GoDaddy 500 Internal Server Error
Today I had an interesting afternoon thanks to GoDaddy and WordPress. I have been working with my blog a lot over the past few days and I noticed that I was getting a lot of “Error 500 – Internal server error” messages. I was getting this error about 50% of the time. I went to my Control Panel on the GoDaddy site and turned on Error Logging. The only thing the Error Log was showing was a few lines that said ‘mod_rewrite: maximum number of internal redirects reached. Assuming configuration error. Use ‘RewriteOptions MaxRedirects’ to increase the limit if necessary.’
From this error messages I assumed the problem was being caused by mod_rewrite but after several hours of playing with it and spending 1/2 hour on the phone with GoDaddy Tech Support, I discovered that it was not to culprit.
After doing much searching on the Internet I stumbled upon a forum post talking about the same problem. I discovered that the problem was not with mod_rewrite but was instead with the WP-Cache plugin that I had installed in WordPress. There seams to be some kind of compatibility problem with GoDaddy and WordPress with the WP-Cache plugin enabled. Disabling the plugin got rid of the 500 Internal server error messages.
I did not want to get rid of the WP-Cache plugin because it did speed up my site so I decided to see if anyone had a work around and I found a great blog post that told me how to fix it. The post is at Using WP-Cache on GoDaddy (500 Error).
I found thinkdj’s post over at Blogulate that has a GZIP version of WP-Cache that will work with GZIP enabled so I started with that version and added the GoDaddy fix. I took it a little further and found some optimization for WP-Cache as well. I have it fully working on GoDaddy now with no more 500 Internal Server Error messages. To save you all a lot of work I have created a .zip file containing the fixes and optimization to WP-Cache. Just download wp-cache.zip and unzip it into your wp-content/plugins directory. Your site should be faster and error free. I have only tested it on GoDaddy so I don’t know if it will work on other hosts.
Recommendation: Remove WP-Cache and Install WP-SuperCache. It works much better, you don’t need to edit it, it is updated regularly and does not cause any problems with GoDaddy.
Refrences:
Original GoDaddy Fix site
Original GZIP Version of WP-Cache
Original Speed Optimization site
Hindsight is 20/20 « Team Pockethouse
January 2, 2010 @ 7:07 pm
[…] again, and wondering why it used to blow up every now and then, I realized I should have done some research long ago. I’ve been wondering why I’ve been getting 500 Internal Server Errors over at […]
January 15, 2010 @ 2:31 pm
I uploaded the file, installed, kept all defaults, just tried to update a scheduled post and still got error. Have worked on this 3 days and godaddy wont acknowledge it. have tried so many things and was hoping this would be the fix. any ideas on where to go from here?
Also… am not sure where to find compression. wanted to double check that. it’s not listed under misc
===
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, support@supportwebsite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Apache Server at restministries.com Port 80
January 16, 2010 @ 12:17 am
My recommendation is to remove WP-Cache and install WP-Supercache. I switched to Supercache a while ago and I have not had a problem since. No editing of WP-Supercache needed, just install and activate. It is updated regularly and works really well with GoDaddy.
GoDaddy WP Super Cache | Ramblings of a Bored Geek
January 16, 2010 @ 12:29 am
[…] Errors. Let me know if you have a problem with the site and I will switch it back to my Custom WP-Cache plugin. You can get the WP-Super-Cache Plugin […]
January 16, 2010 @ 11:29 am
thx, “My recommendation is to remove WP-Cache and install WP-Supercache. ” — did this and didn’t seem to work., is there any waiting time before it “should” work? or is it automatic?
January 16, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
It should work right away as long as you have disabled and removed WP-Cache. Then in WP-Supercache go through all options and select what is best for you. Make sure you scroll down and have it update your .htaccess file for you.
These are the options I use:
ON WP Cache and Super Cache Enabled
Uncheck – Don’t cache pages….
Uncheck – Proudly tell the world…
Checked – Clear all cache files…
Checked – Chache rebuild….
Uncheck – Coarse file locking…
Uncheck – List the newest cached…
Checked – Mobile device support…
Further down:
Super Cache Compression – Enabled
Mod Rewrite Rules:
Let it do the updates.
The rest of the options should be fine and you can update them as you like.
Hope this helps
January 30, 2010 @ 7:02 am
than you! had still been having troubles and more frequently again, but just found your setting suggestions, so updating some of those i had differently!
February 1, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
hmm, I was able to upload a few posts w/o error, but no am getting it on my images too when I try to upload. I’d like to call godaddy, but I dont know “much” and the plp I’ve spoken to know less than me! any advice?
October 27, 2010 @ 8:59 am
I manage to view the details of the error (Error 500) by making some changes at the web.config file. Check the link below for more information.
http://jeeshenlee.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/how-to-show-the-details-of-error-500-on-web-server/
Tested it on GoDaddy and it’s working. 🙂
Thanks!
December 23, 2010 @ 12:09 pm
I had error 500 come up simply because I had a PHP $_POST variable that wasn’t valid. I removed it, and voila, it works.
January 4, 2011 @ 11:17 am
hi, im installing a joomla extension (kunena forum) but i got a 500 internal server error. whats suppose to be the problem?
January 4, 2011 @ 12:48 pm
Hi I have the same problem, I developed a page on Visual Studio 2010 with C# and .Net Framework 3.5 it works well in my local host, but when i upload it to my hosting on godaddy it doesnt work.
here is the issue: http://www.limatambo.com.pe/avance
I hope you can help me
Thanks
September 21, 2011 @ 5:17 am
Hello,
Not sure if this still gets checked, but I’m in the same boat as a poster above – the installation instructions for Supercache are thoroughly beyond my comprehension, so I went with the wp-cache you provided. The readme is funny though, because none of the adjustments it says to make seem to exist – no miscellaneous options, no compression, no plugins section, et al. Can you give me any advice here? Jesus Christ this is driving me up a wall.
September 21, 2011 @ 9:49 am
Hi,
The above solution is now out of date and the new version of WP Super Cache works fine with GoDaddy. To install it in WordPress follow the following steps.
1. Login to the WordPress Backend
2. Click on Plugins on the Left Menu
3. Click Add New under Plugins
4. In the Search Box type WP Super Cache
5. Click the Search Plugins Button
6. Click Install Now on the first item in the list which should be WP Super Cache
7. Active the plugin on the screen that appears.
8. You should be prompted to turn on WP Super Cache
That is it. It should work fine.
As for the poster with the Visual Studio 2010 C# problem you need to follow the instruction on that site to turn on remote viewing of errors so you can see what the problem is.
August 11, 2012 @ 8:51 pm
i’ve same problem while importing a 5 mb file of exported data , 500 internal server is there any good idea about it???
September 2, 2013 @ 2:25 am
Thanks, try to use WP-Supercache