File formatting issue???

[lostcommander]

So, this is part of my now 3 week bout of trouble with a broken website and strange errors and stranger underlying issues. For those who are tired of seeing these, thank you for your patience. Hopefully whoever next has these issues can have a solution instead of needing to put up with this sleuthing like I have.

SOooo... Most basic issue right now is simply trying to get phpBB + WordPress + WP-United all working again using a single database and secured settings again. If I only use Fantastico and AutoMOD installers with all default options, then everything works, so I am pretty sure that neither the server setup, administration, nor basic software are at fault. My first step was to point phpBB to the one database I want to be using by editing the config.php file. I was having trouble with losing the end of lines when I uploaded then downloaded the file, but after rechecking my FTP program's settings and changing it back to transmitting 'binary' instead of 'automatic' fixed this problem (the settings had reverted to defaults, I assume, when I last upgraded perhaps). The second step was to get WordPress to point to the unified database by editing the wp-settings.php file. If I leave the original file absolutely alone except for changing the database information inside the single quotes, then it all still works. However, if I shorten the file then it breaks. Since all I have done is changed line numbers and removed some white space and comments, I assume it must be a file formatting issue; however, no EOL (end of line) formatting choice {Mac, Unix, or Win} resolves the issue. It is also broken if I replace the database definition lines with a require_once() statement calling a file which has nothing but those definition lines in between the <?php ?> tags (each define and the tags on its own line; again trying each possible EOL formatting option).

- What is wrong?
- Is there actually something different between the files other than the amount or type of whitespace, and if not why does this matter?
- Why does the original file not conform to ANY system's EOL standard use (Unix uses Line Feed, Mac uses Carriage Return, Win uses both - always one of each)?

updated wp-settings.php

/** The name of the database for WordPress */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_NAME', 'user_DB');[CR]
[CR][LF]
[CR]
[CR][LF]
/** MySQL database username */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_USER', 'user_name');[CR]
[CR][LF]
[CR]
[CR][LF]
/** MySQL database password */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'pwdpwd');[CR]
[CR][LF]
[CR]
[CR][LF]
/** MySQL hostname */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');[CR]
[CR][LF]
[CR]
[CR][LF]
/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');[CR]
[CR][LF]
[CR]
[CR][LF]
/** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */[CR]
[CR][LF]
define('DB_COLLATE', '');[CR]

shortened wp-settings.php

define('DB_NAME', 'user_DB');[CR]
define('DB_USER', 'user_name');[CR]
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'pwdpwd');[CR]
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');[CR]
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');[CR]
define('DB_COLLATE', '');[CR]

modified wp-settings.php

define('DB_NAME', 'user_DB');[LF]
define('DB_USER', 'user_name');[LF]
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'pwdpwd');[LF]
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');[LF]
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');[LF]
define('DB_COLLATE', '');[LF]

secure attempt wp-settings.php

require_once("/folders/mysql_stuff.php");[CR][LF]

Thank you for any ideas, insight, tests, thoughts, or really anything. I'm stumped.

[misson]

How, exactly, does it break? What errors are you getting, if any? Did you check the error log? In addition to the error log accessible via cPanel, sometimes you'll find other error logs scattered around various folders; look for them.