Check Charset - Database validity, when you do the one the other has a problem and vise versa... #6091

Alex-e107nl · 2026-08-25T08:01:41Z

Alex-e107nl
Aug 25, 2026

@e107help oke, did a update with github 25-08-2026 and all updates went fine but, there is still a problem with the database tables, as far as i know they all should be utf8mb4_general_ci
Check charset:

e107_core_media | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci 
e107_core_media_cat | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci 
e107_download | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci
e107_forum | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci
e107_news | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci
e107_rss | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci
e107_session | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci
e107_youtube | InnoDB | utf8_general_ci

When i Convert the tables i get the message:
Error
ALTER TABLE e107_download MODIFY download_name varbinary(255);
ALTER TABLE e107_download MODIFY download_url varbinary(255);
ALTER TABLE e107_download MODIFY download_author varbinary(100);
ALTER TABLE e107_download MODIFY download_author_website varbinary(200);
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_title varbinary(255);
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_meta_keywords varbinary(255);
ALTER TABLE e107_download MODIFY download_description blob;
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_body longblob;
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_extended longblob;
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_meta_description blob;
ALTER TABLE e107_news MODIFY news_summary blob;

So tried Check database validity:

<html><body>
<!--StartFragment-->
core_media | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
-- | -- | -- | -- | --
core_media | media_type | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(50)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_name | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_caption | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_description | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_category | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_url | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_dimensions | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(25)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(25)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_userclass | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_usedby | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
core_media | media_tags | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
core_media | media_alt | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media | media_credits | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media_cat | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_owner | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_category | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_title | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_sef | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_diz | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
core_media_cat | media_cat_image | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
news | news_title | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | news_sef | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | news_body | Mismatch | Currently 				LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			LONGTEXT NOT NULL |  
news | news_extended | Mismatch | Currently 				LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			LONGTEXT NOT NULL |  
news | news_meta_title | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | news_meta_keywords | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | news_meta_description | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
news | news_meta_robots | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT '' |  
news | news_class | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' |  
news | news_render_type | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(20)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(20)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' |  
news | news_summary | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
news | news_thumbnail | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
session | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
session | session_id | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(250)  NOT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(250)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
session | session_data | Mismatch | Currently 				LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			LONGTEXT NOT NULL |  
download | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
download | download_name | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_url | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_sef | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_author | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(100)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(100)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_author_email | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(200)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(200)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_author_website | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(200)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(200)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_description | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
download | download_keywords | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
download | download_filesize | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(20)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(20)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
download | download_thumb | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
download | download_image | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
download | download_class | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' |  
download | download_mirror | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
download | download_visible | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' |  
forum | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
forum | forum_name | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(250)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(250)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
rss | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
rss | rss_name | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
rss | rss_url | Mismatch | Currently 				TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			TEXT NOT NULL |  
rss | rss_topicid | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
rss | rss_path | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '' |  
rss | rss_text | Mismatch | Currently 				LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			LONGTEXT NOT NULL |  
youtube | Not applicable | Table inconsistency | Character set should be utf8 but is utf8mb4 |  
youtube | youtube_ref | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(50)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL |  
youtube | youtube_title | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL |  
youtube | youtube_type | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(5)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(5)  NOT NULL |  
youtube | youtube_sef | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(255)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL |  
youtube | youtube_subscribe | Mismatch | Currently 				VARCHAR(50)  NULL DEFAULT NULLshould be 			VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL |  

<!--EndFragment-->
</body>
</html>

Got the message Success
Tables appear to be okay!

But then in check charset the same error is there again... so somewhere something is not configured right?

@Alex-e107nl · 2026-08-25T15:51:39Z

e107help[bot]
Bot Aug 25, 2026

Hoi @Alex-e107nl, your title had it right: the two tools want different things, and the one that was wrong is Check database validity. Deltik asked me to fix it before asking you anything, and the fix is up as #6092.

What happened on your site. Check database validity had decided your server caps InnoDB indexes at 767 bytes. That would make a 255-character key too wide for utf8mb4, so it wanted the eight tables that carry such a key (core_media, core_media_cat, news, session, download, forum, rss, and your youtube table) at three-byte utf8, and its Repair converted them down. Check charset wants everything at utf8mb4 and converted them back up. Round and round.

The 767 was a misreading. It asks the server for innodb_large_prefix and treated anything but ON as the old limit. On stock MariaDB 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 that variable still exists but is a deprecated no-op that answers with an empty value, while the server takes a 1000-byte key without a murmur. Yours did exactly that: your Convert run put such a key on session and it went through. I measured every MariaDB from 10.1 to 10.11 to be sure, and 10.3 to 10.5 are the only ones that behave this way. CI never had them in the matrix, which is how it slipped past.

Two things worth knowing about your database as it stands.

The conversion down is lossy. Under e107's connection settings the server replaces every 4-byte character (emoji, some symbols) with ? and only warns. Any of those in news, downloads, forum names, RSS or media captions were replaced at your first Database Update after 8 August. If you had some, a backup from before that update is the only way to get them back.
Your eight tables are at utf8 right now with the columns intact (Repair put the NOT NULL and defaults back after Check charset had stripped them, which is the other bug in your paste and is fixed in the same pull request). Until you update, an emoji saved into those tables is stored as ?. After updating, Check database validity will offer to convert them back up to utf8mb4, and Check charset will agree with it. Don't run Check charset before then; it would strip the defaults again and the next Database Update would convert the tables down again.

After the fix, a conversion that would lose data fails with the server's error in the log instead of quietly writing ?, on any server.

3 replies

Alex-e107nl Aug 25, 2026
Author

I can't wait to test it! :-)

Alex-e107nl Aug 26, 2026
Author

Yessss, tested it and it works perfect now, when you do the updates on e107_admin/db.php?mode=db_update everything stays in the right utf8mb4_general_ci charset and no errors!

Success
Tables appear to be okay!

THX!

e107help[bot] Bot Aug 31, 2026

@Alex-e107nl Thanks for going back and testing it. It is merged now: #6092 landed on master as 41d51cddad, so on any build from that commit onward the two tools finally want the same thing.

That lifts the restriction on Check charset, and only that one. It is safe to run again: it builds its column changes from the server's own table definitions now, so NOT NULL and the defaults survive it, and Check database validity no longer narrows a live utf8mb4 table back down. The other half of what I said on the 25th still stands, because that half is about your stored content rather than your schema: a 4-byte character that had already been written down as ? is still ?, and a backup from before your first update after 8 August is the only way back.

The ping-pong itself never reached release/v2.3.x. The narrowing arrived on master with #5882, so a 2.3.x site was never caught in that loop.

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