Thumbnails could not be generated automatically
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#2944 Thumbnails could not be generated automatically
Hi, I recently started getting an error when uploading media. Thumbnail media/thumbs/XXXX.jpg could not be generated automatically. Blank name or illegal characters in name. this is happening with multiple files. IF you uncheck the auto-create thumbnail checkbox, the main image will upload. If you supply your own thumbnail, it works fine. There are no special characters in the filename.
Please verify that you are using the latest-and-greatest version 4.3.1 from the SVN snapshot. If not, you should really upgrade.
It's possible that you have simpy run out of memory to generate the snapshot. Increase the amount of memory you have allocated to PhpGedView. You do this on the main site configuration page that you access from the Admin page. (Step 4, "Advanced Settings"). Set this to at least 128 Mb. Remember that the amount of free memory required to generate a snapshot is at least 3 times (yes!!!!) the size of the picture in pixels. That's because the original image needs to be copied twice before the thumbnail can be produced.
You can reduce the memory requirements considerably by reducing the size of your original image. I have found that, on my site, at least, any image that's larger than either 800 px wide or 800 px high is too big and does not add anything to the graphics experience.
You also need to make sure that the PHP configuration puts a reasonable limit on the memory that any PHP process can request. This is in the PHP.ini file. You can check that setting from the Admin page, PHP Info option. Look for "memory_limit" . The first of the displayed values is what your current PhpGedView configuration is set to. The second value is the "master" value -- nobody can request more memory than this limit.
You may need the help of your ISP to adjust this limit. They might squawk at your request: point out to them that this is a limit, and not the amount that all PHP processes will automatically get. They will try to keep this as low as possible to minimize the impact on other users of your shared server. It should NOT be less than 128 Mb.
The pixel size was the issue. I increased the memory and was able to import the file successfully. I will let everyone know to make their images smaller to meet your recommendations.
Thank you so much for the quick and helpful response. I'll upgrade this weekend!
If you need guidance in upgrading, please let me know by e-mail: gkroll (at) keldine (dot) ca
Upgrading is relatively painless, but somewhat scary for people who haven't done it before.
The problem was insufficient memory to generate the thumbnail.
The error message is somewhat misleading, and that oversight will be corrected in due course.