Why MAMP doesn't display errors?

Question

OK this is getting very frustrating. MAMP used to display errors but then stopped. I decided to do a fresh install of it as I couldn't figure it out. I check my PHP version, running 5.4.4 and go to that folder and change the php.ini to this:

error_reporting  =  E_ALL
display_errors = On

Still no errors showing. I go through all the folders and change all php.ini files, just in case. Nothing. I fix the forced error and dump out phpinfo(), check the error section and display_errors is Off. What the hell.

I place error_reporting(E_ALL); ini_set('display_errors', 'on'); at the start of the PHP file and phpinfo() again. Local value is now On, master is still Off. Force a PHP error, and still get Server Error not PHP error.

Anybody have any insight? I have a bug somewhere in some code and cannot find it, would love for PHP to just tell me.

MAMP or MAMP Pro is not anevironmnet to use for develope or debug web applications. Turn to wampserver64 or xampp to do serous web development. — theking2, Dec 13 '20 at 15:06

score 78 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 11:38

78

MAMP sets up a few different php.ini files for the server, the client etc. Check in your phpinfo() which php.ini actually is read. Looks like you're editing the wrong one.

answered Jan 29 '13 at 11:38

pdu

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Thank you, I had no idea. MAMP was reading from /MAMP/bin/php/5.4.4, I was editing /MAMP/conf/php/5.4.4. What a pain! – Alex McCabe Jan 29 '13 at 11:45
That also bugged me a month ago or so... ;-) – pdu Jan 29 '13 at 13:18
5

and don't forget to restart apache server after changes. :) – Edu Ruiz Jan 22 '15 at 23:22

score 35 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 11 '16 at 18:02

35

There are two php.ini files on MAMP. You should change both php.ini files.

Applications/MAMP/bin/php/'php version you are using(php5.5.10)'/conf/php.ini
Applications/MAMP/conf/php/'php version you are using(php5.5.10)'/conf/php.ini

Then change:

display_errors = Off

to:

display_errors = On

edited Jan 11 '16 at 18:02

Sven

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answered Jul 16 '14 at 14:58

orhankutlu

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Why change two? 1st option seems fine. – Jayden Lawson Jan 04 '16 at 12:19
I think I changed the first one and then restarted the service and it worked fine – Tsepo Nkalai Sep 26 '18 at 06:26
Mine has two: `/Applications/MAMP/bin/php/php[v#]/conf/php.ini` and `/Applications/MAMP/conf/php[v#]/php.ini`... why are there two?! Why do we need to modify both? Regardless, both have `display_errors = Off`, however, when I go to MAMP > File > Open Template > PHP > v#, it opens a php[v#].ini file that shows `display_errors = MAMP_display_errors_MAMP`... where's that value stored?! If I look at phpinfo(), it shows `display_errors` 'On' for both Local and Master Value. Yet caught Exception shows nothing. This is driving me crazy. – SteveExdia Aug 08 '22 at 21:09

kenorb · Answer 3 · 2015-09-14T08:57:39.647

20

If you're using MAMP PRO, you've to enable Error handling (PHP) in the UI interface which should contain at least two the main options: 'Display startup errors' and set output 'To: Display'.

Display startup errors option is equivalent to display_startup_errors (in PHP) and To: Display to display_errors.

See below:

MAMP PRO - Error handling

edited Sep 14 '15 at 08:57

answered Nov 13 '13 at 10:29

kenorb

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How can I open this UI interface? – Martin Braun Dec 11 '20 at 14:45
in the SIDEBAR LANGUAGES PHP TAB : Check What to log & Log errors: to screen – claudio Mar 06 '21 at 09:45

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 26 '14 at 16:19

7

Change the setting in your php.ini file. The file is located in MAMP > conf > php5 > php.ini

Look for display_errors = Off and change to display_errors = On

After that you need to restart your Apache and MySQL servers for the change to take effect.

