Avatars disappear

Today I noticed that avatars and public photos are missing. Version is D7.0.2

Searching the forum topics, it seems I'm not the only one having this problem.

See below

I don't think it's a bug.

This has been discussed a few times before.

AFAIK it's a memory issue, check the memory limit settings for you server.

You can do this in...

> tools > host tools > host params

HTH

/DM

OK, I checked. What am I supposed to see there ?

It says : memory limit 100M - recommended 128 M

It should show you both the settings that your server is currently set to (on the left) and the recommended settings (on the right).

/DM

I'm trying to figure out why this is happening for someone else. It's not a memory_limit issue, I know that.

Any ideas? I'm currently looking into it myself, but the more the merrier.

I can't imagine its a memory issue. I checked on boonex.us and they have the same problem.

Indeed it is.

The setting is a little lower than recommended, but not really by too much. But - it *may* be causing the issue. You won't really know until you try to increase the limit and see if the error goes away.

You can try to increase this yourself.

If you have access to your servers php.ini file simply increase the value of the memory_limit directive to 128M then restart apache.

But, if you do not have access (most shared servers), all is not lost - you can override the value in either a custom php.ini file, or via the htaccess file - the method depends on the following:

If PHP is compiled to run as a cgi script then you will need to use a custom php.ini, but if it is compiled to run as a module then you will need to use htaccess. (tip - you can view your servers php_info to find out)

To set via php.ini  file use the following syntax - add this to a file named php.ini and put it in your webroot

memory_limit = 128M

To set via htaccess - add this to your htaccess file

php_value memory_limit 128M

HTH

/DM

I noticed that one of my members uploaded a photo of 2.210 Kb which resulted in the grey box. Avatar of another member became grey as well after that.

I removed the oversized photo but the avatar of the other member is still grey.

Try 256M.

There's one thing I don't understand. Isn't there a max. size for photos to upload ? If a member tries to upload an oversized photo, isn't it rejected ? And how can it affect other members avatar ?

Mnnn Magnus might be right.

Mine is set to 128 and very occasionally I also see the odd avatar that has not loaded.

/DM

No, I mean, this server's memory_limit is 256M.

Ahhhh getcha.

/DM

boonex.us is moved to different server, during the transfer some photos/video/music was not showing. Now boonex.us is completely transferred, but if you notice the problem - please report.

It is good suggestion to try to increase memory limit to 256Mb, modern cameras make really big photos which require a lot of memory during resizing.

My memory limit has been set to 256M now, but still the avatar is appearing grey

AlexT : page 2 and page 4 of the avatars there is a grey box.

Will a ticket be created ?

After you change memory limit - the photo has to be reuploaded. It seems that this happens during image uploading, but not displaying.

If the problem persists, please send me your server access details via PM to investigate the problem.

I increased the memory limit to 256M, should be sufficient now. But isn't there a way to block upload of large photos ? To avoid such errors in the future ?

I deleted this members  photos and avatars through ftp, still the grey box is showing up in the browse page. 

Uploading them again -> no photos or avatar in profile anymore, but still the grey box in browse page.

NOTE : this members photos and avatar were there long time before another member tried to upload an oversized photo. I don't know why this members avatar got affected. Random ? Or maybe because his ID is 10 and he's the first one in the numerical list ? Just a thought ...

I'll PM you with my server details.

@ annabel

You also need to delete related database records... For example, if you delete the avatar image from modules/boonex/avatar/datas/images, you also need to delete this avatar from database table bx_avatar_images and from profiles.
You need also to delete the user profile from the cache.

Yes, sorry ... forgot to mention that I also deleted the avatar and the photos from the database.

AND I cleared cache and cache_public :-)

The members photos were gone. I uploaded them again, but they don't show up in his profile anymore :-(

Today a second Avatar disappeared ...

Oh my god ... I urgently need help. 3 more disappeared !!

What could be causing this?

I had the same problem two day's lately, I have uploaded the same foto (500x350 pixels) and now its stays, no other pictures greyed out. I have deleted nothing.

I see you uninstalled avatar module, avatar is necessary module, site can not function well wothout this module. So I suppose you have grayed avatars because of this.

Also I tried to reproduce the problem with big image, as the result photo was not re-sized due to memory limitation, and profile displays regular no-photo image - so it can not be reason of grayed avatars.

I had a user avatar disappear on me too. I didn't know this had been happening to others.

I had the memory limit set to 300MB so that wasn't the problem.

