PHP/MySQL server help.

[Spike]

I'm just reinstalling my test server here, and I've hit a minor snag. I've installed the latest apache with PHP5 and MySQL5. I'm trying to install phpMyAdmin 2.8.0.2 now, but it's having none of it.

The error I'm getting from phpmyadmin is

Cannot load mysqli extension. Please check your PHP configuration. - Documentation

Obviously I've neglected something or screwed up somehow, but I'm at a loss as to where. Could anybody give me some manner of checklist for this issue, or simply the answer if it's obvious to you, because clearly, it's not so obvious to me

Edit: Oh god!. now it won't even load phpinfo. There's no error message, and I know php is working because phpmyadmin reports the error.

This is just nuts.

 

[Nodsu]

What OS are we talking about here? You are probably missing some PHP components. Like the mysql part of it. In Linux or such, you should look for a "php-mysql" or simlarly named package.

 

[Spike]

Its only a testing server, so plain old XPSP2.

Both the php_mysql and the php_mysqli dlls are present in the extensions folder.

I'm going to have to spend the next few moments reinstalling it all, because to the best of my knowledge, the only reason a phpinfo page would be blank is a parsing error, and so it would be easier than tracking down the error itself. That said, I've already encountered my problem with this twice now, so I know I'll have it a third time.

Seems that unlike PHP4, PHP5 doesn't load the MySQL extentions "out of the box" so to speak. I'll check the PHP.ini file in my windows directory for the fifth or sixth time, but if I don't see what I'm looking for I'm lost. lol.

One day someone will write an installer that installs this lot automatically . It's a pain in the proverbial backside when it doesn't go to plan.

Edit: Ok, I've just re-installed php from scratch and had a bit of a play with it. phpinfo() works again, and I know what happened to it - for some reason phpinfo reports the php.ini to be in c:\Windows, and there is no such file there. When you place a copy of the file there, it all goes horribly wrong and phpinfo() no longer works.

I read something where someone had a similar problem to mine with loading MySQL, and the solution that worked for him was to place a copy of PHP.ini in the apache\bin folder. Unfortunately, when I do this I can't use phpinfo() again, getting a blank page instead.

Soooo, to recap.

WinXPSP2 Pro
Freshly installed latest apache server
Freshly installed MySQL5
Freshly installed PHP5 that reports that it's getting its config from a file that doesn't exist where it says it is.
phpMyAdmin (latest) reports that it can neither load MySQL, or MySQLi.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Maybe you like this package: it installs Apache/PHP/MySQL (and Joomla=Mambo) all in one go (under Windows).
http://developer.joomla.org/sf/frs/do/viewRelease/projects.joomlasolutions/frs.jsas.jsas_1_0_3

Once installed, you have to teach your firewall to allow port 85 out for TCP on loopback.
Otherwise it works like a charm.

 

[Spike]

That's pretty cool RBS I'll give that a try soon because I've been thinking about creating a site around Joomla for a little while now. No phpMyAdmin though? Very useful, thanks!

Unfortunately though, this server installation of mine here should have worked fine to the best of my knowledge, and its refusal to do what I'm trying to tell it to do is just getting me more determined to get it working, being the stubborn person I can sometimes be with such things, and so I've got to get this thing working first for the sake of my sanity. Surely it shouldn't be THIS difficult?

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Why do you want to re-invent the wheel?
Delete what you did, and install the package that I advised, it includes everything you want/need!

There is an easy user-interface, (incl. PHP/MyAdmin).
You start the whole lot with one double-click and you can stop the whole lot with one click. How much easier do you want it?

 

[Spike]

It's not so much re-inventing the wheel RBS - it's just that I've installed and configured a webserver such as this before, it's a fairly common thing to do, and I can't for the life of me understand why I can't do it now. That's the sort of problem that tends to really eat at me for some reason. It really doesn't help that there's a bit of a mysterious element to this as well, where it's reading a config from a file that doesn't exist, and won't read it when it does exist.

To be honest it's just one of those little and meaningless issues that drives me absolutely insane untill I get it right or admit deafeat - which often isn't as soon as I'd like. lol

Even I have to admit that my reasons are crazy, but I just know myself too well. lol. I won't forget about this one for ages unless I know what it is. Even once I've installed the package on your link, I'll still be looking back to my apache and trying to get it running.

 

[Spike]

Ah well. Time to admit defeat on this I think.

I dare say I'll stumble upon the answer at somepoint in the future. Thanks guys