Anyone tried PHP 8.3.13 from the windows.PHP.net website?

JMMotyer

Hello, folks,
Whenever possible, I always use Aprelium's Preconfigured PHP Packages for Windows (64-bit). However, when those packages lag behind versions available on the PHP.net website, until now I have been able to successfully use newer versions downloaded directly from their windows.php.net page. I don't know if these are the correct versions, but I've been downloading & using their VS16 x64 Thread Safe versions. Is that the correct one to be using? (My Abyss X2 is running on Windows 10 Pro x64.)
The last version from their windows.php.net page that I was able to successfully use was PHP 8.3.11. Their PHP 8.3.12 worked fine for me for non-MySQL scripts, but was not able to connect to any of my MySQL (MariaDB) databases. Which ended up being OK, because Aprelium released their Preconfigured PHP 8.3.12 package for Windows (64-bit), which works fine. However, I have the same MySQL problem with VS16 x64 Thread Safe (2024-Oct-22 21:26:42) for PHP 8.3.13, which works fine for non-MySQL scripts, but is also not able to connect to any of my MySQL (MariaDB) databases.
The error for my CMS shows:

Unable to establish connection to MySQL
0 : could not find driver

Similarly, for my Forums script:

Connection Problems
Sorry, SMF was unable to connect to the database.

Has anyone else tried the VS16 x64 Thread Safe (2024-Oct-22 21:26:42) version of PHP 8.3.13 from their windows.php.net page and their MySQL stuff still works?
Sorry, I know absolutely nothing technical about PHP or MySQL, so I am not able to troubleshoot further.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
John

admin

JMMotyer,
VS16 x64 Thread Safe is the correct "edition" but you should not mix files from different versions.
By the way, we skip versions for PHP when the fixed bugs or the improvements are minor and not worth a full release. When there are security fixes or when there are important changes, a release is made.

JMMotyer

A belated thank you for your reply.

admin wrote
VS16 x64 Thread Safe is the correct "edition"...

Thank you for confirming that it is the VS16 x64 Thread Safe edition that I should be using, which is what I've been using.

admin wrote
... but you should not mix files from different versions.

I have my PHP versions in separate Windows folders, so I am not mixing files from different versions, but thank you for mentioning that point.
So, I am still having issues with any PHP version greater than 8.3.12. I've tried:

8.3.13 (php-8.3.13-Win32-vs16-x64.zip)
8.3.14 (php-8.3.14-Win32-vs16-x64.zip)
8.4.1 (php-8.4.1-Win32-vs17-x64)

None of the above work with any of my PHP scripts that work fine up to PHP 8.3.12 on Abyss X2. But I know that those same PHP scripts work with PHP 8.3.13, because I have those same scripts running externally with a hosting company that uses LiteSpeed, so I am only having the problems with Abyss X2.
I am currently running Abyss 2.16.10.1 (X2) [Early bird 2] for Windows, but I had the same problem with Abyss 2.16.10.0. I tried rolling Abyss back to 2.16.9.5, but that crashed Abyss, so I am unable to see whether 2.16.9.5 works with PHP 8.3.13 and higher.
The problem with any PHP version higher than 8.3.12 is, any of my scripts that use MySQL, I get errors such as:

Unable to establish connection to MySQL
0 : could not find driver

and

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function mysqli_connect() in D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\tngconnect.php:60 Stack trace: #0 D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\tngconnect.php(7): tng_connect() #1 D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\begin.php(45): tng_db_connect() #2 D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\tng_begin.php(2): include_once('...') #3 D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\index.php(2): include('...') #4 {main} thrown in D:\Web\~TNG\~Sites\TNG-TestSite-NitroWings-v14.0.6\tngconnect.php on line 60

What is the highest PHP version that Abyss X2 for Windows has been tested with? And any ideas what my problem might be with PHP versions higher than 8.3.12 ?
Thank you in advance and have a great day.
Regards,
John

admin

JMMotyer,
The error you received is about a missing extension. Most probably, there is a missing declaration of the extension such as a line in hp.ini which looks like:

extension=mysql

By the way, we've just release the preconfigured PHP 8.4.1 package for Windows and macOS. So could you please give it a try?[/code]

JMMotyer

admin wrote
By the way, we've just release the preconfigured PHP 8.4.1 package for Windows and macOS. So could you please give it a try?

Thank you for your time and effort with your release of your preconfigured PHP 8.4.1 package. It works perfectlty.
Have yourself a great day.
Regards,
John

admin

JMMotyer,
Good to know that 8.4.1 solved the problem.