Trying One More Time

[hedera46]

I'm still trying to prepare to upgrade my staging site, upgrade.rockridgencpc.com, from Joomla 3.10.11 to whatever J4 is out there now. I'm working with a new clean cloned site made by Siteground. I've deleted a couple of extensions (com_osefileman and jupgradepro). As of last week, the "no information on compatibility" list was down to:

js_novitas (template which I know is not compatible)
All Video Share - a bunch of items which I have upgraded to v.3.6.1, which I think is J4 compatible
Web Links Extension Package which I've upgraded to v.4.0.1, which I think is J4 compatible
JCE Extension Package which I've upgraded to v.2.9.36, which says it's J3 and J4 compatible
Akeeba Backup 8.2.8, which says it's J3 but not J4 compatible

Here are the items which confuse me:

1. On April 30, the pre-update check said JCE Extension Package 2.9.36 didn't need an upgrade. Today, May 14, it still says no upgrade needed but there's a "potential upgrade issue" with a plugin which it doesn't identify. Should I just delete it? Is there a way I can identify the plugin?

I installed Akeeba Backup 8.2.8 for J3 on May 7. After doing that, Akeeba Backup showed as not needing an upgrade. Yesterday, May 13, I checked the site again, and Extensions > Manage > Update showed an update to 8.3.0 for Akeeba Backup. I installed it. Today when I looked at the pre-update checklist, it says that Akeeba Backup needs an upgrade, despite showing 8.3.0 as installed, and compatible with both J3 and J4. It also shows updates needed for file_fof40 (4.1.4) and file_fef (2.1.1) - which as far as I can tell are part of Akeeba Backup.

I was about ready to try an upgrade to J4. The critical issue here is the Akeeba Backup version. I've been unable to find a version for J3 newer than 8.3.0, and I've already tried and failed to install v.9.5.1 (J4 only). Can anyone identify the needed upgrade for Akeeba Backup?

[Pavel-ww]

1. On April 30, the pre-update check said JCE Extension Package 2.9.36 didn't need an upgrade.

I installed Akeeba Backup 8.2.8 for J3 on May 7.

Hi. Remove JCE and delete the table (#_wf_profiles) with its profiles from the database, since this table is not deleted when removing JCE and this is not compatible with J4. After migration, you can install JCE again.

Do not worry about Akeeba Backup. After migration, you should download (do not use Akeeba update process in Joomla, do not use Akeeba download from JED in Joomla, just download from the official site directly through your browser) and install Akeeba Backup 9.x.x, and delete Akeeba Backup 8.x.x with all its plugins.

Or easier - delete Akeeba Backup 8.x.x and after migration, install Akeeba Backup 9.x.x. The same, just download from the official site directly through your browser. This is due to the fact that the installation through JED for some reason does not install Akeeba quick icons plugin.

I hope you know that migration should be made on copy of the site but not on the working site. After successful migration, you should replace the working site with a new one.

[hedera46]

Thank you, that's very helpful, especially about the incompatible JCE table. And yes, this is all on a copy of the live site.

[hedera46]

Today I thought the staging site was ready. I had deleted the js_novitas template, ose_fileman, jupgradepro, and the JCE Extension package (plus the #_wf_profiles table, thanks for that). Web Links Extension Package 4.0.1 should have been compatible. I had updated Akeeba Backup to 8.3.1 which the pre-update check said was compatible with both J3 and J4. (I realize I probably should have just deleted it?) I ran the upgrade to Joomla 4.3.1, and just like my first try, I have what looks like a working back end, and a front page on which Cassiopeia says:

0 Class 'JString' not found

I actually tried deleting the Akeeba 8.x and installing Akeeba 9.6.1 on the upgraded site, with no effect.

I have an Akeeba backup I made yesterday, so I can roll back to that and try again. But - how do I find what's causing the "JString" error?

I tried to make an FPA for the upgraded site but I keep getting a DNS error. I know this worked on April 11, I'll try to get it to work.f

Addendum: I may have found something. I was looking through Components in the J4 administrator panel, and when I clicked on All Video Share, I got 0 Class 'JString' not found! I can certainly try this again with All Video Share deleted!

[sozzled]

See https://www.google.com/search?q=System+ ... joomla.org.

You have a third party extension, I don’t know which one, could be a module, plugin, component, language (unlikely to be the template) that’s making a fatal call to JString. JString was retired with the release of J! 4.x which means you’re using an old extension carried over with the migration. Don’t ask me which extension it may be.

To find what is making a call to JString, search all the PHP files in your filesystem for this text. I use Windows Grep to search text within files. There are other tools you can use.

[sozzled]

All Video Share, in my opinion, an unnecessary waste (and I would never use it). What version of it have you installed?

[hedera46]

Version 3.6.1. I'm open to other suggestions for video display.

[sozzled]

AVS v3.6.1 is old! Really old (came out in Feb 2020 before J! 4 was released). The latest version (listed on the JED) is v4.1.2.

[Pavel-ww]

0 Class 'JString' not found

Hi. Turn it ON and the paths to files with errors will be shown.

2.jpg

1.jpg

Usually it is worth paying attention to the first file in the list. All other errors are caused by a chain reaction.

Focusing on the names in the path to this file, you can determine which extension causes an error. And then remove it with regular Joomla means. You do not need to try make fixes to the file.

[hedera46]

Thank you, I'll try that.

[hedera46]

Pavel-ww, were those screenshots you posted in the Joomla 3.10.11 back end, or in the Joomla 4.3.1 back end? I could find "System" in the J4 back end but not "debug." And I don't see "Server." I should have asked this the first time instead of assuming you were showing Joomla 4.

[hedera46]

I think Pavel-ww can ignore my last question. I had a clear indication that the JString error "0 Class 'JString' not found" was associated with an old version of All Video Share (3.6.1). When I looked at it in the J4 "Components" menu I got the Jstring error. So - today I went into Extensions > Manage, selected all the All Video Share pieces, and uninstalled them. I got an error:

An error has occurred.
0 Call to undefined method Joomla\Database\Mysqli\MysqliDriver::query()

But - AVS was gone. And I can now display my home page in Cassiopeia with no errors. The menus aren't working the way I want, but they're there. I think I can go ahead without restoring from backup, with the warning for my production rollout that AVS 3.6.1 must be either removed or upgraded to 4.1.2 before the Joomla upgrade. I think I'm now ready to start figuring out template arrangements. Thanks to all for your help. (Which doesn't mean I won't be back.)