CKEditor disappearing!

[bigrover]

I am having problems with my CKEditor disappearing on my site. I can't find any reason why. For example, my development site was working properly at 2 am this morning after installing all my mods and add-ons. Repeated testing of the forum proved it was working. By 10 am when I came back to the site to prepare to deploy the code to my live site now the CKEditor is missing, again!@$*&@~! I have had this problem repeatedly. I have searched and found a number of "fixes" but none of them work for me. I have created a new style and that fails too. The only way I have ever fixed this is to delete all the code, reload from my download source and start over. The frustrating part is the problem does not appear at any time after I install each mod or plugin. As I mentioned earlier, I ran the site for over two hours after the last mod/plugin was made and the site was working well in all respects.

I don't want to have to start again. The lack of useful editing tools is making our forum look like a joke. I am starting to question whether the joke is vBulletin.

Just to be clear, the sprite.png file does exist in the images/editor folder. The new style should be using that location, though I don't see on my site where custom styles ever created unique file locations for data. I think that whole line of inquiry is a smokescreen. In the new style there are no customized stylevars or custom templates. The only custom stylevars and templates exist in another style named BigDog's that is not currently set as the default for the site.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hfXFlSOYQ6nlG4eowAPjkLrtB9HjFRYJ/view?usp=sharing

[Dave]

In the developer tools (F12 in Chrome), check the "console" tab for red errors related to the editor when it's not displaying.

I highly doubt it's an issue that comes with vBulletin though, could be a third party script, plugins, etc.

[bigrover]

I am seeing the errors below. Thank you for reminding me to look there. I don't understand what is causing this error though.

GET http://XXXXXXXX.org/vb/clientscript/ckeditor/ckeditor.js?t=A7HG4HT&v=425 net::ERR_ABORTED
vbulletin-core.js?v=425:11 Creating array vBulletin.elements["vB_Lightbox_Container"]
vbulletin-core.js?v=425:11 vBulletin.elements["vB_Lightbox_Container"][0] = post_preview, 1
newthread.php?do=newthread&f=466:408
GET http://XXXXXXXX.org/vb/clientscript/ckeditor/ckeditor.js?t=A7HG4HT&v=425 net::ERR_ABORTED
vbulletin_textedit.js?v=425:11 Uncaught ReferenceError: CKEDITOR is not defined
at new vB_Text_Editor (vbulletin_textedit.js?v=425:11)
at newthread.php?do=newthread&f=466:412

[Dave]

Hard to say what's going on, but have you tried it on vBulletin's default style with all plugins disabled? Does it work properly there?

It's possible that a third-party JavaScript file is causing a collision with CKEditor.

[bigrover]

Yes, I have tried the default that came with the db, and a new fresh style. No change. I have disabled the plugins except the vB ones with no change.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EHPxnmOKIvRnf4vq-eOAMd-rLjMRqWkB
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EHPxnmOKIvRnf4vq-eOAMd-rLjMRqWkB
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hfXFlSOYQ6nlG4eowAPjkLrtB9HjFRYJ

Apparently images don't appear even though I can link them here. Not sure why.

[Dave]

Does it not work in another browser either such as FireFox and Edge? If it does work properly in another browser, maybe one of your browser extensions is causing it?

If it still doesn't work, it will be a guessing game and we'll need your forum URL and the login info of a test account.

[bigrover]

I've been working in Chrome. It doesn't appear in Firefox either. I am working on backing up the test database and code so I can blow it all away yet again. This server is not exposed to public access. I will see if I can get you access to the live site with the exact same problem.

[final kaoss]

Yes, I have tried the default that came with the db, and a new fresh style. No change. I have disabled the plugins except the vB ones with no change.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EHPxnmOKIvRnf4vq-eOAMd-rLjMRqWkB
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hfXFlSOYQ6nlG4eowAPjkLrtB9HjFRYJ

Apparently images don't appear even though I can link them here. Not sure why.

Have you tried going to members.vbulletin.com download a version & upload/replace all of the files?

[bigrover]

My edge browser on my laptop returned a different result in the developer tools.

HTTP403: FORBIDDEN - The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it.
GET - http://XXXXXXXX.org/vb/clientscript/ckeditor/ckeditor.js?t=A7HG4HT&v=425
SCRIPT5009: 'CKEDITOR' is not defined

[Dave]

Did you properly upload the clientscript folder?

[bigrover]

I may have found my problem. I found a .htaccess file in the clientscript/ckeditor folder with the following contents (appears to be empty to me...). If I rename the file the editor comes back. I will try and find what plugin loaded this .htaccess file. I still don't understand why it is causing a problem since everything is commented out.

