I was running my beloved forum without any issues at all - YaBB.0 v2.1  http://wolf-rs.co.uk/yabb/

For weeks I continually received prompt emails from Cpanel to upgrade to v2.3.1 so I clicked just 1 button to see what it was all about and it did an auto run so the decision was taken out of my hands for me. 

An error message then appeared and now I get an Internal Server Error 500 - "The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.  Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request".

The error log says:  [Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Bareword found where operator expected at Paths.pl line 57, near "<p class="redtext">Could"
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] \t(Missing operator before Could?)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Bareword found where operator expected at Paths.pl line 57, near "/public_html/yabb"
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] \t(Missing operator before yabb?)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Bareword found where operator expected at Paths.pl line 58, near "<p class="redtext">Could not open /home"
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] (Might be a runaway multi-line // string starting on line 57)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] \t(Missing operator before home?)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Bareword found where operator expected at Paths.pl line 59, near "<p class="redtext">Could not open /home"
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] (Might be a runaway multi-line // string starting on line 58)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] \t(Missing operator before home?)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Bareword found where operator expected at Paths.pl line 60, near "<p class="redtext">Could not open /home"
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] (Might be a runaway multi-line // string starting on line 59)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] \t(Missing operator before home?)
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Search pattern not terminated at Paths.pl line 60.
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Compilation failed in require at YaBB.pl line 47.
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at YaBB.pl line 61.
[Sun Jul 24 21:34:46 2011] [error] [client 82.153.191.169] Premature end of script headers: YaBB.pl

I'm at such a loss how to fix it.  My host (Betterwebspace) have been great and tried to assist but they now recommend a fresh install and I'd lose everything.  Albeit it looks like I've lost it all now anyway.

Can anyone please please help me?  I'm not very technical minded but I will do my best to try any recommendations 

Hi, thank you for replying!

Yes I did a backup of my forum only a few days prior and all the files look as though they are still there!

There are a couple of new folders also now:      yabb.cpaddons_upgrade.backup
yabbfiles2.4
 
If there is a glimmer of hope here I'm very happy!!

I have printed the Codex document off and amended permissions as recommended but I'm struggling with what to do next (binary mode etc?).

If your not hurting for disk space .. I would NOT delete any folder until you have the New forum running and correct.
 If the Forum you were using, required the other folder .. then you Path Settings were (are) incorrect.
Sim - WOLF wrote on Jul 29^th, 2011 at 8:23pm:

   If your manually installing the forum (as suggested) and your using an FTP to upload files .. do NOT use the Auto transfer mode, the file extentions in YaBB might not be understood and the incorrect transfer mode will corrupt file. It is strongly suggested ALL files under the yabb2 folder be transferred (uploaded) in AscII transfer mode.

Quote:

As Captain John suggests it would be a good idea NOT to delete anything until we/you get a clean installation up and running!

From there it is a relatively simple process to recover your old data.

You could do a new install in a new location (e.g. /forums) and just ignore your old installations until you need the backup.

This way shouldn't be nearly as confusing.

Let us know if you need further assistance with the new setup or recovering your backup?