Can't get Apache to work using WAMP or XAMPP

Question

My system:
iMAC
Mac OS X: Version 10.5.6
Processor: 2.16 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
I have over 75 Gigs available on my Mac HD and nearly 40 Gigs left on my external HD used for Time Machine
Hello! I cannot get Apache to start after loading up WAMP (I also tried using XAMPP, but with the same result). This is driving me crazy. I am starting to build my first Joomla site and I have Joomla succesfully loaded onto my server site, but because of the Apache issue, I can't load Joomla onto my local server.
This is what is going on:
have successfully loaded MAMP and MAMPro. This is a fresh reload as of today. When I go to start the MAMP, I get the following message with regards to Apache:
(28)No space left on device: mod_rewrite: could not create rewriteloglock
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I found this page on the web:
http://www.ehow.com/how4397601error-n ... evice.html
I got brave and went into the root using terminal.app. After following the instructions on that page as best I could, there did seem to be a lot of semapores (maybe 50+), but how to delete them was unclear to me on that page. I tried to follow Step 2 by copying this line and pasting it into the terminal prompt:
ipcs -s # grep apache # perl -e ‘while () { @a=split(/\s+/); print `ipcrm sem $a[1]`}’
but it was pretty unclear if I was doing it correctly and there seemed to be no real result. I got too nervous working in terminal to try to continue the instructions on how to delete them, so I got out of terminal and decided to see if there was anything else that might help.
After being in there, I tried to run Apache from MAMP, and, once again, I got the same error. I then found this site:
http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/Apache/U ... -Mac-OS-X/
I did type in "localhost" in the browser, and it DID show apache running with the confirmation window looking exactly as in the article. I then follow the instructions back to terminal.app and did the following command:
sudo pico http.conf
just as in the article, I found these four lines shown exactly like this:
#LoadModule php4_module
#AddModule mod_php4.c
#AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
#AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
however, there were so many warnings about making and changes and such that I decided NOT to eliminate the # sign as the article recommended and just got out of terminal.
The thing is this. Under MAMP, everything seems to be running EXCEPT Apache. However, when I type "localhost" in the command line of my foxfire browser, Apache seems to be running fine.
On another forum, where I have posted exactly as above, the response was:
I cannot reproduce this behaviour even though i have the same osx version and hardware configuration. But I found this site, it may help you to solve the problem:
http://carlosrivero.com/fix-apache---no-space-left-on-device-couldnt-create-acce pt-lock
The script you've used is not correct, the # symbols have to be replaced with pipes | to execute the commands one after another. You should execute this as admin using "sudo" followed by the commands. You also have to replace "apache" with the user name under which apache is currently running. For MAMP Pro that is either "www" or your user name:
This will list all active semaphores of the user "www"
Code: Select all
sudo ipcs -s | grep www
This one should remove them (at least it one runs without any errors)
I tried this but I'm afraid that I am still having the exact same problem. In fact, I unloaded MAMP and then tried XAMPP, which also didn't work. I tried to follow the directions above, but I'm so unfamiliar with how to do terminal in Mac, that I'm really not sure that I'm doing things correctly, or that I'm even addressing the problem. I have Joomla uploaded and ready to go on my server site (godaddy.com), but I really wanted to use my localhost to build the site offline.
I've tried uploading joomla to MAMP as it exists, but when I go back to my browser with http://localhost/
I still just get the apache confirmation page - no Joomla. Maybe part of the problem is that I'm still not completely clear on how to execute the instructions as above had them in terminal. I don't get what they meant by code: SELECT ALL.
I don't know what they mean when they say, "You should execute this as admin using "sudo" followed by the commands. You also have to replace "apache" with the user name under which apache is currently running. For MAMP Pro that is either "www" or your user name:"
how do I know what the username is for apache? How do I know what my username is? I know that these are basic questions, but I have never had to do this before and I don't know where to find the answers. I simply copied and pasted into terminal EXACTLY what it was posted. It really didn't seem to do anything.
Oh, and right now, as I write this, if I click on
Open start page
from MAMP, a browser window opens with the following:
Failed to Connect
Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at localhost:8888.
Though the site seems valid, the browser was unable to establish a connection.
* Could the site be temporarily unavailable? Try again later.
* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.
* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.
So, I'm at a loss of what to do next. I can work on joomla through godaddy, but I would prefer to work on my localhost. I am very discouraged that I am hung up at such as basic level and can't get started. I do have Mac ProCare, but the Mac store is quite a ways away, and I'm not sure how they could help solve this problem.
Please lead me through a solution to this.

Answer 1

Ok, first thing, why are you doing anything with WAMP or XAMPP when you're running a Mac? MAMP should be what you want unless you're not explaining part of what you are trying to do.
2nd thing, I haven't used MAMP in a while, but there are two possibilities for not seeing what you want to see once you have MAMP turned on. One possibility is that you already have "Web Sharing" turned on in your Sharing Preference Pane. If that is the case, port 80 will already be taken and you'll be seeing the default Apache install (files are stored at /Library/WebServer/Documents/). This would push MAMP to either not turn on it's web serving capabilities, or to push it to another port. The other possibility is that MAMP defaults to another port anyway. So instead of localhost, you might have to type in localhost:8080 or something similar. I believe the control panel that gets installed can take you to the currently MAMP-served page, and it can also help you change which port your serving on.
80 is the default port for web serving and the ONLY port that will let you get straight to the server without having to type in webaddress.com:port# instead of just webaddress.com.