#
# Copyright (c) 2003-2010, CKSource - Frederico Knabben. All rights reserved.
# For licensing, see LICENSE.html or http://ckeditor.com/license
#

#
# On some specific Linux installations you could face problems with Firefox.
# It could give you errors when loading the editor saying that some illegal
# characters were found (three strange chars in the beginning of the file).
# This could happen if you map the .js or .css files to PHP, for example.
#
# Those characters are the Byte Order Mask (BOM) of the Unicode encoded files.
# All FCKeditor files are Unicode encoded.
#

#AddType application/x-javascript .js
#AddType text/css .css

#
# If PHP is mapped to handle XML files, you could have some issues. The
# following will disable it.
#

#AddType text/xml .xml

[Dave]

Really weird if that's causing the issue because all of its lines are commented out, thus doing nothing.

[bigrover]

I found the source of the .htaccess file. It is in the base file set for vB 4.2.5. What is it's purpose?

--------------- Added 1524006146 at 1524006146 ---------------

I just re-enabled the .htaccess file by renaming it and the editor is still working. I had named it .htaccess.bad

Now it is even more confusing. This is the same behavior I am seeing on my live site. The editor works for a while then disappears. I start hacking around, rebuild the site and it works again for a while then stops. Very frustrating, especially since my local test install is a completely different OS and http server than my live site.

unbuntu and apache2 vs cloudlinux and nginx

[Dave]

Maybe it's caused by a scheduled task that's running on vBulletin? You can see the overview of scheduled tasks in the admincp.

[bigrover]

There are a lot of scheduled tasks and I am not at all sure what they are supposed to do. When I look at the scheduled task logs what I see is below. I see the same thing going back several days. It isn't listing all the things that are shown in the task list. I have diabled everything that is obviously not a vB task.

126102 Process E-Mail Queue 17:55, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126101 Process E-Mail Queue 17:39, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126100 Process E-Mail Queue 17:24, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126099 Process E-Mail Queue 17:18, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126098 Process E-Mail Queue 17:09, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126097 Process E-Mail Queue 16:56, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126096 Process E-Mail Queue 16:46, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126095 Process E-Mail Queue 16:38, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126094 Process E-Mail Queue 16:11, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126093 Process E-Mail Queue 15:42, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126092 Process E-Mail Queue 15:12, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126091 Process E-Mail Queue 15:00, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126090 Process E-Mail Queue 14:52, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126089 Process E-Mail Queue 01:56, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126088 Process E-Mail Queue 01:19, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126087 Process E-Mail Queue 00:57, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126086 Process E-Mail Queue 00:41, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126085 Process E-Mail Queue 00:35, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126084 Subscriptions 00:35, 17th Apr 2018 Paid Subscriptions Updated
126083 Daily Digest 00:29, 17th Apr 2018 Daily Digest Sent
126082 Process E-Mail Queue 00:04, 17th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126081 Process E-Mail Queue 23:38, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126080 Process E-Mail Queue 23:04, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126079 Process E-Mail Queue 22:52, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126078 Process E-Mail Queue 22:40, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126077 Process E-Mail Queue 18:20, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126076 Process E-Mail Queue 18:09, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126075 Process E-Mail Queue 17:53, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126074 Process E-Mail Queue 17:40, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126073 Process E-Mail Queue 17:35, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126072 Process E-Mail Queue 16:32, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126071 Process E-Mail Queue 16:29, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126070 Process E-Mail Queue 15:55, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126069 Process E-Mail Queue 15:45, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126068 Process E-Mail Queue 12:50, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126067 Weekly Digest 12:50, 16th Apr 2018 Weekly Digest Sent
126066 Activation Reminder Email 12:38, 16th Apr 2018 Activation Reminder Emails sent to: Echotrill, suckaforlove, LexyJade26, nolamale70124, DecoyOctopus, Jaws2113, Clintoris, LATINA MILF, freeman22, RoadTrip, DecoyOctopus88
126065 Subscriptions 12:38, 16th Apr 2018 Paid Subscriptions Updated
126064 Daily Digest 12:38, 16th Apr 2018 Daily Digest Sent
126063 Process E-Mail Queue 12:24, 16th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126062 Process E-Mail Queue 22:00, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126061 Process E-Mail Queue 21:50, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126060 Process E-Mail Queue 21:40, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126059 Process E-Mail Queue 21:30, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126058 Process E-Mail Queue 21:20, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126057 Process E-Mail Queue 21:10, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126056 Process E-Mail Queue 21:00, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126055 Process E-Mail Queue 20:50, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126054 Process E-Mail Queue 20:40, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126053 Process E-Mail Queue 20:30, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126052 Process E-Mail Queue 20:20, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126051 Process E-Mail Queue 20:10, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126050 Process E-Mail Queue 20:00, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126049 Process E-Mail Queue 19:50, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126048 Process E-Mail Queue 19:40, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126047 Process E-Mail Queue 19:30, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126046 Process E-Mail Queue 19:20, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126045 Process E-Mail Queue 19:10, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126044 Process E-Mail Queue 19:00, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.
126043 Process E-Mail Queue 18:50, 10th Apr 2018 E-mail processing completed.

