YABB 2.1 (Revision: 1.3) to SMF 2.1.1 conversion no go

[TonyJ]

Hi,

Trying to convert, but after hitting CONTINUE button in the conversion PHP, it just flicks over to <my.domain_name.com>/smf/convert.php?step=1, only showing the Steps, but not doing a thing.

The SMF DB is a clean skin, with no data.

Can anyone suggest a fix?

Thanks.

[Dzonny]

Hello!

Which converter did you used?

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=122338.0
That one is for SMF 1.1.x for example.

[TonyJ]

Hi Dzonny,

I used this one as well. YAB21. (Bit confusing. So many versions) :-)

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=122338.0

Should I have used a different one?

[Dzonny]

It's the same as the one I posted
That Yabb version is quite outdated, so you'll most likely need to convert it to smf 1.1.x and then do the conversion to 2.1.
First of all, make sure you have a backup of files and database saved somewhere. Then download the converted (and convert.php file as well), install smf 1.1.x and then try to convert. Do note that you'd need to have older php version on server where you're running this, most likely something like 5.4 or something along that. Which php version are you using now?

[TonyJ]

Currently running PHP v7.5, with no hope of rolling back to anything earlier, as web host has deleted those version. Looks like I'm dead in the water. :-(

Thanks again.

[Dzonny]

Well, you're not. You can use some local server on your computer, or temporarily find server with multiple php versions so you can choose\switch between them.
How big your forum exactly is, can we maybe see a link?

[Doug Heffernan]

The SMF DB is a clean skin, with no data.

Did you install Smf in the same database as that of your yabb forum? If not, then you must either use the same database user for both databases, or make sure to grant full permissions/access of your yabb forum database user to that of the smf database and vice versa too.

[Driven2]

Currently running PHP v7.5, with no hope of rolling back to anything earlier, as web host has deleted those version. Looks like I'm dead in the water. :-(

Thanks again.

I assume you mean PHP 7.4 since it's the latest 7.x release?

If your host uses cpanel, you can use the backup system to quickly restore a copy of it to a cheap cpanel host with PHP 5.x support. Complete the conversions there, then restore back to your live server.

Non-cpanel hosts it can be done similarly, but cpanel tends to have the easiest transfers of an entire account to another server.

[TonyJ]

Doug Hefferman, YABB is text file only. No DB.

Dzonny, the forum is locked, with no current registration page. (http://www.acdcmanuals.com/cgibin/YaBB.pl)
There are 300+ members, with 3,504 Posts and 3,453 Topics.

I'll do what was suggested and find a PHP 4.x server, temporarily.