Cannot Install or Upgrade Any Plugins or Themes

  • A few days ago, I started having problems with all of my WordPress installations at my current web host. I have been unable to install new plugins and themes, or update old plugins.

    When I press the Proceed button after entering my ftp information for an install, it goes to the installation page and says it has downloaded the file, and then that it is unpacking the file. The page then stalls out at the unpacking stage. The loading bar will run for a while, and then the page says it is done loading. You can see what I’m talking about here.

    No matter how long I leave it, the plugins/themes do not install. Occasionally, a theme will partially install and be listed under the “broken themes” section.

    I tried completely deleting and reinstalling WordPress. I checked my other WordPress blogs on my webhosting, some I haven’t accessed in months, and they all suffer the same problem now.

    Here are the things I have tried so far to fix the problem:

    Different Browsers:
    -Firefox
    -Internet Explorer
    -Chrome

    Installation method:
    -Through Fantastico De Luxe
    -Manual install using the wordpress-3.0.zip file

    Different WordPress versions:
    -3.0
    -2.9.2
    -2.8.6

    PHP Memory increase:
    -adding php_value memory_limit 64M to .htaccess file
    -adding define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’); to wp-config/php file

    Uninstalling or deactivating potentially troublesome themes or plugins:
    -Even a fresh install of WordPress has these problems for me

    And this is where things get weird. Obviously, I wanted to test out different computers and internet connections. So here’s what I’ve found:
    -I tested it on my computer with my internet, it was broken.
    -If I do a fresh install of WordPress, I am able to install about one new plugin, then it goes back to broken.
    -I tested it on my husband’s computer, same internet connection as me, it was broken.
    -I tested it on my work computer/work internet connection, it was broken.
    -I contacted my web host support, gave them access to like 4 of my blogs, they tested it, and it was NOT BROKEN. They could not replicate the problem.
    -I had my husband walk a friend through testing it on his computer/internet across the country. It was NOT BROKEN. He installed a plugin.
    -Right after the test with my husband’s friend, my husband tried it on his computer again. It was NOT BROKEN. He also installed a plugin.
    -Mere SECONDS after both of those tests, I tested it on my computer, on the same connection as my husband. IT WAS BROKEN! I still can’t install anything.

    I am still totally able to make posts, upload images, etc.

    I’m at my wit’s end here, because there doesn’t seem to be any common variable in my problem (unless you count me being the one at the keyboard and mouse), it seems to come and go with the wind, and my web host can’t even get it to break in the first place. Is there anything to be done for this, or will I just have to manually install and update every plugin and theme I want from now on?

    Thanks in advance!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Thread Starter nnparisi

    (@nnparisi)

    I’ve also just tried manually installing and then activating the Memory Bump plugin. No change in the problem.

    Is there any way to tell whether your memory has actually increased, or should I assume that since I buy web hosting that I’ll need to ask my web host to increase the memory? And is there any reason that having insufficient memory would let plugins/installs go through on occasion, at seemingly random times, and not the majority of the time?

    Thread Starter nnparisi

    (@nnparisi)

    Ok, in addition to everything else, I’ve tried the following:

    -I contacted my host again, asking if the methods for manually increasing my PHP memory allocation would work, or if they the host need to do that. They said changing the .htaccess and wp-config files myself should do it. I tried doing both of these again, and nothing has changed.

    -People talked about having all of your plugins deactivated. Mine already were but I went ahead and tried deleting all plugins and themes, nothing changed.

    I was able to install a plugin this morning from my work computer, but now I can’t install any more.

    I just don’t understand why this problem appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and why it seems to be happening so randomly.

    I am having a similar issue. Was hoping that someone would be able to shed some light on this.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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