--------------- Added 1524006755 at 1524006755 ---------------

The list of tasks is below.

56 * * * * Thread Views
This script updates thread views once per hour. This option is suggested for forums with large numbers of threads or users.
Today
05:56 PM

00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 * * * * Process E-Mail Queue
Process the next batch of the e-mail queue.
Today
06:00 PM

00, 15, 30, 45 * * * * Activity Stream Popularity Update
This script executes four times an hour to process update the popularity scores of items in the activity stream.
Today
06:00 PM

05 * * * * Hourly Cleanup
This script performs various cleanup tasks once per hour.
Today
06:05 PM

10 * * * * Attachment Views
This script updates attachment views once an hour if the delayed attachment views option is enabled. This is suggested for forums with a large number of attachments or users.
Today
06:10 PM

15 * * * * Restore Temporarily Banned Users
This script restores the access of temporarily banned users once an hour.
Today
06:15 PM

20, 50 * * * * Infractions Cleanup
Removes expired infractions twice an hour.
Today
06:20 PM

20 * * * * Hourly Cleanup #2
This script performs various cleanup tasks once per hour.
Today
06:20 PM

25, 55 * * * * Event Reminder
This script sends out calendar event reminders twice an hour.
Today
06:25 PM

25 * * * * User Promotions
This script performs usergroup promotions once per hour.
Today
06:25 PM

00 0 * * * Daily Statistics Log
This script updates forum stats once per day. These are the stats that are accessed from the Admin Control Panel (New Users, New Threads, New Posts, Active Users).
04-18-2018
12:00 AM

02 0 * * * Daily Digest
This script sends out new post and new thread digests once per day.
04-18-2018
12:02 AM

02 0 * * * Subscriptions
Once per day, this script removes expired paid subscriptions as well as sends out reminders about soon to expire subscriptions.
04-18-2018
12:02 AM

03 0 * * * Activation Reminder Email
This script sends reminder emails to users in the Awaiting Confirmation usergroup. An email is sent one day after the user has registered and again at five days.
04-18-2018
12:03 AM

10 0 * * * Daily Cleanup
This script performs various cleanup tasks once per day.
04-18-2018
12:10 AM

00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 5 * * * Search Queue Updates
Queue updates for search? This MUST be enabled if updates are queued in Settings > Options > Message Searching Options. Otherwise search will find only old information.
04-18-2018
05:00 AM

00 5 * * * Generate XML Sitemap
Generates each part of the XML sitemap one of the time. This task only actually runs if the option to generate the sitemap is enabled.
04-18-2018
05:00 AM

30 0 * * Mon Weekly Digest
This script sends out new post and new thread digests once per week.
04-23-2018
12:30 AM

00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 * * * * RSS Poster Robot
Reads RSS feeds from the internet and inserts them into your board as threads or announcements.
N/A

10 * * * * CCBill Reversal Check
This script is only needed if you enable the CCBill payment processor. It will contact the CCBill server to check for reversed payments and update your subscriptions accordingly.
N/A

01 0 * * * Birthdays
Sends emails to users on their birthday.
N/A

59 * * * * vBGallery by Scandal - build stats
This script updates total albums, pictures, disk space used and comments number, once per hour.
N/A

59 23 * * * vBGallery by Scandal - search cleanup
This task cleans the old search data from table sc_gallery_search.
N/A

59 23 * * Sun vBGallery by Scandal - notifications
This cron send the notifications to users with pending (uncategorized) Albums.
N/A

[snakes1100]

Did you globally disable your plugin system via the config.php file?

[bigrover]

Yes, I did that as well. It turned out the problem is the .htaccess file in the ckeditor folder. Even though all the commands are commented out, the existence of the file causes the server to have permission issues when asked to send the editor. I renamed the .htaccess file and the problem has not yet reappeared.

[Dave]

Anything in the Apache error logs regarding that .htaccess file? Maybe there's a weird hidden character in it that causes it to fail (such as BOM).