Author Archives: The Amixa Web Guru

iPhone iPad Find My Friends ME photo picture is missing

Random Bits

Are you having an issue with the FIND MY FRIENDS app not showing your photo?

I am on IOS 7.x and have this problem on two phones.  This is how I solved this issue.

Here are several steps to remedy this:

  1. under Settings->Mail, Contacts, Calendars go to “My Info” (near the bottom) and select a contact you’ve created for yourself under CONTACTS.  If you don’t have a contact, create one.  Take a pic and assign it to the contact.  This probably won’t be the pic that will be used in the FIND MY FRIENDS, but put one there anyway
  2. Go to settings, then select General, select Siri, then click on “my info” and choose yourself from the contact’s list
  3. This should be the final fix.  Go to settings>Facebook and delete the account info (no need to delete app) then sign in again and verify and when you log in to find my friends your face book profile picture should be there. Make sure you’ve selected your info in settings so your own contact shows “me”.
  4. Quit out of all apps, launch FIND MY FRIENDS and see if your picture shows up.

The above solution fixed two of my iPhones which are on IOS 7.X

 

 

Leave a comment , ,

MS SQL Server MAINTENANCE CLEANUP TASK job failure and how to fix it!

Microsoft SQL Server MSSQL

If you get this maintenance plan error for MAINTENANCE CLEANUP TASK within your error logs and your maintenance jobs are under Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) I have an easy fix for you.

This is the error: 

Executing the query “EXECUTE master.dbo.xp_delete_file 0,N”,N”,N’2014…” failed with the following error: “Error executing extended stored procedure: Invalid Parameter”. Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, “ResultSet” property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly.

 

Make sure the following fields are completed (file path) and that you are using *.* in the extension.

SQL ISSUE

Leave a comment , ,

How to migrate WordPress 3.X from one domain to another

IIS Tips & Tricks, MYSQL, WordPress Tips

I recently came across this situation on a client site where they wanted to change their domain from something like www.whatever.com to www.whatever-new-site.com and their site runs on WordPress 3.91. This is also applicable if you develop a site on a testing url like “testing.whateverdomain.com” and you want to change the site to run off “www.whateverdomain.com” when it goes live. After a lot of research and trial & error, here is the easiest approach to handle this.

  1. go to plugins and download and install Velvet Blues Update URLs 3.2.2
  2. go to TOOLS -> Update URLs
  3. enter the OLD DOMAIN and the NEW DOMAIN
  4. check all the checkboxes that apply (I have always checked all 6 checkboxes and never had any issues)
  5. click on UPDATE URLs NOW
  6. go to settings -> general and update the domain info in there.  Save the changes.
  7. At this point you need to adjust your web server settings to begin serving and responding to the site on the new domain name.
  8. You can now access the site from the new domain name and all should be fine!

 

Leave a comment

WordPress filling up tables with wpsc_anonymous when WP e-Commerce plugin is installed

WordPress Tips

We recently came across a problem where a client site of ours had over 10,000 odd user accounts that were in their wp_users table.

All these users were prefixed by an underscore, like _ajasj3h1

All of these accounts had associated data in the wp_usermeta table, and one significant piece of data was that each group of records had “wpsc_anonymous” as part of the records in the wp_usermeta table.

This particular site is running PHP 5.5.11, running the latest MYSQL, running 3.8.13.4 version of WP e-Commerce and otherwise have no problems.  One additional factor was this site was upgraded from an older version of WP E-Commerce.

After much investigation, I found that these records are temporary records that the WP E-Commerce plugin uses to track users in the shopping cart.  These records are created by ANYONE – or ANY BOT on the site.

This client site was adding records at the rate of about 6 new users per minute.

==

WP E-Commerce is supposed to have a predefined CRON job which fires hourly, and deletes all records older than 12 hours.

This job is titled

wpsc_hourly_cron_task

However this job was not working properly as the temporary records were not deleting.

==

Lastly the fix for this turns out that the wp-config.php file was missing the following line:

define(‘WPSC_CUSTOMER_DATA_EXPIRATION’, 4 * 3600 );

that is required as part of the 3.8.13.4 version update.

Add that line of code to your wp-config.php file around line 50, below the other “Define” entries and restart the webserver engine.

this hourly job should now execute properly.

BY THE WAY -> I set mine to 4*3600 (or clear out records older than 4 hours).  You can set yours to whatever value you’d like.

*****

One more thing – don’t forget to edit your HOSTS file on that server and make sure you have an entry for your domain name, in that hosts file.  CRON jobs need to execute on the domain name the site is running on, and unless you have a hosts file entry, it might not work.

Leave a comment ,

Slow rendering or display of CKFINDER directories

Classic ASP, IIS Tips & Tricks

Have you installed CKFINDER (maybe on Classic ASP) and have a problem with very slow directory displays while the circular “wait” animation plays and eventually displays the directory?

