the trees?

Check the /admin/phpinfo.php to see if mbstring is enabled or not  ..... 
.

Checked the file and here it is....

<?php

require_once( '../inc/header.inc.php' );
require_once( BX_DIRECTORY_PATH_INC . 'design.inc.php' );
require_once( BX_DIRECTORY_PATH_INC . 'admin.inc.php' );

$logged['admin'] = member_auth( 1, true, true );

phpinfo();

?>

So do I add?

extension=php_mbstring.dll

call file in browser and look in configure command section for:--enable-mbstring

add line to your php.ini file

Got it Darren....Not sure what I am looking for here though....

mbstring

I double-checked the admin/phpinfo.php for the all three sites. Everything looks identical. All sites are on the same server.

CORRECTION: The error is being generated by all of the sites now. I just went and double-checked through a dozen of the emails and it is coming from all THREE of the sites. Never rec'd this error before...but they can change things on the server....ugh!

So, what do I need to fix?

To me it looks as if it is enabled. Let me know if I am on the right track.

Ok Darren....you're making me work for this one...but its all good.  "I will follow directions."

'--enable-mbstring=all'

Configure Command './configure' '--localstatedir=/var/hsphere/php' '--prefix=/hsphere/shared/php5' '--with-bz2=/usr' '--enable-ctype' '--enable-dba' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-zip' '--enable-shared' '--with-gettext=/usr' '--enable-mbstring=all' '--with-gd' '--with-mhash' '--with-mcrypt' '--with-mime_magic=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/magic' '--with-openssl=/usr' '--enable-overload' '--enable-posix' '--enable-session' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-standard' '--enable-tokenizer' '--with-xsl' '--with-zip=/usr' '--with-zlib=/usr' '--with-zlib-dir=/usr' '--with-freetype' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-png' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-jpeg=/usr' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr/lib' '--with-expat' '--with-iconv' '--with-pspell' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-ttf' '--enable-mbstr-enc-trans' '--with-expat-dir=/usr' '--with-gnu-ld' '--with-curl=/usr' '--with-curlwrappers' '--with-xml' '--with-dom=/usr' '--with-dom-xslt=/usr' '--with-dom-exslt=/usr' '--with-domxml=/usr' '--with-fileinfo' '--with-gmp=/usr' '--with-imap=/usr' '--with-imap-ssl' '--with-kerberos' '--with-mnogosearch=/hsphere/shared/mnogosearch' '--with-mysql' '--with-mysqli' '--with-pdo-mysql' '--with-pdo-mysqli' '--with-pdo-sqlite' '--with-pgsql=/usr' '--with-sqlite' '--with-unixODBC=/usr' '--enable-track-vars' '--enable-trans-sid' '--enable-memory-limit' '--enable-force-cgi-redirect' '--enable-fastcgi' '--with-config-file-path=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/php5' '--with-config-file-scan-dir=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/php5/php.d' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--with-pear=/hsphere/shared/apache/libexec/php5ext/php' '--with-inifile' '--with-flatfile' '--with-xmlrpc' '--with-xslt-sablot=/hsphere/shared'

So, this means it is enabled?

Hey BlazeKing....

OK...so (for me) it appears that mbstring is enabled....I am asking for someone with more knowledge than I to look at my info here....And if mine is enabled....then why in the world am I STILL getting this zillion emails stating the error, ANYONE?

Details on what to check:

In a browser window, open http://www.yoursite.com/admin/phpinfo.php

or if you installed in another directory, http://ww.yoursite.com/directory/admin/phpinfo.php

Then when that page opens in your browser....look for the box with Configure Command in it....look in the box next to it to see if you can find '--enable-mbstring=all' '--with-gd' '--with-mhash' '--with-mcrypt'

I believe that this tells us that we have the mbstring enabled.

Soooooooo, if it is enabled why is this error being generated.

Help pleeeeease....

lrepton,

how bout doing a recompile of php and see if that does anything for you? there are some crazy errors being thrown out here the past couple of days. i just posted on the one that the guy said he was getting an email that the site could not run with safe_mode on, but has checked and safe_mode is off. this is just insane, and i would think that a recompile would sort this some.

later,

DosDawg

Can someone double check this for me?

V6.1.4

Hey DosD,

I tried to find out how to recompile http://us3.php.net/manual/en/install.php

But it is Greek to me...I am not sure what I should do here....

Also...yea I am getting some error emails that I haven't seen before.

Running on a shared server....do I ask the host to recompile?

~~ Lorren

lrepton,

i would be glad to look at your phpinfo() however, you have to put it somewhere else besides in the admin directory. public cant access that.

later,

DosDawg

Ok....let me copy it....sorry about that. I'll PM you with it....

Thanks DD,

~~ Lorren

Details on what to check:

In a browser window, open http://www.yoursite.com/admin/phpinfo.php

Ok I get a white screen when I go here, and this is in /var/log/messages:

Aug 20 14:45:24 servername httpd: PHP Warning:  require_once(../inc/header.inc.php) [<a href='function.require-once'>function.require-once</a>]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /etc/dolphin/admin/phpinfo.php on line 21
Aug 20 14:45:24 servername httpd: PHP Fatal error:  require_once() [<a href='function.require'>function.require</a>]: Failed opening required '../inc/header.inc.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/pear:/usr/share/php') in /etc/dolphin/admin/phpinfo.php on line 21

Line 21 of /etc/dolphin/admin/phpinfo.php calls for '../inc/header.inc.php', which doesn't exist.