I've only had one disappear - and that was a user-uploaded image. The image is still there, but the avatar shows as a gray box now.

I still have the avatar mod installed, so that isn't it either.

If you want access to my server & install AlexT, just let me know and I'll let you in so you can look around.

No I haven't Alex ! Thanks for making me look like a dummy.

When a non-member visits my site he can see only login, stats, quick search and tags.

You can only see the avatars when you're a logged in member.

Avatars are all there and 2 of them still greyed out.

Memory has  been set to 256M a few days ago already so that can't be the reason either.

Now I have to wait 3 days again for the next reply ???

bump-a-rooni

I wonder... What PHP version are you two running?

PHP version=  5.2.9

The problem of grayed avatar appears because somebody manually deleted avatar images from disk and from bx_avatar_images table. But Avatar field in Profiles table (which contain current avatar id) was not reset. So as the result it was a reference to non-existing avatar.

If you try to reset Avatar field manually make sure that you clear cache after this change.

There is a lack of avatars management for admin. There is already a ticket for it, but I've created separate one, I will try to implement this ticket in upcoming update, so admin will be able to delete inappropriate avatars at least:

http://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/login/ticket/2065

I didn't delete anything. Nada. Nothing. The avatar that disappeared on my site was a user uploaded image that was used as an avatar. The photo is still in his photo album with the title "Avatar", but when I logged in as this user.... there was nothing showing in his avatar section.

If the user deletes the avatar himself, the system should default back to the standard Boonex user-icons....correct?

I'm happy to hear that you plan on enhancing the admin ability to remove inappropriate avatars, but that has nothing to do with this problem. I would remember going in and manually deleting a user avatar, and related database entry. I have less than 20 users and I am the only one running the site. More, had I deleted the avatar myself I wouldn't posted about it missing now would I?

If they keep disappearing, I will keep posting about it in the forums. I'm sure the others that posted in this thread will too.

And if an avatar was deleted by a user why on earth would it not correct the profile table then ?

Where's the fun in that?

I indeed deleted the avatars from bx_avatar_images but didn't know they were also nested in profiles. There was one left which I now deleted and the problem is solved.

TX Alex, I appreciate your help.

holy shit   you got tabs on me or something.   didnt even get a chance to refresh the page.

I watch the forum spy.

When I looked into the database profiles I saw that one member had deleted his avatar himself (it was a 0 in the profile avatar field) but in the other member's profile the avatar was still there. So I guess that one member deleted his avatar himself, the other one didn't but I did. Without deleting it in the database profiles.

hmm mixed results hard to say there.

I'm going to setup another test installation and watch for this.

I am having the same issue 2 .... and the one question that has been asked on here and not answered is can't we just denie over sized pic and state you photo is too large try a another size ... i mean imagine 500 hundred people tring to process and image at the same size ... if this is happening with a rate of 5 to 10 new users a day on a larger scale its a real huge issue ... so yeah this is crazy but apart from that i love this darn product

I don't know what to think now. I went into the database and there was an avatar ID in the profile. I set it to zero and cleared the caches - the same damned gray box was there.

I cleared the cache again and it was still there.

I finally logged in as the user, added a avatar, deleted THAT avatar, and then the default avatar finally showed up.

THOUGHTS..............

I uninstalled Facebook Connect when it went buggy. I have to wonder if that had something to do with this. I don't know if that's how this user signed up, but if he did - didn't Facebook Connect import that avatar? When I deleted that mod, would it delete the referenced image file from a different than normal location? It's the only thing I can think of that might have caused this.

no because i don't have facebook connect enabled yet on mine and same issue here 2

Today again 3 avatars greyed out ... with no cause at all.

Can not reproduce the problem at all !

If somebody can, please notify me.

It seems two people can.

Bollocks

/DM

Mustn't be a problem then.

/DM

It is a very strange problem ... this morning 3 greyed out avatars, now only 2. One came back again. Maybe the 2 other as well if a wait long enough ????

I have the same problem,

avatars come and go

www.getlaidclub.com

We do have the same problem. We did some research, and following things are mentioned:

Most of the members, where the avatars are greyed out, said, that they made some settings with their permission keys. We do have a members only site btw. Mabye there is the problem, when an album is set to (only for me or friends) and the avatar is in the album, the avatar is greyed out. Am I right? Is it a permission problem? I dont know how the avatar module is coded... But we make a testrun these days with our members experience...

We also experienced following problem: All the grayed avatars on our site, do have entries in the profiles Table "> 0", but there is not set any ID, which is linked with the filesystem, in the bx_avatar_images table. It is NULL, but it is linked with the profiles table.

What should we do?

In our case and on our site, we could update the ID Field of the bx_avatar_images table manually with the number of the picture from the profiles Table, but all the greyed avatar members dont have any pictures in the folder: /modules/boonex/avatar/data/images. However, all the pictures are in the folder: /modules/boonex/avatar/data/ready. Why arent they in the images folder? What is wrong with the avatar modul?

Are all avatars lost, if we reinstall the avatar module? I think so... dont do that.

Boonex and team, probably a good thing would be, if the ID of bx_avatar_images is NULL, then update the profiles table of this member with avatar 0 and delete the entry of this member in the bx_avatar_images table, where no avatar is in the filesystem or even better reread the avatar picture first and rebuild it once again. If that cant be managed due to complete lost of the avatar in the filesystem (if someone deletes the image in the filesystem, or the restore procedure went wr alt= database <> filesystem) set it to 0 in the profiles table, so the standard female or male avatar is shown up. If there is an avatar (you can have more than one), link it to this avatar, which is there. So there is the standard avatar of Dolphin shown up or another one, which was choosen by the member in the past. I think its better than having a greyed one. What du you say? Can you implement this routine?

Sorry for my poor english, I have to train :)

Best Regards

Tom

 You may have stumbled onto the problem here chuckomino

The member (on my site), that had his avatar greyed out did indeed change his permissions right around the same time as it happened. He is the only one that did, and his is the only avatar that went missing.

Now why this would happen is beyond my ability to know.

BTW, your English is fine. Very good in fact. : )

FINALLLLLYY i can get on boonex website after one week!!! They must have removed my ip address from their Boonex IP block list.  What a pain.

Anyway, yes, I have the same issue here with 7.0.2. Last monday, I saw 3 of them were missing so I decided to go in their account via Deanos Tools and uploaded the avatars for them.  Then one week later, one of three avatars I edited was grayed out again and 16 more avatars were missing (maybe more). It's getting out of control. They complained that they had to upload an avatar a few times to get rid of the grayed out avatars.  It's def not good!

Did anyone get this solved yet?

Has anyone made any progress on this issue? I now have 25 random greyed out/missing avatars. I have tested all of the suggestions in this forum, and have not be able to fix the issue. Members that are affected by this bug do not even have to log in, as members that haven't logged in, in weeks are ending up with blank/greyed Avatars. It is not a memory issue as my server is set to 256M.

Now I did find that looking in the bx_avatar_images table that the only images in there, were associated with pictures in the /public_html/modules/boonex/avatar/data/images folder. There were no other images in that folder. The format for each avatar image is #.jpg and there was a second #i.jpg for each of those images. However, I know there should be more images in that folder, as I have 3 accounts on my server and never changed these uploads, nor did I delete those images in my ftp program, or through any of my access.  Then I looked in the /public_html/modules/boonex/photos/data/files and found that the missing avatar files for my members were found here.

So now that I have found the missing Avatar images in the photos/data/files folder, how am I to move the missing Avatar images to the avatar/data/images folder, associate those to id's in the database and it save without having to do that from now on for every single new members Avatar? This has only started to happen since I updated to 7.0.1 and is still happening in 7.0.2.

This does not seem like a memory issue, but a file allocation issue...any solution is greatly appreciated and in demand.

I'm in on the party! I have the same issue with only a third of my site avatars actually showing the rest are blank. I only launched the site yesterday afternoon and the problem started as soon as the first members started to join. Sod's law that the 3 or 4 test members I'd created were fine. :o/ Help would be good. Very good in fact.

Cheers

Jay

My previous reply of 'Bollocks' was actually right on the money.

On a new site I am developing, a standard user avatar - as chosen from the sites avatar list has appeared as greyed out.

Alex, you might want to have a rethink on your prognosis.

...maybe phone a friend?

...ask the audience?

...50/50

/DM

Ok, I will throw you a lifeline...

If you enter the url for the image directly into the browser it displays the 'profile not available to view' page.

Looks like a mod_rewrite issue to me.

...Only two lifelines left...

:)

/DM

Can you provide access to your site via PM to check the problem ? I see you have a lot of missing avatars - maybe the problem will be more clear on your site and can be found/reproduced.

Just checked on my site - the missing avatar was not present in the /modules/avatar/data/images/ folder. Somehow it had automagically disappeared.

HTH

/DM

If you look in your modules/boonex/photos/data/files you will find the missing avatar files in there. Now how can we move them from there and update the tables for bx_avatar_images with the missing ID numbers?

