Invalid Login Following Upgrading 4.12 > 4.2, Bummer Options

[Rad1]

hi.

been using mt since 2.63 (sumer '03)

following upgrade to 4.2 from 4.12, i now get "Invalid login" (been using same login info for years.)

modified my upgrade method this time, which has obviously caused problems.

instead of overwriting files in directory /mt, i created a new directory > /mt42 (in /cgi-bin).

then i installed all new mt v4.2 files to this new directory (/mt42).

ran the installer no problem for /mt42, while leaving /mt alone.

i saw the installer do all its upgrade magic, such as "upgrading database" .. etc.

for this "upgrade," i pointed the mt 4.2 installer to the original database (via config file).

following the 'upgrade from /mt42, i could access and use mt fine .. (from the /mt42 directory).

then i RENAMED the original/old directory to mt_old (from "mt", and also renamed /mt42 to "mt" and changed the config file to reflect this change.

thot this would be the same as upgrading.

afterwards i was NOT able to log into mt .. getting error msg mentioned above (invalid login).

i have tried many things to try to fix this, including re-installs, but nothing works.

the only thing i CAN do (successfully) at this point is to install mt v4.2 to a NEW directory using a NEW database .. which is my last resort.

can someone tell me how to regain control of the entries in the origial database? which i can no longer access from mt??

any insight appreciated. i am willing to test/try anything. (kinda desperate.)

http://mt4.radified.com/

here is my new blog, based on mt v4.2: http://mtos.radified.com/

but i have no access to entries made with 4.12

This post has been edited by Rad1: Aug 23 2008, 01:14 PM

[OtherNiceMan]

If you look in the database can you see the user you are trying to log in as?

[Rad1]

Hi. Thx for responding.

I have a VPS with WHM/cPanel, so I can access anything .. tho knowing HOW is where I need help.

You are referring to the MySQL database? The log-in and password for the MySQL database is different from the one I use to access (log into) MT.

If you mean the MySQL database, I'm guessing phpMyAdmin would the best way, no?

I looked around in phpMyAdmin (for my MT4 database), but saw nothing like what you mentioned. (I saw 38 tables there.)

If you tell me where to look, I will.

This post has been edited by Rad1: Aug 24 2008, 10:34 AM

[OtherNiceMan]

In your MySQL database there is a table called mt_author. The account you are logging in under should be listed there.

[Rad1]

Thanks again. (You really are nice.)

Okay, yes I *can* see both author_name and author_nickname. They are both the same and are the name I am using to log-in (and have been using for years).

(Am able to see/access this data when I click the EDIT icon.)

I will note that NEITHER the author_password nor the author_api_password are the passwords I created or use. (I suspect they are encrypted.)

Are you suggesting I try the author_api_password listed there?

After we figure out the current mess, perhaps you can tell me why my modified upgrade method does not (will not) work. It is the same method I use to upgrade the forums:

http://mt4.radified.com/2008/07/upgraded-c...etin-board.html

I suspect this is cuz the forums do not use a database. (YaBB uses a Perl flat-file system.) Am I correct? I like to understand how (& why) things work.

UPDATE: I tried both passwords. Neither one works. Same error message.

This post has been edited by Rad1: Aug 24 2008, 12:48 PM

[OtherNiceMan]

The passwords are encrypted versions so that would not work. the api password is your web services password.

You could try blanking the author_password, first I would run CHECK TABLE to see if it reports any problem.

Today I did two upgrades, one 4.1 - 4.21 and one 3.3 - 4.21, both I just copied the new install over the old. Only problem was I forgot that I had modified bootstrap.pm for the first install so got a 500 error when copied the files for the second.

If you rename the folder back to mt42 can you log in?

[Rad1]

Renamimg back to /42 was one of the first things I tried. (Which didn't work).

I have since deleted that particular installation directory, choosing to keep rather the original 4.12 installation.

So I changed /mt to /mt_old, then changed it back to /mt, and deleted the upgraded installation directory that I used to upgrade to v4.2

Took me a while to find the CHECK TABLE for mt_author.

Op check
Msg_type status
Msg_text OK

Looks good, right?

Can you spell-out for me by what you by "blanking" the author_password?

I'm guessing you mean to remove all characters for that record in the EDIT window, yes?

Re: http://www.composing-stick.net/2008/08/updates.html

Is there a meaningful difference between v4.2 and 4.21?

What do you think if I overwrite current files with v4.21 files? .. and try upgrading/fixing that way? Or should I first try to fix current problem?

This post has been edited by Rad1: Aug 24 2008, 02:47 PM

[OtherNiceMan]

IIRC 4.21 has a major bug fix for upgrading installations with Custom fields.

Check table result looks ok.

Yes I mean deleting the password in mySQL, alternatively you can run this

CODE

UPDATE mt_author SET author_password = encrypt('NEWPASSWORD') WHERE author_name = 'USERNAME';

In phpMyAdmin and set the password to a new password.

[Rad1]

I tried deleting the author_password as you suggested.

I no longer get the invalid login error, but it does not take me into the blog's admin page. It simply keeps me at /mt.cgi with the log-in window remaining.

Any more ideas?

[OtherNiceMan]

Have you tried setting a new password using the SQL in my last post?

[Rad1]

No, as I am not very SQL-savvy. I would've asked you how with more detail, but I got it to work again:

Congratulations, you have successfully upgraded to Movable Type 4.21.

Upgraded the install to 4.21 using the old method I used to use ... overwriting old files with new using Linux command-line > cp -Rf .. etc. (I have a VPS.)

I just want to make sure you know how much I appreciate your help. (You were the ONLY one.)

I have a little problem with my VPS (uses Perl 5.8.8) in that I have to use the absolute directory path for "strict" .. for all 13 *.cgi files in /mt directory.

Someone (maybe you?) said I could get around this by simply editing Bootstrap.pm .. but this does not work for me.

And if I leave Bootstrap.pm edited with absolute directory path .. I get error:

Got an error: Error opening file '/mt-config.cgi': No such file or directory

I have to returned itr to normal default config and edit all 13 *.cgi files.

Took me a week or so of playing around to get that figured out.

Now I know what NOT to do.

This post has been edited by Rad1: Sep 2 2008, 03:22 PM

[OtherNiceMan]

Glad it is working again.

Do you mean you needed to hard code the MT Home environmental variable or the #!path at the top of the scripts?

[Rad1]

I mean this fix worked:

http://orangescale.net/log/2007/10/movable...bject-is-empty/

.. and no other would.

reference: http://forums.sixapart.com/index.php?showtopic=65176

From what I can gather, it might have something to do with a VPS running Perl 5.8.8