Well, there is a file with that name at /etc/dolphin/orca/inc/header.inc.php.

To get the install page (http://10.2.1.108/install/index.php) to show, I have to comment out 'mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');' from /etc/dolphin/install/index.php.

Right now I am on hold with Host Chat....I have asked them to recompile php.

They asked me why? I told them about the error emails stating that the mbstring extension is missing....

I'll keep ya posted. DD is also going to look take a peek at my phpinfo.php file to determine that I have the mbstring enabled.

Then ... we'll see what needs to be done next.

Am I going nuts here or something....when talking to host chat they keep asking me:

"Would you,please, specify, what mbstring extension you need to be on?"

This after I ask them to recompile php. Is there something specific that I should tell them I am looking for other than what has been spoke of in this post? UGH>

Now the host server is asking:

"Could you please specify what changes should be done"

Isn't it just as easy as asking them to "recompile php?" They have access to phpinfo.php

i am copying this from my phpinfo and sending it through here. i do not have install issues as this server is set up to

run this script.

PHP 4.3.6 and higher (safe_mode must be Off, exec() must be allowed and allow_url_fopen also must be On) with mbstring, domxml and xsl extensions (they are required to run Orca forum and support UTF-8)

this is from technical requirements for dolphin from the dolphin wiki install.

mbstring

lrepton,

i just read several posts related to mbstring as well as safe mode being off or on. this is what i have come up with as a best synopsis.

This has to be configured during compilation of PHP. The ini settings are irrelevant if the extension is not loaded.

'./configure' '--enable-bcmath' '--enable-calendar' '--enable-dbase' '--enable-exif' '--enable-fastcgi' '--enable-force-cgi-redirect' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--enable-libxml' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--enable-mbstring' '--enable-pdo=shared' '--enable-soap' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-wddx' '--enable-zend-multibyte' '--enable-zip' '--prefix=/usr/local' '--with-apxs2=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs' '--with-bz2' '--with-curl=/opt/curlssl/' '--with-curlwrappers' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-gd' '--with-gettext' '--with-imap=/opt/php_with_imap_client/' '--with-imap-ssl=/usr' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-kerberos' '--with-libexpat-dir=/usr' '--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2' '--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2/' '--with-mcrypt=/opt/libmcrypt/' '--with-mhash=/opt/mhash/' '--with-mime-magic' '--with-mm=/opt/mm/' '--with-mysql=/usr' '--with-mysql-sock=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' '--with-mysqli=/usr/bin/mysql_config' '--with-openssl=/usr' '--with-openssl-dir=/usr' '--with-pdo-mysql=shared' '--with-pdo-sqlite=shared' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-pspell' '--with-sqlite=shared' '--with-tidy=/opt/tidy/' '--with-ttf' '--with-xmlrpc' '--with-xpm-dir=/usr/X11R6' '--with-xsl=/opt/xslt/' '--with-zlib' '--with-zlib-dir=/usr'

'--enable-mbstring=all'

Configure Command './configure' '--localstatedir=/var/hsphere/php' '--prefix=/hsphere/shared/php5' '--with-bz2=/usr' '--enable-ctype' '--enable-dba' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-zip' '--enable-shared' '--with-gettext=/usr' '--enable-mbstring=all' '--with-gd' '--with-mhash' '--with-mcrypt' '--with-mime_magic=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/magic' '--with-openssl=/usr' '--enable-overload' '--enable-posix' '--enable-session' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-standard' '--enable-tokenizer' '--with-xsl' '--with-zip=/usr' '--with-zlib=/usr' '--with-zlib-dir=/usr' '--with-freetype' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-png' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-jpeg=/usr' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr/lib' '--with-expat' '--with-iconv' '--with-pspell' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-ttf' '--enable-mbstr-enc-trans' '--with-expat-dir=/usr' '--with-gnu-ld' '--with-curl=/usr' '--with-curlwrappers' '--with-xml' '--with-dom=/usr' '--with-dom-xslt=/usr' '--with-dom-exslt=/usr' '--with-domxml=/usr' '--with-fileinfo' '--with-gmp=/usr' '--with-imap=/usr' '--with-imap-ssl' '--with-kerberos' '--with-mnogosearch=/hsphere/shared/mnogosearch' '--with-mysql' '--with-mysqli' '--with-pdo-mysql' '--with-pdo-mysqli' '--with-pdo-sqlite' '--with-pgsql=/usr' '--with-sqlite' '--with-unixODBC=/usr' '--enable-track-vars' '--enable-trans-sid' '--enable-memory-limit' '--enable-force-cgi-redirect' '--enable-fastcgi' '--with-config-file-path=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/php5' '--with-config-file-scan-dir=/hsphere/local/config/httpd/php5/php.d' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--with-pear=/hsphere/shared/apache/libexec/php5ext/php' '--with-inifile' '--with-flatfile' '--with-xmlrpc' '--with-xslt-sablot=/hsphere/shared'

now as you can see there is a difference, and you should just ask them to recompile php as you think there is a problem with the first compiliation. its not like this does not happen frequently. if they dont want to work with you, then i would bug off and find a new host.

later,

DosDawg

Yep...got all that. I have not had any of these errors until the day I posted. Two of the sites were running fine. My host has now stopped the errors from the V6.1.4 site. The other two sites V6.1.1 are still throwing the email errors.

