cant install alpha 5 at all

AlanO: What version you using? ELMS is a bit installation, so you will need to check your php.ini file (just search for it in php/5.2.X/php/bin/php.ini, I believe). You'll need to up you memory_limit to at least 256M for the installation and or extend you php timeout limit to 180.

Lots of modules to install and config so you might just be timing out.

As mark said, ELMS is a big installation. There's a README.txt file that ships with alpha5 (latest release) that has the settings ELMS may need changed in order to install / run. I've been able to install with a timeout of 90, memory_limit 256M and setting the mysql max packet to 10M. In the future hopefully none of these will be required as the installer will be broken up into manageable chunks instead of 1 install of 80+ projects.

I'm currently running elms in production with 128M memory limit, 60 for timeout and I think 10M for max_packet (that's a common cache issue when running views that have a lot of data).

I got the same error. Here's the exact text:

User warning: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ') ORDER BY fit DESC LIMIT 0, 1' at line 1 query: SELECT * FROM menu_router WHERE path IN () ORDER BY fit DESC LIMIT 0, 1 in _db_query() (line 147 of /homepages/16/d329724380/htdocs/YamaCourseELMS/includes/database.mysqli.inc).
User warning: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ') ORDER BY fit DESC LIMIT 0, 1' at line 1 query: SELECT * FROM menu_router WHERE path IN () ORDER BY fit DESC LIMIT 0, 1 in _db_query() (line 147 of /homepages/16/d329724380/htdocs/YamaCourseELMS/includes/database.mysqli.inc).

It may be relevant to mention that my hosting provider is 1and1. I hear they aren't the greatest for hosting drupal.

But man, am I excited about this project! I am dying for an alternative to *^&%*#* moodle!

Lol. Thanks for the enthusiasm. I just installed on 1and1 for a personal rig. If you have business plan you have access to 80Mega of PHP memory. If nonbusiness plan then 60. Also make sure you upgrade to newer plans for free if you've been a client for awhile. I just had to do this to get running recently

As for installer, make sure error reporting is turned off. Something else I did to streamline was I installed on localhost and then did a manual import of the database. This avoided all install issues and I'm running smooth.

Currently has no gradebook stuff out there but drupal has a gradebook and quiz module... sayin ;).

Beta should be out prior to drupalcon denver, I have I think 6 new kit compliant features planned on top of what's already there (with improvements obviously

I'm a drupal n00b, so I have no idea how to do all those things you just suggested. Is there a thread or a help page you can point me to?

I'm working on a local install right now, but the installer can't find my database server. Grrrrrr. . . . . >:\

Update: turning off error reporting got me past the mysql syntax error, but now I'm hanging at the profile page on a white screen of death. I can't find a php.ini file and I don't have a memory_limit line in my .htaccess file. Can you point me directly to the path I need to fix the memory issues? Maybe I just can't find the stupid files!

No problem.

Memory limit can't be adjusted on 1and1 so that's basically locked based on the plan you have. See: http://faq.1and1.com/scripting_languages_supported/php/13.html

You'll need to make your own php.ini file (potentially) . I put mine in the drupal / elms directory with the following settings:

allow_url_fopen = TRUE
memory_limit = 128M
post_max_size = 10M
upload_max_filesize = 10M

These won't all go through but will at least make sure that it attempts to use some maximums. If you have a white-screen on installer it may have partially installed (common distro fail issue i'm finding) which if this continues to happen you may need to install on localhost and push up. I'd recommend getting MAMP, XAMMP, or the Drupal6 version of dev desktop http://www.acquia.com/downloads and then setting up elms from there (can in the advanced site settings).

for those having trouble installing (and running mysql for database) try doing a manual import of this file. This is what I've used to get elms running on 1and1. Basically I install locally, run the installer and then it generates this file. This is a "cheat" if you will to accomplish this but necessary for the time being for shared environments to get around how big the installer is atm.

Oops, try this one

username admin
password admin

Addendum: btpro's solution works, but if you're on a mac you gotta unzip those files first because macs do some stupid thing ;)

if ur on any system you'll need to unzip it, problem is I'M on a mac and it adds goofy stuff so unzip and then put the file up and you should be at a starting point at least :)

this is fixed in Alpha 6 out next week. I was able to successfully install it on 1and1 w.o. doing anything special. Tons of work has been put into making the installer run successfully, even in low memory environments.