500 Internal Server Error: Premature end of script headers: index.php [SOLVED]

[Rav33n]

My forum (http;//gamer.lk) has been running on DreamHost for almost 2 years, but the index page started throwing this error since yesterday.

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

All other sections work; boards, posts, replies, new posts etc. It's only the http://gamer.lk/index.php page that returns this error.

Server error logs show this:

Code Select Expand

[Sun Sep 20 07:25:53 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] Premature end of script headers: index.php, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php/topic,5691.msg104423.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:25:53 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php/topic,5691.msg104423.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:26:01 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] Premature end of script headers: index.php, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php/topic,5691.msg104423.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:26:01 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php/topic,5691.msg104423.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:26:32 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] Premature end of script headers: index.php, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php?action=help
[Sun Sep 20 07:26:32 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html, referer: http://gamer.lk/index.php?action=help[Sun Sep 20 07:26:46 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] Premature end of script headers: index.php
[Sun Sep 20 07:26:46 2009] [error] [client 124.43.161.248] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:27:55 2009] [error] [client 202.129.232.138] Premature end of script headers: index.php
[Sun Sep 20 07:27:55 2009] [error] [client 202.129.232.138] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:28:10 2009] [error] [client 124.43.167.199] Premature end of script headers: index.php
[Sun Sep 20 07:28:10 2009] [error] [client 124.43.167.199] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html
[Sun Sep 20 07:28:16 2009] [error] [client 202.129.232.138] Premature end of script headers: index.php
[Sun Sep 20 07:28:16 2009] [error] [client 202.129.232.138] File does not exist: /home/gamerlk/gamer.lk/internal_error.html

I have tinyportal 0.9.8 installed and working. I also have a couple of mods installed, which haven't change within the past few months. I tried using the repair_settings.php; it didn't help.

Domain is running on PHP5 FastCGI. index.php file has 755 permissions.

I have contacted DreamHost, but still waiting for a reply from them. Till then - any advice/suggestions you guys can give me to sort out this issue?

Thanks,
Rav

[MrPhil]

Have you looked at index.php to see if a hacker has added some code? Compare it to the fresh copy (with your mods installed) that you saved on your PC after installation, to see what's different. Also look at the date and time that your index.php was saved -- was it just in the last day or two? If so, someone's been in there. Have the permissions changed? How about files that index.php includes or requires -- have any of them changed very recently (hacked)?

The messages point to a missing "internal_error.html" -- does that sound familiar, or did a hacker add it?

[Arantor]

It sounds almost like PHP is crashing on something.

Might be worth posting index.php.

[Rav33n]

Thanks for the replies - I got a response from my webhost:

I'm very sorry for the trouble that this has caused you.

I've checked into why you've been receiving these internal server errors,
and it seems your scripts have been getting automatically killed by our
process watching software due to your sites exceeding an acceptable
amount of server resources on your shared hosting server:

I have a number of domains hosted on my shared space. Recently the webhost changed servers and that caused some of the forums to have wrong theme/avatar directories etc. I'm assuming that might be causing unnecessary server load. Going to try fixing that now with repair_settings.php.

Will keep the thread updated.

[Rav33n]

Update:

I have found out what was causing the excessive resource usage. It was a Tinyportal RSS Feed block which was on the front page - disabling that fixed everything. The feed in question is http://www.gotfrag.com/portal/xact/xml/?f=stories&a=cs.

[Arantor]

Good to know that's what caused it - but it's also worth noting the actual comments there; shared hosting does often put tighter limits on what a site can do.

[Rav33n]

I've found another trigger for the 500 Internal Server Error -

Using the [ IMG ] tags to embed a dynamic image from GameTracker.com causes an error, and the post isn't submitted.

This is the code:

Code Select Expand


[url=http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/204.12.220.162:27015/][img]http://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/204.12.220.162:27015/b_560x95.png[/img][/url]




I used to be able to post these kinds of banners on posts without a problem before - is this a sign that I'm outgrowing shared hosting?

[Arantor]

I would take that as a sign of outgrowing it to be honest; who's your host?

[Rav33n]

I would take that as a sign of outgrowing it to be honest; who's your host?

Dreamhost. They have given me the option of going with their VPS option, which I'll be considering in the next few weeks.

Thanks for all the help.

[Arantor]

I think you have moved beyond the lower package but there are some things you can do in the meantime that will mitigate the troubles until you are ready to move.