This is old news and I’m sick of seeing this long ass post. Short story is vBulletin 4 sucks. Stay away from it and use an older version or something else.

So I’m trying to upgrade to version 4 of vBulletin. This is the paid forum software I use. The shiny new version came out on the 21st and I want to use the thing I paid 160 bucks for. I’m not getting far. Right off the bat I got SQL errors at step 3 of 12:

Database error in vBulletin 3.8.4:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT INTO vb3_tagcontent
(tagid, contenttypeid, contentid, userid, dateline)
SELECT tagid, 2, threadid, userid, dateline
FROM vb3_tagthread;

MySQL Error : Duplicate entry ‘2-2-3068’ for key 1
Error Number : 1062

I posted in the support forums and put in a support ticket. The forum got the fastest reply from someone inside vBulletin. Someone named Trevor told me to:

• drop all vB database tables
• restore your 3.8.4 backup
• check that ‘tagcontent’ doesnt already exist in the restored database (if it does, drop it)
• re-run install/upgrade.php

This got on past step 3. The next roadblock was an button that lead me in an infinite loop. Which was because not all my attachment folders were chmoded 777. After that I got another SQL error:

Database error in vBulletin 3.8.4:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT INTO vb3_attachment
(contenttypeid, contentid, filename, state, reportthreadid, userid, caption, dateline)
VALUES
(8, 3, ‘8.jpg’, ‘visible’, 0, 325, ‘32545ee6763ba347’, 1199857445);

MySQL Error : Unknown column ‘contenttypeid’ in ‘field list’
Error Number : 1054

Which at this point I hit a brick wall. To get past this last error here is what was posted:

It looks like you skipped a previous step that altered the attachment table.

But the bigger issue is that you have not uploaded all the vB 4 file. Look in the upper right-hand corner. It lists 3.8.4 instead of 4.0.0.

First restroe the backup of the 3.8.4 database that you made prior to this upgrade attempt. Then upload all the 4.0.0 files again. Make sure you upload these in ASCII format, overwrite the ones on the server, and that version 4.0.0 shows in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

After you have the correct versions showing, run ‘upgrade.php’ again.

Best regards,
Steve Machol
Customer Support Manager, vBulletin

Now as I told him in my reply to the support ticket I have done everything as he instructed. I point this out to the guy. A few times. And get this:

I’m sorry but it’s not possible to get that error if you followed my instructions. Please follow them to the letter. Make sure this is a clean 3.8.3 database you start with.

Best regards,
Steve Machol
Customer Support Manager, vBulletin

I call him out on the typo and he once again tells me that it’s not the software it’s me:

Sorry, I meant 3.8.4 not 3.8.3. Simple typo.

Here are my instructions again.

First restore the backup of the 3.8.4 database that you made prior to this upgrade attempt. Then upload all the 4.0.0 files again. Make sure you upload these in ASCII format, overwrite the ones on the server, and that version 4.0.0 shows in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

After you have the correct versions showing, run ‘upgrade.php’ again.

Note: You cannot get that same error if you follow those instructions and that 3.8.4 database was clean, i.e., there was no previous attempt to upgrade it.

Best regards,
Steve Machol
Customer Support Manager, vBulletin

I’m to the point now were I’m banging my head against that brick wall. In between this guy telling me I’m doing it wrong I inquire about how one gets a refund. Here is the reply I get on the refund subject:

Since you have already downloaded the software I can offer a refund minus a $25 administrative fee. Let me know if you want us to proceed with this refund.

Best regards,
Steve Machol
Customer Support Manager, vBulletin

And that’s were I’m at. Kinda stuck on if I should just give up and get my 160 (minus the 25 bucks) back or wait for these guys to come up with a solution to the problem. I will update later with what I decide to do.

Edit
So I took the refund. After reading vBTruth.com I think I’ve made the right choice. It’s not like my forums are active anyway.