How long to complete 'searching blog for links…" after 'nuclear option'?

The time requirements can vary a lot depending on the number of links and server performance. Still, usually it shouldn’t take more than a few hours.

Take a look at the “Advanced” tab of the settings page. What is the current server load average? Is it above the load limit? That could prevent the plugin from completing the scan.

Server load limit is 4.00, current load bounces around but the highest I’ve seen it in watching for 5 minutes is 3.07. Most of the time it’s in the 2’s.

Does the fact the the current load changes constantly mean the process is still working?

The load average is a global metric, similar (but not equivalent) to things like CPU usage or the amount of used/available RAM. It’s not really possible to determine what a specific process is doing by looking at a server-wide average.

Anyway, if the load average is mostly below the limit, it probably isn’t the problem.

How about the PHP error log? Are there any recent error messages related to this plugin?

(If logging is turned off, see the “WP_DEBUG_LOG” section of these WP docs for information on how to enable it. Alternatively, try this tutorial.)

Okay, I turned on the debug log. Over a hundred records were instantly generated, but most or all seem to be these (repeated):

[08-Apr-2015 17:10:08] PHP Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/content/77/3856777/html/wp-includes/functions.php:3495) in /home/content/77/3856777/html/wp-includes/option.php on line 749

[08-Apr-2015 17:10:08] PHP Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /home/content/77/3856777/html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495

[08-Apr-2015 17:10:21] PHP Notice: Undefined property: Platinum_SEO_Pack::$ob_start_detected in /home/content/77/3856777/html/wp-content/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/platinum_seo_pack.php on line 367

I’m not savvy enough to know whether any of these might have anything to do with Link Checker.

thanks

Perhaps I should de-activate and re-activate the plug-in?

Those particular messages don’t look like they could be related to Broken Link Checker. To find log entries that concern BLC, search for the name of the plugin directory – broken-link-checker.

Perhaps I should de-activate and re-activate the plug-in?

Sure. I’m not sure it’ll help, but it’s worth a try.

I’m seeing nothing in the debug log for BLC.

I’ve deactivate and reactivated–BLC has resumed searching for links…

Hmm. Well, if that doesn’t work out, you might consider uninstalling and reinstalling the plugin.

Uninstall, reinstall did the trick. thanks.