This is what mine says:

mbstring

i think i found it, take a look at this encoding should be utf-8 i believe yours is setup for japanese. ask your host about this.

Directive Local Value Master Value

mbstring.detect_order auto auto

mbstring.encoding_translation Off Off

mbstring.func_overload 0 0

mbstring.http_input auto auto

mbstring.http_output SJIS SJIS

mbstring.internal_encoding EUC- JPEUC-JP

mbstring.language neutral neutral

mbstring.strict_detection Off Off

mbstring.substitute_character no value no value

now looking at mine i see this:

Directive Local Value Master Value

mbstring.detect_order no value no value

mbstring.encoding_translation Off Off

mbstring.func_overload 0 0

mbstring.http_input pass pass

mbstring.http_output pass pass

mbstring.internal_encoding no value no value

mbstring.language neutral neutral

mbstring.script_encoding no value no value

mbstring.strict_detection Off Off

mbstring.substitute_character no value no value

just something to look into.

later,

DosDawg

kept looking so i wanted to post this.

PHP Bugs: #23016: mbstring script_encoding and ...

Can anyone give me some insight here on this one?

How can the php.ini file be the same (on same server) and two websites are throwing this email error while one other site does not throw this error?

How can this be? The sites giving error are v6.1.1 and the ssite not giving error is v6.1.4.

I have been going at this for hours now....

This is response from host when asked to recompile php:

"As you have new server on which php installed as cgi module I may only recreate cgi-bin folder where php-cgi modules are located"

Will this fix issue?

Yes... Dos I saw that also BUT and its a big but, all three sites have the SAME php.ini and only two are throwing errors. And it does say Japanese in there.

I showed host your file as compared to mine.

NOW, the host is saying that it is the Cron jobs that are creating the error.

So here is the deal.....

The host's server died a week or so ago...

I had to re-upload all of my sites by backup.

I was performing a new install of Dolphin and went to do the cron jobs. THER WERE NO CRON JOBS LISTED.

Host said to re-create them....so I typed in the cron jobs from prior install.

GUESS WHAT? The paths were very different from the latest Dolphin install on the server.

I have since changed the cron jobs to reflect the paths created by the latest install of Dolphin.

They don't appear to be throwing the email errors anymore. (Three hours later on tech chat.)

A lesson to all for sure, and thanks to DosDawg who spent time looking through the php code.

In future, any email errors...CHECK THE CRON PATHS!!!!!!!

lrepton,

thats what we are here for man, to try to help each other out. if any would like to review my site and give me some feedback on it, it would be greatly appreciated. to those who dont know my url, just ask somebody in here, so i dont get accused of shameless advertising. LOL

later,

DosDawg

Hi There,

This probably comes in late....but better late than never.

I was experiencing the same error you had, however i had a VPS account so i could change all the settings.

Ended up realizing it was a problem with the Crob Jobs and the fact that I was running PHP as an Apache Module, instead of a CGI.

I posted this as a separate topic, but I'm putting it here for convenience....

Hi There,

I came across an issue with my Crob Jobs. I fixed it (i think...????) so just wanted to share if anyone else is experiencing the same issue.

I'm running dolphin on a linux box in which php was installed as an Apache Module, instead of a separate CGI.

Very important clarification here...

Once I installed the software, I added the 3 separate cron jobs. (cmd.php, cupid.php, notifies.php).

The instructions said to add each path with the "/usr/bin/php -q" before the path to each of the cron job files to run.

Example: 0 0 * * *  /usr/bin/php -q /var/www/html/dolphin/periodic/cmd.php

Apparently, "/usr/bin/php -q" only works when you are running PHP as a CGI, not an Apache module.

As a result, i was being emailed every hour (and ten minutes) a message saying that I was missing my "mbstring" extension...when I had already verified that the extension was added on compile.

Solution??

I had to install "lynx", a browser for linux, go to the crob jobs and add each cron job as if lynx was accessing each page. Example:

lynx -dump http://208.84.148.186/dolphin/periodic/cmd.php

Once i did this, I realized it wasn't working yet, because there's an .htaccess file in the "dolphin/periodic" folder which denies access to all .php files.

So i ended up renaming the .htaccess to something else ("donotuse.htaccess.donotuse"), and voila!!

The cron jobs run....and are sending me meaninful information instead of the "missing mbstrings" crap which I already knew i had installed.

Now...I don't know what is the impact of not having a working .htaccess file in that directory.....is this a high security risk? will someone come and hack my site?

Bueller? anyone? anyone? Bueller?

What do you think?