Those are not actually the avatar files. They are public photos.

When a member joins the site using the basic method and includes a photo you get both a public photo and an avatar. When joining with Facebook connect only an avatar is created which means those who joined with Facebook connect will not have a matching photo in the photos directory.



You can copy ones that are missing. First look in the Profiles table in the database and find that members nickname. Look at the field there called avatar. There is a number there. Write it down.

Now take the photo from the photos module and make 2 images. One 64x64 and name it xxx.jpg where xxx is the number you got from the database. Then create a second one 32x32 and name it xxxi.jpg where xxx is the number. Put those 2 files in /modules/boonex/avatar/data/images

You should not have to do anything else. From what i have seen the reason they are grayed out is because the database information for the avatar is there, but the file is missing. For some reason some peoples avatar images are being deleted from the directory they are stored in but the database info remains in place resulting in a gray box.

Thanks Deano! This worked!! The xxxi.jpg (32x32, and the xxxt.jpg 64x64) files are already in photo's, just remove the t from xxxt.jpg and move both the xxxi.jpg and the xxx(minus the t).jpg to the avatar/data/images folder and it works! <crosses fingers on it sticking>

Well I hastily posted that Deano's solution worked...it does, but only if you can find the proper photo. The numbers in the photo's folder do not correalate with the numbers of the file in the profiles table. It works for some, if you know what that member had for their Avatar photo.

Even new members that just uploaded a photo and set it as their avatar end up with blank Avatars. Where are these Avatar photo's going?

The images are in modules/Boonex/avatar/data/images

There are two images with  01i.jpg and 01.jpg

I have two who are disapere every time again. the are avatars and copy to personal photoalbum. very small images. So its not a memory problem at all.

This is only happend on version 7.0.2

Deano ... I don't have my Facebook connect installed and still my avatars are greying out.

I don't have facebook connect installed so I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with facebook. :/ man this is awful :(

I know it has nothing to do with Facebook. You misunderstood. I was explaining the profile pictures which someone believed is where the missing avatars were. So i was describing what happens between basic logon and Facebook connect as far as whats uploaded for photos. I did not say Facebook connect was the cause at all.

I misunderstood Deano, sorry for that. Still I have no clue why this is happening.

Sorry deano. I just wanted to let you know that I don't use facebook connect. I know for a fact that 7.0.2 does cause this.  I didn't have any issues like this before.  Last night, I uploaded 40 missing avatars for them via Deano Tools one by one.  Today, I have one new avatar grayed out. Hmm... the longer it is, the more grayed-out avatars will show.

I thought I posted a temporary fix here, but I have created a new thread for easy finding. I have posted my temporary fix to this issue at

http://www.boonex.com/unity/forums/topic/Blank-Avatars-Temporary-Fix-.htm

Hope this helps you all.

They're dropping like flies. We're getting around 10 new members a day and I've lost 18 avatars in the last few hours. Desperately need a solution to the problem please Boonex. :o/

Me too. This bug is making my site ugly. I don't know what to do. :/

With you on that, my site's looking very shabby. I wasn't too worried when it first happened as I thought it would be a fairly easy thing for the Boonex techs to sort out. But now I am concerned as no one seems to know the answer. I'm still holding onto hope that people far cleverer than me can help.

I am curious about this. I have not seen this happen on my site so i am wondering.

Those who are having problems. What version of Dolphin?, and was it upgraded from a previous version, or a full fresh install. Trying to see if i can find a way to reproduce the problem.

Hi Deano,

Mine was a fresh install of 7.0.2.

@deano - mine was an upgrade from 7.0.1 to 7.0.2

I've been trying to recreate the problem - after resetting the avatar - but I haven't been able to yet.

This is a very perplexing problem. Something is causing it, but God only knows what.

Ok upgrade verses full install is not it.

Something has to be common with everyone experiencing this. Or at least i hope there is. A common occurence would make it easier to find.

I think Patrick81 may be onto something. I've done a bit of digging and it appears that all the recently greyed out members did receive a friend request a few hours ago. Coincidence?

Try this. If it does not solve the problem. Undo it. It's also not a fix, just a bandaid.

