Title: Persistent “Error Establishing Database Connection” When DB OK Last modified: December 10, 2016 --- # Persistent “Error Establishing Database Connection” When DB OK * [Nabsta](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nabsta/) * (@nabsta) * [9 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/persistent-error-establishing-database-connection-when-db-ok/) * _[ Moderator note: [moved to How-to and Troubleshooting](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wheres-my-topic-gone?replies=1&view=all).]_ * Hi, * Tearing my hair out here. Website seeva.com.au. Under development so I don’t want to lose a week’s work! * Sequence of events: - Saw the update notification to WordPress 4.7; - Backed up everything (WordPress and database) using Updraft Plus; - Installed the updates – WP, themes (inc. Divi), plugins (BTW I use a child theme); - Then noticed that the Divi Child theme was showing an error in being unable to find the style.css template even though I hadn’t changed anything; - Tried to fix the Child theme but WordPress wasn’t even recognising it; - Decided to restore to the back-up taken just before the update; - After the restore it was saying that the WordPress DB was needing repair; - Repair function stated that all the tables were OK and to remove the above parameter; - Did the same from phpmyadmin but of course InnoDB doesn’t allow for repair, but the check function worked fine; - I uploaded a fresh version of WordPress 4.7 less wp-config.php and wp-content; - Reinstated wp-content and wp-config; - Checked permissions on the base files and folders; - Renamed plugin and theme directory to deactivate; - Used a test script to check the db connection and no probs ([https://gist.github.com/sivel/162913](https://gist.github.com/sivel/162913)). * Please help. * Regards David Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total) * Moderator [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * (@t-p) * [9 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/persistent-error-establishing-database-connection-when-db-ok/#post-8537032) * – “Error establishing a database connection” means that there is a problem with the connection to your database – a problem with the credentials stored in the wp-config.php file not matching what mysql expects. – Try reviewing the following codex for some guidance: [http://codex.wordpress.org/Common_WordPress_Errors#Error_Establishing_Database_Connection](http://codex.wordpress.org/Common_WordPress_Errors#Error_Establishing_Database_Connection) * If all that info is correct, then try: – Flushing any caching plugins you might be running, as well as server and/or [browser caches](http://www.refreshyourcache.com/). Not just your browser, but any op cache or content network cache as well [such as Cloudflare](https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200169246-How-do-I-purge-my-cache-). If your host provider has a “Purge Varnish” option or if you can ask your provider to flush memcache on your server. – If that does not resolve the issue, try deactivating ALL (yes all) plugins temporarily to see if this resolves the problem (plugin functions can interfere). If this works, re-activate them individually (one-by- one) to find the problematic plugin(s). – If that does not resolve the issue, or if you can’t get into your admin dashboard, try [resetting the plugins folder](http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_Troubleshooting#How_to_deactivate_all_plugins_when_not_able_to_access_the_administrative_menus.3F) by [FTP](http://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients). Sometimes, an apparently inactive plugin can still cause problems. Also remember to deactivate any plugins in the mu-plugins folder (if you have created such folder). The easiest way is to rename that folder to mu-plugins-old. – If that does not resolve the issue, keep all plugins deactivated and try switching to the unedited default Theme (Twenty Seventeen) for a moment using the WP dashboard to rule out any theme-specific issue (theme functions can interfere like plugins). If you don’t have access to your admin area, use [FTP ](http://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients), or your web-host’s cPanel or whatever file management application your host provides (no Dashboard access required). Navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and switch to the default theme by renaming your current theme’s folder by adding “-old” to the end of the folder name. Alternately, you can remove other themes except the default theme. That will force your site to use it. – If all the above steps do not resolve the issue, then try **MANUALLY** updating. Download a fresh copy of the WordPress .zip file to your computer, unzip it, and use that to copy up all files and folders **EXCEPT the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory.** You may need to delete the old wp-admin and wp-includes folders and files on your server before uploading the new ones. Please read the [Manual Update](http://codex.wordpress.org/Updating_WordPress#Manual_Update) directions first. – **Backup: If you haven’t already done, always backup everything( including your database) before doing any actions, just in case something really goes wrong. You can never have enough backups! ** - This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/). - This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by [bdbrown](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bdbrown/). Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total) The topic ‘Persistent “Error Establishing Database Connection” When DB OK’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 1 reply * 2 participants * Last reply from: [t-p](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t-p/) * Last activity: [9 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/persistent-error-establishing-database-connection-when-db-ok/#post-8537032) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics