Geeklog Forums

I have suddenly started getting a really weird error when I try to view my geeklog.

1226: User 'tgotc' has exceeded the 'max_updates' resource (current value: 60)

I get this one line of text when I try to view even the index page of my GeekLog at http://www.tgotc.com/geeklog/.

I have no idea what's going on. Please help me out.

Thank you very much.

--TGOTC

I don't get see any error messages on your site.

Weird. It's not there anymore. I'm not really crazy, though, I promise. I'm glad that the problem resolved itself, but I still wish I knew what caused it. --TGOTC

Maybe it's an intermittent error. Those are the worst types to reproduce and diagnose. If this happens again, then take some notes on what exactly you or others were doing immediately before it occurs. Also, copy the entire error messages from both your server and Geeklog logs. If it showed up once, it may do it again when you hit the same circumstances. I hope it doesn't but if it does, trace your steps which lead to it.

Hello Tgotc,

Would you happen to know which precise version of mySQL your site happens to be running? This may be a big clue to getting to the bottom of this.

Thanks.

I'm not totally sure how to check this, but here's a shot. When I run phpMyAdmin, the second line of text shows "MySQL 4.0.10-gamma-log running on..." Does this mean that I am running MySQL version 4.0.10? Hope this helps. Thanks. --TGOTC

When I run phpMyAdmin, the second line of text shows "MySQL 4.0.10-gamma-log running on..."

Yep, that's the magic number. Ok, I think I can see what's happening now.

MySQL 4.02 and later provides some level of control over how much drain a database user can place upon the database server. There is a "maximum number of updates per hour" limit which, it appears, your activity on that day exceeded. Remember that Geeklog tracks things like the number of page hits, keeps tabs on your session and other housekeeping behind the scenes. This implies that each visitor to your web site will trigger database update activity. Exceed the max_updates_per_hour limit in a sixty minute period and the database server will start to squawk at you. Back off for a short while and all appears to be normal again...

• If you have full control over your MySQL database, you can remove the limit with a line such as: GRANT USAGE ... WITH MAX_UPDATES_PER_HOUR 0;
• If you are not in such a privileged position and are at the mercy of your service provider, you might want to ask nicely for the MAX_UPDATES_PER_HOUR limit to be reviewed for your database user. You may even find out that they have pre-empted your request and already increased your limit for you! :-)

If you never see that message again, you might not really care too much about taking any action. I guess it depends on how much activity your site sees.

If you're interested, you can read more about this in the Limiting User Resources section of the MySQL documentation.

I happen to be running version 3.x of MySql but after reading about your technical problem, I think it's time to consider upgrading to version 4.x at some stage, so thanks for helping to bring this to my attention!