Easy fix:

Within the config.asp file (located in the CKFINDER directory) while using the Classic ASP version of CKFINDER…

comment out this line

Images.Add “component”, “Auto”

just put an apostrophe in front of it like this (below)

‘ Images.Add “component”, “Auto”

Save your changes.  Refresh and reload CKFINDER and the directories should display instantly.

 

Leave a comment , ,

Quick and easy method to upgrade MySQL Community Edition – Windows Server

MYSQL, Windows Server

I recently crossed my fingers and went through the upgrade process to upgrade MySQL from 5.6.14 to 5.6.17 on my Windows server.  (also works for 5.5.x to current)

 

NOTE – UPDATED 5/27/2016:  If you are using the MYSQL Installer – Community (if that is in your Start -> program list, please use that to upgrade you instance.  That is much simpler than my process below.  The process below should now be considered a LEGACY process.

 

Don’t forget to run

mysql_upgrade -u root -p

to allow MySQL to upgrade all the tables to the new standard.

 

Through trial and error, I have found the easiest process to do this.

  1. stop the existing service via services
  2. command prompt (as administrator)
  3. change to the MySQL directory, BIN, and then type in mysqld –remove  (to remove the service)
    1. If the above command does not work, try using SC DELETE MYSQL    (put the exact service name in place of MYSQL).  That should do the trick.
    2. go into the service manage and refresh and ensure the service is removed.
  4. go to the control panel and uninstall everything to do with MySQL (presuming this is on a dedicated MySQL box)
  5. make sure your data is moved to a directory on the root like “MYSQLDATA”
  6. delete every folder under programdata and program files pertaining to MySQL
  7. reboot the machine
  8. log into machine
  9. make sure .NET Framework 4.0 is installed
  10. download and run the MySQL Community 5.6.17 (or later) x32 MSI full installer
  11. do a fresh install
  12. Server type:  Server  (for production deployments)
  13. point things to the correct directories (e.g. your existing data directory, etc.)
  14. use the same root password as before (on the old install)
  15. add any extra admin users
  16. complete the install
  17. make sure the service is complete
  18. That’s it!

hope that helps someone else out there.  I took the couple of hours to sort this all out for you!

2 comments ,

Cannot open MS Word attachment from Outlook “Word experienced an error trying to open the file”

Windows 7 tips

This is a new one for me, and I believe it may have popped up after the recent Windows Update:

9-10-2013 3-01-48 PM

“Word experienced an error trying to open the file”.

Now if I SAVE that same file out of outlook (or copy and paste it to a drive), and then open from there – it opens fine.

Here is the solution:

  • Open Word 2010, 2013 or 2016
  • Go to File | Options | Trust Center | Trust Center Settings | Protected View
  • Un-check  the “Enable Protected View for Outlook Attachments” checkbox

9-10-2013 3-06-21 PM

Click ok/save that setting.

Go back to outlook and your word document should now open fine.

 

UPDATE 6/20/16:

I have double checked this and it does work fine for Word 2016 as well.

26 comments , , , , , , , ,

All computers do not show up under Network Neighborhood across subnets Windows 2008 Server and Windows 2012 Server

Windows 10, Windows 7 tips, Windows Server

THE ISSUE – NETWORK DOES NOT SHOW ALL COMPUTERS FROM MULTIPLE SUBNETS

 

**NOTE:  10/11/16 Please see this new blog post which addresses a new issue that has happened since June 2016.  Both of these posts will help you resolve this cross-subnet browsing issue.

I recently ran into the situation where my PDC failed and after promoting a second DC to PDC all the computers in both my branches would not show up under the Windows 7 network.

What would happen is that the computers from branch 1 would all show up under branch 1 on that network, and the computers from branch 2 would only show up on branch 2’s network.

Both networks are in the same domain and are connected via a Point to Point firewall VPN tunnel, and both offices are on different local internal IP subnets, such as:

branch 1:  192.168.55.X

branch 2: 192.168.56.X

Logins and domain replication is working fine, and even the DNS servers I have set to properly replicate the data between them, but still the “network” list only shows the local subnet not both.

THE SOLUTION

Firstly, you need to determine which machine for sure is the PDC emulator on your network.  On our network we have two Windows 2008 R2 servers.

to do this, follow this procedure:

Using the Windows interface on your windows server

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.

2. Right-click the domain node, and then click Operations Masters.

3. On the PDC tab, under Operations masters, view the operations masters that will serve as the PDC emulator.

 

Secondly, to complete the solution (snipped from the website linked below…)

4. You can either set the Computer Browser service to Automatic on the DC holding the PDC role, or move the PDC role to another DC that has the Computer Browser service started.  So using the info gleaned from above, log in to the PDC computer, go to SERVICES and START the computer browser service, and set it to AUTOMATIC.

You will need File and Printer sharing On in the Network and Sharing Center, otherwise the Computer Browser service will fail to start since the required ports will not be open.  In a multiple subnet environment, make sure WINS is configured properly so that you have the proper NetBIOS name resolution.  After making the corrections, the computers holding the master browser roles will begin to populate the browse list for the entire network.

