Our web host updated to MySQL 8.x and since then our Coppermine gallery has been broken. We downloaded the latest 1.6.x version and attempt to run the update.php but we get the following. Need help.
Coppermine critical error:
Unable to connect to database !
MySQLi said: 2054 : Server sent charset unknown to the client. Please, report to the developers
In a move of desperation, I did a graceful reboot of the entire server and the page started to load again. I was able to perform the update. Weird.
Well done. This sometimes happens when hosts upgrade but the upgrade is not fully complete until the customer does a reboot. This if often done to protect the customer, so they can reboot at a time suitable for them.
Glad your issue is resolved.