Make a backup of modules/boonex/avatar/classes/BxAvaModule.php

Then edit. At around line 406 Comment out the lines marked in red.

function serviceDeleteProfileAvatars ($iProfileId) {
//        if (!(int)$iProfileId)
//            return false;
//        $aDataEntries = $this->_oDb->getAvatarsByAuthor ((int)$iProfileId);
//        foreach ($aDataEntries as $iEntryId) {
//            if ($this->_oDb->deleteAvatarByIdAndOwner($iEntryId, (int)$iProfileId, $this->isAdmin())) {
//                @unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . BX_AVA_EXT);
//                @unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . 'i' . BX_AVA_EXT);
//                $this->onEventDeleted ($iEntryId);
//            }
//        }
return true;
}

Lets see if others notice the same thing.

I requested a 'Friend' which was successfull 10 days ago. The Avatar is still there.

Fresh install here too.

Just to confirm - For those of you who have greyed out avatars - are the files missing from the /modules/avatar/data/images/ folder? Or are they present, but simply not displaying?

/DM

After each new user joins on our site we automatically send a friend request from admin as standard. Most of them, but not all lost their avatars anything from 30 mins to a few hours later. I'd say at a guess around 75% had avatar losage. Is that a word? lol.

Deano, with my site they are not present in that folder at all.

Ahh yeah - see you're ahead of me there Deano.

As for friend requests. I'm not sure if I did before the avatar disappeared - quite possible, but then I have been doing a lot of testing so cannot really remember.

/DM

Sorry I meant that for DeeEmm.

Dangrac - try commenting out the code that Deano is suggesting - it's the only place that the command unlink (delete) exists in the avatar module. If this cures your problem then this is likely the issue.

/DM

Hehehee. I Guessed that.

DM

I tried that. It doesn't solve the problem. Hmm.. I have two sites… one live and one for testing.  Those missing avatars happened on the live website but not one single avatar grays out on my test website. Something is happening when there is "activity".  I double checked and all of the people who received a friend request have grayed out their avatars.  I don't know why it's happening but it is definitely something to do with people using the site… "activity".

It's not meant to restore the avatars. We are looking to see if it will prevent further loss, so you need to give it time.

Your not going to get avatars back that have been deleted.

I've commented out the code you suggested. I'll keep you updated. Thanks guys. :)

Ok - just did a test on my site - added some friends - lo and behold the avatars were deleted.

BUT...

I only saw this when i deleted the cache (this explains the delay some people are seeing).

I will try again with a fresh test.

/DM

YUP can confirm it is indeed the serviceDeleteProfileAvatars function.

And the issue is....

if (!(int)$iProfileId)

Simply change it to

if (!$iProfileId)

The first line is nonsense - it does not matter if it is an integer or not.

Arthur - you owe me a beer.

/DM

Where can we find 'serviceDeleteProfileAvatars function'?

./modules/boonex/avatar/classes/BxAvaModule.php.

Mine was an upgrade of 7.0.1 -> 7.0.2

I made the changes, cleared the caches, but don't see any difference. Does it restore the greyed out avatars ?

I wouldn't imagine so.

Why the long face?

 Well ... if it doesn't solve the problem ... what can we do ?

Ever been to Kyrgyzstan?

 I live in Belgium

Fine country to live in.

well annabel, 

you are not the only one, I have this also on a fresh install of 7.0.2 
I will remove the (int) hopely this will stabilized the avatar. :)

 Every country has it's problems and lots of people wish they were born somewhere else.

I was complimenting your country, not ridiculing it.

Awesome!  Thanks so much!!! Hope that is it! :D

it...... doesn't......... work. :( I lost half of my hair already.

about 4 hours ago this person sent a friend request to that person and now her avatar is gone. :/

Patrick, did you clear your cache after making the mod?

The test I did was to add an avatar, then add the user as a friend, then check via FTP to see if the file had been deleted. After I made the mod, the avatar was no longer being deleted.

The avatar actually gets deleted the instance that the friend request is sent - the reason that you may not see this for a couple of hours is that the image will still be in the browsers cache. Best way to determine if it is missing is to check the /modules/avatar/data/images folder

Would be good to see if anyone else still gets avatars deleted - Dangrac - have you had any more go missing since commenting out the code?

Also, just for the record - this mod *should* stop avatars getting deleted, but will not replace avatars that are already missing.

/DM

I think i did clear cache.  I'll clear cache again and put all the avatars back and see how that goes for a day or two. Interesting, one of my group avatars is gone.

Same problem after upgrading to 7.0.2.  the images are there in the user profile page just not all of them are gettings called on the thumbnails ????   cleared cache 10000 times and tmp  folder and cache_public ....

No photo or avatars where deleted    no accounts where deleted and no new modules installed  and only running a hand full of the defualt boonex modules.

