Error Loading Modules MySQL server has gone away

I am running version 3.1 RC5.5 under Joomla version 1.5.21 on my own internal host.
When going to Components -> ChronoForms -> Forms Management, it pauses for a long time and then gives me the error:

"Error Loading Modules MySQL server has gone away SQL=SELECT id, title, module, position, content, showtitle, control, params FROM jos_modules AS m LEFT JOIN jos_modules_menu AS mm ON mm.moduleid = m.id WHERE m.published = 1 AND m.access <= 2 AND m.client_id = 1 ORDER BY position, ordering"

at the top of the page in red. The rest of the page then loads, but it looks like other buttons and controls are possibly missing on the page. This also happens when I try to Validate the installation of ChronosForms, which I see there is a Subscription Key Code entered, but the validation fails.

If I run this SQL code directly in phphMySQL, it executes without error taking 0.0001 seconds.

I don't know how long this has been broken, but I know the root mySQL password was changed a while back, and I was wondering if that had anything to do with it, so I changed the root password back to what I thought it was before, but Chronos still throws this error.

The site was built by someone else, and they are no longer available for consult, so I am trying to take over administering it, but I have little experience with Joomla. I was thinking of just uninstalling and reinstalling ChronosForms, but I don't know how, and I want to be able to keep the current email form intact.

Any suggestions?

Hi SWMC,

The message is usually a sign of an overloaded shared server. It's not something that typically links to a recurring problem.

A couple of things to try:

a) temporarily turn on Site Debug in the Joomla! Global Configuration. This will list all of the MySQL queries and show the timing (I think). Check the queries before and after the one in the error message and see if there is anything odd.

b) Upgrade your ChronoForms to the 3.2 release as there were some bug fixes.

Bob

After turning on site debug and navigating to the same menu item as before, it would still hang for a minute, and then display only the following, nothing more:

ChronoEngine's Tip Of the Day
Check Our Tutorials
The basic functions of Chronoforms are described in details in some tutorials, step by step with images to let you get your first form working quickly!

After turning debug off again, the rest of the form management page displays, but still with the same delay, and the same error at the top of the page.

I know you said it is usually a sign of an overloaded shared server, but neither are the case here. It is my own private server, and it is far from even being "loaded", let alone "overloaded".

Your other suggestion was to upgrade to the 3.2 release of ChronosForms. Please give me some step-by-step instructions for how to do this without losing my current form. Again, I didn't build this site, and I have little experience with Joomla. This site is in production, so I don't want to just start trying things to see what they do.

Thanks for your help.

I found the download for v3.2 under Joomla 1.5, and read the instructions on how to upgrade without uninstalling, so I took a snapshot of this virtual machine (just in case) and tried the install. The install went fine, and now under Components it shows v3.2 is installed, but I still have the same problem. I then went to "Upgrade SQL and load demo form" per the instructions. After a minute of hanging, this was displayed at the top of the page:

Upgrade went successfully

Error Loading ModulesMySQL server has gone away SQL=SELECT id, title, module, position, content, showtitle, control, params FROM jos_modules AS m LEFT JOIN jos_modules_menu AS mm ON mm.moduleid = m.id WHERE m.published = 1 AND m.access <= 2 AND m.client_id = 1 ORDER BY position, ordering

So even though it thinks the upgrade to SQL worked, there is still and error somewhere, and I can't figure out what is causing it.

Next steps?

Hi SWMC,

A slightly random thought prompted by the error message you posted. Please click the Parameters icon in the toolbar and turn off the Tip of the day. This tries to read a tip from the ChronoEngine site there and I wonder if that is putting a delay into the system or the lookup is failing.

Bob

THAT, my good man, was exactly the problem! The server was unable to contact the chrono website. When that happened it completely failed to load all the buttons along the top of the page, along with displaying the error message above. This seems like a design flaw. You told me to click the Parameters icon, but that icon didn't exist. None of them loaded because of the error, so I had no idea what Parameters icon you were talking about. On top of that, I was unable to turn off the Tip of the Day in order to troubleshoot the problem, because I couldn't find it. Now that I have the firewall issue resolved, it loads the Tip of the Day, and all the icons along the top now show up.

Thank you for your insight on what might be causing the problem. I hope that you get this bug fixed soon.

Hi SWMC,

It's an old bug rooted in the Joomla! simplepie rss code :-(

The function has been dropped in the current release of CFv4.

You can access the Parameters menu directly from this URL
administrator/index.php?option=com_config&controller=component&component=com_chronocontact&path=

Bob

Well now that my Chrono installation is functioning properly, and I have verified that email is being delivered from the OS level, I am trying to figure out why the form is not sending an email upon submission. When I go to Forms Management, the form is there, but it says "Enabled:0 Disabled:1" under the Emails section. I have gone through the form configuration and enabled email everywhere I see it, but it still shows Disabled in this field.

Any suggestions?

I will be buying you several cups of coffee for the help you have given me.

Hi SWMC,

In ChronoForms v3 it needs to be enabled on the General Tab; and on the Email Setup Properties box. And the box needs to be green rather than red. If it is red you need to make sure that you have set a Subject, To Email From Name and From Email.

Bob