PHP 7.x not working with 4.2.5

[neal007]

I thought PHP 7.1 was supposed to work with 4.2.5? I see it in the members area listed as well. I just updated my forum to 4.2.5 which has the latest PHP 7.1 installed in IIS on Windows and I get a blank site with PHP 7. Went back to 5.6.30 and the site works fine.

[Mark.B]

Please disable the plugin/hook system completely:

Edit includes/config.php and add the following code:
Just below

<?php

enter

define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);

Save and re-upload.

Do you still have the same problem?

[neal007]

That does make it work, however, I need my plugins such as Tapatalk and VBSEO. (Mainly tapatalk is key).

[Mark.B]

The problem is likely to be VBSEO.
VBSEO hasn't even existed for several years, the company behind it ceased trading.

You should remove it as soon as possible as it contains unpatched security flaws. However, you need to be aware that this will change your URL structure which will cause problems with your existing search engine results.

Whilst you decide what to do, just run php 5.6.

[Maltair]

I don't have vbseo on my vb 4.2.5 forum, and when I toggle back and forth between PhP 5.6.30 or 7.0.18 the posts that are made are invisible when running PhP 7, and fine with PhP 5.6 I mean like - blank content. The title will appear on an Advanced Reply to a post, but no post itself. On a Quick Reply if PhP 7 is active, post content blank.

The forum itself is not blank - just any new posts attempted to be made while running PhP 7.

[Mark.B]

I don't have vbseo on my vb 4.2.5 forum, and when I toggle back and forth between PhP 5.6.30 or 7.0.18 the posts that are made are invisible when running PhP 7, and fine with PhP 5.6 I mean like - blank content. The title will appear on an Advanced Reply to a post, but no post itself. On a Quick Reply if PhP 7 is active, post content blank.

The forum itself is not blank - just any new posts attempted to be made while running PhP 7.

Check mod_security, that can cause the message editor to go blank.

[Wayne Luke]

Any addon that hasn't been updated to PHP 7.X, will cause problems. You will need to evaluate each of your addons and make sure they are updated.

[Paul M]

That does make it work, however, I need my plugins such as Tapatalk and VBSEO. (Mainly tapatalk is key).

VBSEO is long dead, and doesnt run on PHP 7.
I dont know about Tapatalk, you would have to contact them.

vB 4.2.5 runs quite happily on php 7.1 - but it doesnt have special magic powers to make old products and plugins work.

[Maltair]

Check mod_security, that can cause the message editor to go blank.

I looked in WHM under ModSecurity Tools, and
The Hits List is empty.
however, the Rules list is also empty - You have no rules.


Anyway, I believe I found the issue. When I disabled these two mods:

Title Tag Fetcher (Auto Replace URL with Titletag)
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=189658

and
Automatic Tagger From Message Content and Title
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=234026

the message posts seem to work fine again running php 7.

Those two mods do not affect vb 4.2.5 while running php 5.6, but they cause the problems noted when running php 7. Determined that BOTH must be disabled to eliminate issues.


Automatic Tagger is no big deal, but the external title fetcher is something that you really get used to having.

[Mark.B]

Any diagnostics should always start by disabling modifications.

The trouble with modifications is that unless they are updated by their authors, as the world moves on they will eventually break.

It is always worth checking the relevant modification thread on vBulletin.org to see if there's an updated version, or any manual fixes posted.

[Wayne Luke]

Those two mods do not affect vb 4.2.5 while running php 5.6, but they cause the problems noted when running php 7. Determined that BOTH must be disabled to eliminate issues.

PHP 7 has stricter rules on the syntax of code and how things are handled. This is why special versions of vBulletin had to be created to support it. Addons have to be updated as well.

[Maltair]

I looked in WHM under ModSecurity Tools, and
The Hits List is empty.
however, the Rules list is also empty - You have no rules.


Anyway, I believe I found the issue. When I disabled these two mods:

Title Tag Fetcher (Auto Replace URL with Titletag)
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=189658

and
Automatic Tagger From Message Content and Title
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=234026

the message posts seem to work fine again running php 7.

Those two mods do not affect vb 4.2.5 while running php 5.6, but they cause the problems noted when running php 7. Determined that BOTH must be disabled to eliminate issues.


Automatic Tagger is no big deal, but the external title fetcher is something that you really get used to having.

A programmer helped me with minor alterations to the code in these two mods such that they are both now working with vb 4.2.5 running PhP 7.

[dan325ci]

I can definitely say without a doubt that the upgrade to the forums 4.2.5 has cause several modifications to stop working. At first we also upgraded to PHP 7.0 and I thought that was the reason for the mods to suddenly stop working, but after reverting PHP back to 5.6, the mods still didn't work.....therefore, i am pretty sure it has something to do with this latest 4.2.5 update.

We have completely lost our Vbulletin IBproArcade because of this update. Several other mods such as Recaptcha v.2 do not work anymore also.

I wish there was a simple explanation for all this.

[Mark.B]

I can definitely say without a doubt that the upgrade to the forums 4.2.5 has cause several modifications to stop working. At first we also upgraded to PHP 7.0 and I thought that was the reason for the mods to suddenly stop working, but after reverting PHP back to 5.6, the mods still didn't work.....therefore, i am pretty sure it has something to do with this latest 4.2.5 update.

We have completely lost our Vbulletin IBproArcade because of this update. Several other mods such as Recaptcha v.2 do not work anymore also.

I wish there was a simple explanation for all this.

New versions of the software can and sometimes do break modifications.
This is one of the reasons you should never upgrade a live site. Always upgrade a test site first.

[Paul M]

There *is* a simple explanation.

Changes for PHP7 will break old (non compliant) code.
The Recaptcha v.2 mod is a known example, and a fix was posted in its support thread on vb.org.