Good afternoon,

I receive several critical store errors from or website by email, but i got no clue where the error could be.

This is the error message,

Query Error reported on page /index.php
MySQL error: 2006 - MySQL server has gone away

SELECT infobox_id, display_in_column as cfgcol, infobox_file_name as cfgtitle, infobox_display as cfgvalue, infobox_define as cfgkey, box_template, box_heading_font_color
FROM infobox_configuration
WHERE template_id = 9
and infobox_display = 'yes'
and display_in_column = 'right'
ORDER BY location


This error came when we changed some text on the home page, so we did changed the text back to the orginal. But the error kept coming.

It is what you think it is... your mysql server has gone away. Your shopping cart couldn't communicate with the mysql server so it gave this error.

Usually happens on a well used shared webhost.

We are on a shared server, your correct about that. I made alot of phone calls to the hosting company, to explain the error. But they are saying that there mysql server didn't went down or having any troubles.

They told me that there was some kind of bug within the software, but that's not true ?

Because there isn't a way to resolve this problem by editing something in de code ?

You can get this error if the query you're trying to run is too large or takes too long to execute.
Mysql just disconnects cos it's given up (or thinks you have.)

Ask your host to:
1. check the max_allowed_packet value in the configuration file (16M +)
2. check the wait_timeout (600 seconds+)
3. restart the mysql server for you

Probably the only other move after that is to shorten the query (employ a coder.)
Simon

For the 1st item, I added the line: max_allowed_packet=16M in my php5.ini file (previously there was no such line addressing maximum packet allowed). For the 2nd item, I do see a line that says: max_input_time = 60 Is that the line we should edit? Or did you mean to add a line called wait_time=600 (I don't see an existing line with a wait_time variable).

Either way, isn't 600 seconds (10 minutes) a long time to be waiting for a web page to load? Is it even worth the bother to change this, hoping there is someone who would actually wait that long?