Support

Hi!

As noted in our documentation page, in the very big warning box:

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Depending on your web server settings, some of these options may be incompatible with your site. In this case you will get a blank page or an Internal Server Error 500 error page when trying to access any part of your site. If this happens, you have to remove the .htaccess file from your site's root directory using an FTP application or the File Manager feature of your hosting control panel. Since Admin Tools 1.2, your old .htaccess file is saved as .htaccess.admintools. You can rename that file back to .htaccess to revert to the last known good state. If you are unsure how this works, please consult your host before trying to create a new .htaccess file using this tool.

Some prepackaged server environments, like WAMPserver, do not enable Apache's mod_rewrite module by default, which will always result in an Internal Server Error upon applying the .htaccess file. In this case you are strongly suggested to enable it. On WAMPserver you can click on its tray icon, go to Apache, Modules and make sure rewrite_module is checked. On other server environments you have to edit your httpd.conf file and make sure that the LoadModule mod_rewrite line is not commented out (there is no hash sign in front of it). Once you do either of these changes, you must restart your server for the change to become effective.

We strongly suggest that you begin by setting all options to No and then enable them one by one, creating a new .htaccess file after you have enabled each one of them. If you bump into a blank or error page you will know that the last option you tried is incompatible with your host. In that case, remove the .htaccess file, set the option to No and continue with the next one. Unfortunately, there is no other way than trial and error to deduct which options may be incompatible with your server.
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Have you tried following the advice of the last paragraph?

Of course I read your support request, including the error message. See, when you click on Save in the .htaccess Maker configuration page it tries to save the configuration and generate a new .htaccess. I thought that maybe one of those options caused the error. I want to have our bases covered, by ruling out the most common problem. Is this so bad? Besides, the error log message you presented reads:

RewriteCond: NoCase option for non-regex pattern '-f' is not supported and will be ignored

This lead me to believe that the problem is one of the dozens of RewriteRules written in your .htaccess by the .htaccess Maker. Moreover, I saw this:

Request exceeded the limit of 10 internal redirects due to probable configuration error. Use 'LimitInternalRecursion' to increase the limit if necessary. Use 'LogLevel debug' to get a backtrace.

Knowing that Joomla! uses redirections after save operations, I tried to think what could cause redirections go wild. Again, the most likely explanation is one of .htaccess Maker's options, most likely the non-www to www redirection or vice versa. That's why I wanted you to try disabling all options and start enabling them one by one.

Before you assume that I am an idiot or an arrogant bastard who gives condescending replies, please do consider that I am trying to solve an issue that I can not replicate, on your site where I don't have access, based solely on the information you give me. When I have you try different things I do that because it is exactly what I have done should this issue occur on my site. Now that we can get past the irony, would you please try disabling all options and enabling them one by one to see if the problem occurs because of a .htaccess Maker or not? Thanks.

Hi!

OK, no problem. I also get cranky sometimes. Let's face it, written communication is hardly ever the best way to express oneself. As humans, we rely on non-verbal communication to express feelings, an opportunity not given through our writings on this forum.

Well, I've seen many people who did read the documentation, but thought that a specific part of it doesn't apply to them. Unfortunately, because of that understandable behaviour (I plea guilty as charged of the same offence!), I almost always have to start with some "is it plugged in" kind of questions so as not to waste too much of your time trying to solve an issue.

Is this issue critical? I would say, most likely yes. If disabling all .htaccess Maker's options and clicking on save results in 500 Internal Server Error it may be possible that nothing does get saved, ever. This would present a big problem should we need to add exceptions to it to cater for an extension installed in the near future on your site. So, I'd like to get it nailed down as soon as possible.

If after disabling all .htaccess Maker options and trying to save you still get the same issue, please send me a Personal Message with the following information:
- URL of your site's administrator section
- Super Administrator username/password
- FTP connection information (so that I can fix your site if I accidentally screw up the .htaccess file)
- A link back to this thread so that I can see our conversation and know exactly what issue I am trying to resolve

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

You're welcome! I am glad we got that nailed down and beaten to submission :)

Regarding the option you disabled, it's not really required if you enable the Server Protection features of .htaccess Maker. The reason is that this option simply doesn't allow a potential attacker to list the contents of any random directory, but allows execution of arbitrary PHP files. The Server Protection goes one step further, not only disallowing the listing I'd filer contents but also disallowing access to any file except those that must be accessed (hence the need for exceptions). So, despite disabling the directory listings option, your site is still protected very well :)

Thank you very much! I am glad I could be of service :)