NOTE:  In my situation with two subnets it was NOT necessary to run WINS to have a proper solution.

Lastly, wait anywhere from 30-60 minutes and the computers from both subnets (or more) should all now show up under “NETWORK” on your Windows network.

 

(some information courtesy of this blog)

4 comments , , , , ,

Problem with PHP mailer sending mail – Result: delayed, Status: 4.1.1 452 4.1.1 requested action aborted: try again later – GL/GL

IIS Tips & Tricks, WordPress Tips

If you see this type of message logged in your outbound mail logs, and your clients are unable to get email delivered to their domain, then I may have the s0lution for you.

In our particular scenario, we have a PHP site running WordPress and the email server is located with IPOWER.  So the website needs to be able to send email from our data center into the IPOWER data center, but in our case the emails were getting bounced due to this error below.  (VERY NON-DESCRIPT!).

Result: delayed, Status: 4.1.1 452 4.1.1 absc@asdasdasd.com requested action aborted: try again later – GL/GL

in your BOUNCE BACK emails, you may find something like this:

X-PHP-Originating-Script: 0:class-phpmailer.php

X-Mailer: PHPMailer 5.1 (phpmailer.sourceforge.net)

In our case, the recipient domain was hosted at IPOWER web.  To solve this issue, we logged into the IPOWER control panel, went to spam settings:

http://www.ipower.com/controlpanel/spamfilter.bml

and went to the WHITELIST and whitelisted our email server’s IP address.  Saved the changes and re-tried sending the email on the PHP (wordpress) site.

Worked immediately.

 

Leave a comment , , , ,

How to get multiple xbox 360 consoles inside one LAN working properly

Random Bits, Watchguard Firewall

We recently added a second xbox 360 into our house and came across the dreaded NAT TYPE “moderate”.  I needed both xbox’s to get to “OPEN” NAT type so that online multiplayer games will function perfectly, but had to invest multiple hours of time into the process to work it all out.

The main factor for me is that I need a firewall that supports both multiple game consoles, as well as the ability to do site-to-site VPN via the firewall.

I tried the following firewall setups:

  1. Watchguard XTM 33-W (latest firmware as of 12-31-2012).  No Go.  Tried multiple configurations, not able to get both XBOX’s to “open”.  This included port mapping, adjusting content filtering, etc.
  2. Monowall.  Latest version as of 12-31-2012.  No go.
  3. Smoothwall Express 3 SP 3.  No go.
  4. pfsense 2.02 – WORKED!
    1. Here is what I did:
      1. Install SATA drive into an Optiplex 745.  Installed two Intel 1000GT desktop adapters.
      2. Download the pfsense LIVE ISO image and burn to a CD.  In my case, the image name was pfSense-LiveCD-2.0.2-RELEASE-i386.iso.gz
      3. Boot the CD and install pfsense to the SATA drive.
      4. Configure pfsense (set the WAN and LAN adapters)
      5. boot pfsense, log into the web admin and make sure the house has internet connectivity.  (it did).
      6. Make sure your xboxes are on DHCP (obtain IP automatically)
      7. in the web admin of pfsense, go to SERVICES->UPNP and configure as follows:
      8. upnp
      9. click CHANGE.
      10. you can now play 2 or more Xbox 360’s inside your LAN without a problem.
      11. To look at the UPNP status, go to STATUS->UPNP.  when your Xbox’s are online, you will see entries here for UPNP port mapping.
    2. Note:  This will also work fine for the SONY PLAYSTATION PS3.
      1. To configure/Enable UPNP for the PS3:
      2. Settings/Network Settings/Internet Connection Settings/Yes
      3. Custom (Setting Method)
      4. Go through all menus (to the right) and the last page is ENABLE UPNP.  Enable it.
      5. Test the connection and you should now have NAT TYPE 2.
    3. As far as the SONY PLAYSTATION VITA goes, I have not yet been able to get that to “NAT TYPE 2” — it does not as of firmware 2.02 on the Vita support UPNP, and I cannot use port mapping/port forwarding as that would interfere with the PS3 setup.

If you are able to get a Playstation Vita working with NAT TYPE 2 using PFSENSE I would appreciate knowing your exact setup.

UPDATE April 26, 2013:

Upgraded to PFSense 2.0.3.

My current configuration (Which is working perfectly) is as follows:

1) DHCP server ON inside PFSENSE.  Both XBOX’s assigned a static IP (VIA DHCP MAC ADDRESS RESERVATION) so that their internal IP’s stay fixed. (Note:  One of my XBOX’s is a newer black wireless model, the other is an older White model with the USB Microsoft Wireless adapter).  I use a high end MERAKI wireless access point to get them into my LAN.

2) These are my UPNP Mappings (note my two XBOX’s are 192.168.6.234 and .234).

These settings work perfectly – OPEN NAT and my kids have played HOURS on this configuration.

upnp-04-2013

 

5 comments , , , , , , ,
1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 10