edited Mar 26 '14 at 16:19

DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ

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answered Jul 07 '13 at 22:00

jojojohn

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score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 28 '15 at 19:24

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MAMP PRO users can visit the PHP tab in UI and make sure Log Errors: to screen is checked: screencast

edited Jul 28 '15 at 19:24

Tejus Prasad

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answered Jul 28 '15 at 18:45

Joe Watkins

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CheddarMonkey · Answer 6 · 2020-11-23T21:42:33.993

Here's a 2018 update to this problem. First, I'm having the same trouble and found this thread. I used phpinfo() and found yet another location of a php.ini file. Here are the paths (I work on a Mac):

/Applications/MAMP/bin/php/[php version]/conf/php.ini

/Applications/MAMP/conf/php/[php version]/php.ini

and ...

/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini

The phpinfo() page lists two sources for the php.ini:

Configuration File (php.ini) Path
/Applications/MAMP/bin/php/[php version]/conf
Loaded Configuration File /Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini

I ended up changing all three, adding error_reporting(E_ALL) to some pages, restarting the server (even rebooted the machine) and still cant get it to display any error messages.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Any ideas?

**** ---------------------------------------------- **** 2020 Edit **** ---------------------------------------------- **** The latest MAMP upgrade (v6) has changed the main web host directory. It's not in the Applications/MAMP/ directory. That's a good thing. But it required me to change where all my projects live. I had to reconfigure my IDE, Postman, Git, and some others. So, I figured this would be a perfect time to move to Docker containers.

Docker brings a whole new level of challenges but once I got familiar with it and deployed a few containers, it's been great. It feels faster when rendering in the browser and I am more confident that my projects will run as expected on the production server. Eventually our production servers will use containers, so it just makes sense for me.

I've got MAMP PRO v5.1. But, I solved it by uninstalling the whole thing and reinstalling. It works again, but not sure for how long. — CheddarMonkey, Sep 24 '18 at 21:30
I always find upgrading MAMP to be a nightmare, it never remembers settings. I just don't do it now, despite it's constant protesting. I'm glad you got it working. As long as you don't upgrade, you should be golden. — Alex McCabe, Sep 25 '18 at 09:46

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 10 '16 at 21:15

2

If you are using MAMP version 3.2.2 then you only need to change one php.ini file:

Mac: Applications/MAMP/conf/'(php7.0.9)'/php.ini

Windows: C:\MAMP\conf\PHP Version you use'(php7.0.9)'\php.ini

I know this is an old post but MAMP keeps changing their configuration of the files so I hope this helps.

answered Nov 10 '16 at 21:15

Andrew Gabriel

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I've not used MAMP for quite a while now, so I am unsure of the configuration files, so if this is now the correct way of doing things, that's fantastic. Much easier! – Alex McCabe Nov 11 '16 at 10:46

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 23 '16 at 09:43

2

For newer versions of MAMP, the config file is stored in Appliations/MAMP/bin/php/[php version]/conf.

Andrew Nagy pointed me in the right direction with his answer, but it wasn't quite correct for my installation of MAMP. Why they're different, I can't tell, but here we are.

If anyone is stuck, the easiest thing to do is to just <?php echo phpinfo(); ?> in the index file of the application and look for the loaded php.ini directory.

answered Nov 23 '16 at 09:43

Alex McCabe

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This is exactly what worked for me. ```NOTE:``` You must restart the server after changing the ```php.ini``` file for it to take effect – Nate Beers Mar 17 '19 at 08:42

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Mar 26 '14 at 16:19

0

Also there is a template saved in MAMP of the php.ini. Go to File > Edit Template > PHP > Your Version.

edited Mar 26 '14 at 16:19

DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ

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answered Sep 29 '13 at 14:57

loveNoHate

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 20 '16 at 15:01

0

On MAMP 3.2.0 and PHP 7 you'll need to target php.ini-production and change the value to Production Value = On

answered Feb 20 '16 at 15:01

ste

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Why MAMP doesn't display errors?

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