Hi DeeEmm,

Sorry I haven't got back before now. Just getting back up to date on the avatars issue.

I commented out the code as suggested and hooray!, it worked!!!! :)

I don't want to get too excited yet, but all is looking good. I had to replace all the avatars manually that had dissappeared, but that wasn't too much of a problem using Deano's tools. Great tool it is too Deano. So far so good, no new avatars have gone walkies. Friend requests have been sent and all avatars have stayed put. I'll leave it a few more more days and get back to you.

Has anybody else tried?

I have just spotted your new code adjustment for BxAvaModule.php. Any more feedback on this yet?

No luck here :/  I changed from if (!(int)$iProfileId) to if (!$iProfileId) in BxAvaModule.php... cleared cache, pubic cache folder and all cache via admin panel.  One person JUST friend requested one member and that member's avatar grayed out. *sigh*

bug confirmed on 7.0.2 upgrade (this has nothing to do with the Mb setting in your php.ini)
after friend request my avatar grayed out

fix

/modules/boonex/avatar/classes BxAvaModule.php
line ~406~ find

function serviceDeleteProfileAvatars ($iProfileId) {
if (!(int)$iProfileId)
return false;
$aDataEntries = $this->_oDb->getAvatarsByAuthor ((int)$iProfileId);
foreach ($aDataEntries as $iEntryId) {
if ($this->_oDb->deleteAvatarByIdAndOwner($iEntryId, (int)$iProfileId, $this->isAdmin())) {
@unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . BX_AVA_EXT);
@unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . 'i' . BX_AVA_EXT);
$this->onEventDeleted ($iEntryId);
}
}
return true;
}
change to

function serviceDeleteProfileAvatars ($iProfileId) {
if (!(int)$iProfileId)
return false;
$aDataEntries = $this->_oDb->getAvatarsByAuthor ((int)$iProfileId);
foreach ($aDataEntries as $iEntryId) {
if ($this->_oDb->deleteAvatarByIdAndOwner($iEntryId, (int)$iProfileId, $this->isAdmin()))
$this->onEventDeleted ($iEntryId);
}
return true;
}
don't forget to empty the cache folder         
(made a few friends requests and the avatars are still there)

Thanks prolaznik!!

Awesome.  I hope this will work.  I will report how it goes.

Basically the same as what Deano has already suggested.

It WILL stop the avatars getting deleted. BUT, it means that when avatars are actually deleted, they will only be removed from the database, and not physically deleted from the disk.

More a 'band aid' than a fix.

IMHO, any solution that introduces another problem, is not really a solution at all.

/DM

Exactly.

This function should only be called when a member deletes a avatar or the profile is removed by admin.

This is a bandaid. What we really need to do is find out why this function is getting called when it should not be.

I couldn't see where it was being called from, only noticed that the syntax of the statement was not correct - coincidentally it seemed to fix the issue for me (code errors can create some strange issues), but if Patrick is still seeing a problem, it's obviously not the problem.

I've been through the code for the friend request but not seen anything, it's definitely a strange one.

/DM

The problem finally was found !

To fix the bug run the following queries for your Dolphin database:

DELETE FROM `sys_alerts` WHERE `unit` = 'block' AND `action` = 'add' AND `handler_id` = 5;

DELETE FROM `sys_alerts` WHERE `unit` = 'friend' AND `action` = 'request' AND `handler_id` = 5;

Then clear the cache in /cache/ folder - I suggest to delete it via FTP or SSH tomake sure that cache is cleared.

Please note that missing avatars will not be restored.

Ticket created: Ticket #2072

ahh.. interesting.. so there's a bug in the database.  Will let you know if this stops it. :)

I can confirm that this started when a user tries to friend another user. I only have 9 people on my server so it was easy to test this.

Can anyone see any harm in using the above database query to fix this?

DB stuff is not my general area. I just wonder what the long term effects of doing this would be?

The database fix came from one of the dolphin developers, so yes. It's safe to do. It will be permanent in the next release of dolphin.

when do u think the next release 7.0.3 will be released .. i love this dam software minus the glitche

No date has been set. Your guess is a good as mine.

Sorry I forgot to get back to you.  This DOES fix the problem.  I applied this 4 days ago and I have not seen ONE single missing avatar so far.  Thanks AlexT :D

So did the code that broke it in the first place.  Great there is a fix but now i have to leave with empty avatars all over the place untill members upload another one..

Nice!

