Early this week one of my plugins had an upgrade available but when I clicked to upgrade automatically I received the following: Error 500 – Internal Server Error. Didn’t give it much thought and tried to log into this site last night and after entering my credentials received the same error: now it was serious.
Searching for the error uncovered one possible fix indicating PHP is running out of memory. To increase on an ISP that doesn’t give direct access to PHP is to create a PHP.INI file with this line as the only content:
memory=20MB
I did this and gained access back to my WordPress Dashboard. Checked the plugins and still received Error 500 trying to update. More searching gave another option: edit the .HTACCESS file and add the following line to force PHP5 usage instead of PHP4. If you need info on a few great WordPress web hosts in Australia – let me know, I obviously know my way around basic IT and webhosting.
AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
This allowed the plugin to be upgraded. I then removed the PHP.INI file and everything was still working well.
I don’t think your problem is with WordPress but rather it is with 1and1. It is with good reason the Pennsylvania Better Business Bureau gives 1and1 their lowest rating: “F”
Warth Publishing Inc
Interesting, I’ve been having this issue using 1&1 – however, try as I might, I cannot find a .htaccess file … where’s it supposed to be located?
It’s in the root of your web space. I didn’t have one and had to create and upload it: if you need help check out .htaccess Editor.
Thanks for the info. Got it working now.
Thank you, you are the man!
Other guy forgot to write about AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
Regards!
thank you so muccchhhh !
I was desperate…
te lo agradezco mucho tenia ese problema que me estaba volviendo loco, pase 24 horas tratando de cambiar un dominio y solo era esa linea en el .htaccess.
gracias men.
Works like a charm! I have 1and1 for years and just started using WP. IT was bugging me to no end that every time I tried to configure anything in the WordPress dashboard I would get a Error 500! I also bumped up the cache to 32M described here:
Correction, somehow my bumping up the cache to 32M messed things up. Stick with the php5 change above and all worked great!
I had the error 500 on 1and1 linux server when trying to activate Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin and this suggestions here solved the problem. Thanks a lot!!
I just tried your suggestion and it still doesn’t work. WordPress tries for a longer time to activate a new plugin but still no dice – 500 Server Error.
Thanks for posting this article! 1and1 can be such a headache sometimes; their FAQ pages make it hard to find the necessary info…if they’ve even put it out there.
When I did a search for “AddType x-mapp-php5 .php”, their page come up right away.
Essentially, it says if you want to use PHP 5:
Here’s the link to check out 1and1’s What do I need to consider if I want to use PHP 5?. (I would have exploded before I found that.)
Thanks, again!
Martin
Just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I added the line to my .htaccess file and now everything’s running smoothly after a very rocky upgrade from WP 2.7 to WP 3.01. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you, thank you. Updating the .httaccess file did the trick.
I’m sorry to hear that so many people have had issues with 1and1. I have been with them for almost 2 years and have found them to be very helpful.
The .htaccess worked perfect 🙂
Thanks!
adding that line into the .htaccess worked!
thanks so much for addressing both the error 500 and 1&1 hosting, that’s the exact combo I had.