Unexpected Error on updating BL from 3.x to latest

Backlight 4 & 5 Support
#1

I saw that the BL Publisher had several updates available, so I selected all updates. I rapidly received this error (below) and now cannot access the website or BL.

jwdimages.net

Something went wrong
Unexpected error: syntax error, unexpected ‘*’, expecting ‘)’ in BacklightUtility.php on line 101

Please report error at https://discourse.theturninggate.net

Any thoughts on next steps to try?
Thanks

#2

Hi Jeff, this looks to be an incompatibility with your version of PHP. I have applied an update to fix this.
As you’re not able to use Backlight, to update your files please do the following:

  1. Visit https://jwdimages.net/backlight/installer/
  2. Put in your Order Number and Email used for your Backlight 3 order
  3. Click Install

This will only update the core files and will not cause any other settings to be lost. Ignore that the title of the installer says ‘Backlight 2’ – this is just because this was the installer that shipped with Backlight 2. It will update with Backlight 3 files for an order number that is for Backlight 3.

Once fixed, can you let me know the version of PHP that you’re running? This can be found by visiting View PHP Info on the main Backlight admin page.

#3

Thanks Ben,
That worked. Here is the PHP version:

PHP Version 5.4.45

#4

Hi Jeff, I’m glad to hear. PHP 5.4.45 came out in 2015, marking PHP 5.4 as end-of-life from then. Running an old version puts your site at risk of security issues, and also risks incompatibilities with software such as Backlight and Wordpress.
Do you have a newer version of PHP available in your control panel? Backlight 3 supports up to version 7.4.

#5

Thanks for the info Ben.
I’ll have to check around to see if a more current version is available to me (and how to get it).
My site is hosted on Bluehost, and I see that the Web Server is PHP ver 7.3.6. So I will have to find out how to update.

#6

you should be able to do it from the c-panel