My site had this problem. At least 3-5 members a day where having grey avatars.What i did to fix it, was I backed up my Avatar Database, Uninstall avatars, reinstalled Avatars, and added my Avatar database back and cleared my Cache. No more problems!

 So I didn't delete these avatars myself? ha ha

OK - just had the issue again - after having previously applying Alex's patch. I have also confirmed that these database entries are not present.

The only thing different on my site is that I have installed one mod.

Alex - can you please expand on the cause of this issue so that I can debug.

/DM

I'm seeing it too, even with a default core setup- its happening when people try to befriend someone else.

I've reverted back to commenting out the unlink statements - at least until a better resolution is made.

/DM

I had another issue with avatars recently. A new member registered. Nobody else was logged in. After the new user saved her info and uploaded/saved the avatar the same showed on another members profile. Anybody else?

I had to fix it and correct it manually.

BUMP

Why does it not surprise me that the *fix* wasn't really a solution?

LOL - such cynicism - I would expect an answer like that from me 

The database entries are called by the alerts system - When the event happens, the code in the database is used by the event handler to generate the alert.

Removing the database entry prevents the alert, but does not address the real issue which appears to lie with the event handler itself.

/DM

DeeEmm, I actually understood that!

It does raise the question as to why the 'fix' was offered as such though...

It has seemed to solve the issue for most - or at least I assume so as most have not been back to say the issue still exists. Not sure why it has reoccured for me and AncientWolf. The only change I have recently made is to add in ilbellodeweb's spywall mod, but speaking with the author, this alert is not used. However, even if it was, it should not result in the serviceDeleteProfileAvatars function being run.

The fix could possible be an interim solution - it might be possible that the real solution involves many changes across many files, and this is just a temporary band aid.

...or perhaps that is simply wishful thinking

...?

Would be good to know what additional info Alex has on this - as it saves trawling though the code.

/DM

Ive set up on a few different test servers and it still happened.

Please provide me access to the site with the problem via PM, after patch was applied and cache was cleared ?

Some background information about this issue:

The problem is that it was some empty handlers in database, these handles are for the following actions: "friend request" and "profile block".

Since avatar is the first installed module, it assigns this handlers and become listening them - accidentally it was avatar deletion action.

So theoretically it may cause some other problems, if some other module was installed first - provided sql script fix this bug - by removing wrong handlers from database.

Hmmm  I don't have an issue so far.  Everything looks okay on my end.  It's a huge fix after I inserted AlexT's sql query.

Thanks Alex, I will take a look at the other handlers and see if there is something else amiss.

/DM

I just ran the SQL delete statements which were provided by AlexT

DELETE FROM `sys_alerts` WHERE `unit` = 'block' AND `action` = 'add' AND `handler_id` = 5;

DELETE FROM `sys_alerts` WHERE `unit` = 'friend' AND `action` = 'request' AND `handler_id` = 5;

I also did what prolaznik suggested:

modules/boonex/avatar/classes BxAvaModule.php
line ~406~ find

function serviceDeleteProfileAvatars ($iProfileId) {
if (!(int)$iProfileId)
return false;
$aDataEntries = $this->_oDb->getAvatarsByAuthor ((int)$iProfileId);
foreach ($aDataEntries as $iEntryId) {
if ($this->_oDb->deleteAvatarByIdAndOwner($iEntryId, (int)$iProfileId, $this->isAdmin())) {
@unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . BX_AVA_EXT);
@unlink (BX_AVA_DIR_USER_AVATARS . $iEntryId . 'i' . BX_AVA_EXT);
$this->onEventDeleted ($iEntryId);
}
}
return true;
}
change to 

function serviceDeleteProfileAvatars ($iProfileId) {
if (!(int)$iProfileId)
return false;
$aDataEntries = $this->_oDb->getAvatarsByAuthor ((int)$iProfileId);
foreach ($aDataEntries as $iEntryId) {
if ($this->_oDb->deleteAvatarByIdAndOwner($iEntryId, (int)$iProfileId, $this->isAdmin()))
$this->onEventDeleted ($iEntryId);
}
return true;
}

My question is, now that I ran the SQL, do I need to undo what prolaznik suggested with the modifications to the BxAvaModule.php file ???  Or can I just leave it alone?

Thanks,

chad

Logically, if Boonex (AlexT) offered a solution it would not need anybody else's solution (or would incorporate same).

im using just the modification that was posted above and so far so good

Had the same problem on a new install with only 4 members. It showed up with the first friend request. But this appeared to fix it for me.

Thanks much AlexT!

Has anyone also had the problem of disappearing photo albums and photos?

what is the path to the uploaded photos and avatars?

yep I keep having the same problem, the photos just randomly disappear!

This is what worked for me. I just cleared the deleted all files in the cache folder except .htcaccess before and after editing the file.

Thanx prolaznik and everyone else that posted. Y'all are di best!

I was receiving this issue, numerous members were losing avatars, I have run the SQL query as per Alex posted and hopefully this will resolve now. Will report back if this continues happening. Thanks

Some photos in primary user albums randomly disapear too.

I have done everything in this forum and still having issues

Same here!

I have installed the latest release D.7.0.3 and noticed today that some avatars have disappeared also, leaving the box blank like the pic above.

Is it clean install or upgrade ?

Have you cleared the cache from admin dashboard and manually via FTP/SSH in /cache/ folder ?

I've just checked and the fix exists in upgrade patch and new version don't need this fix. The only possible problem is old cache !

I'm having this problem too... I had the issue with 7.0.2... I now have 7.0.3 (CLEAN INSTALL) only this time it is different... I have greyed out Avatars but now when someone goes in and tries to set their avatar it pops someone else's avatar instead then, the person's avatar that popped up disappears from THAT person's avatar... it is extremely strange, I've got a lot of really ticked off members now because they have another persons avatar or none at all.. This started happening when I installed the WAP Version 2.80, but I have removed this mod and the problem still exist please help!

It looks like it is not clean install !

Clean install means installation into empty directory and empty database.

It looks like you just overwrite old files with new ones - this is bad, because some old files are not erased - In your case old avatar files are used and you have problems now.

But that's not really the case here AlexT, although I respect what you are saying but I completely destroyed the entire website (wiped it from the server) I only uploaded the old avatars and reinserted my user base (along with the bx_avatar_images field in the database)... When someone goes and tries to change their avatar it "steals someone elses avatar" also, the avatars that are showing in the "Site Avatars" are not the ones that displaying when clicked... It has to be a database error but I can't figure out where the error lies... I'm about to lose my mind...  BTW Thank you very much for the reply I always respect your input.

I tested it and it works properly.

Then I suppose that it is browser cache, if the site is reinstalled without changing site url.

Please try to clean browser cache too.

Already tried that too, Okay, so here's what doesn't make since to me, I decided (I only have 50 members so ticking a few people off in "BETA" stage isn't that big of a deal) to go ahead and just wipe the /modules/boonex/avatar/data/ready & /tmp & /images directory... I uploaded a few TEST avatars, went online and believe it or not the OLD avatars are still showing... I wiped bx_avatar_images and even removed the Avatars in the bx_photos, they still exist, I UPDATE Profiles Set `Avatar` = '0' to reset all avatars... when I go in and try to set a new avatar it still pulls an avatar from the old selection that doesn't even physically exist anymore (not the one I actually selected)... Are the avatars located somewhere ELSE in the database also that I'm not aware?  Thanks again AlexT

Now it is definitely browser's cache !

You can try to change AUTO_INCREMENT to 1000 for example in bx_avatar_images table, so old ids will not be equal to the new ones and the problem should go away.

AlexT that was a great suggestion and it worked flawlessly Thanks man!

After the upgrade from 7.0.2 to 7.0.3, Public photos are always empty, like you can see on my testsite http://test.incontrinuovi.org (first I test, and then apply).

If I login like Admin and go back to the home page, I'll see Public Photos full of photos. Other members and guests cannot the photos.

Can you help me,please?

This is different problem, please create separate thread. (try to check this url for the exact error - http://test.incontrinuovi.org/m/photos/get_image/browse/4505f64ad89829f5bc739abc6c6a68df.jpg)

Are you sure that this problem is completely solved?

I implemented AlexT's solution and it appeared to work fine until this morning.

A new user's avatar disappeared. I was able to replicate the problem once.

Now I can't seem to do it again. I am running D7.0.2

Could there be handler issues with another button on the profile?

Thanks

Please upgrade to the latest versions, a lot of problem were fixed since 7.0.2 is out!

Upgrade to 7.0.5

Hello,

I am missing both avatars and public photos...I have dolphin 7.0.4 ...is this fixed already?

I am new to Dolphin and I am having the same problem, in fact I dont even see any type of controls or parameters in the admin section for either an avatar or image upload.

As far as the memory issue I am using hostforweb which was a suggested host on the boonex site, I would assume they were set up to host everything properly.

any help that anyone could give would be most appreciated.