Title: Converting Database Character Sets Incorrect String Issue
Last modified: March 1, 2019

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# Converting Database Character Sets Incorrect String Issue

 *  Resolved [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/)
 * (@shyzer)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/)
 * I have a very old WordPress database with a lot of latin1_swedish_ci tables collations.
   Using [this codex guide](https://codex.wordpress.org/Converting_Database_Character_Sets),
   I properly changed most tables with the 3-step SQL method on both my live and
   localhost setup.
 * However, a few tables throw similar error that I can’t figure out. When attempting
   to execute this:
 *     ```
       alter table wp_options change option_value option_value LONGTEXT character set latin1;
       alter table wp_options change option_value option_value LONGBLOB;
       alter table wp_options change option_value option_value LONGTEXT character set utf8mb4;
       ```
   
 * I get an error:
 * > alter table wp_options change option_value option_value LONGTEXT character 
   > set utf8mb4
   > #1366 – Incorrect string value: ‘\x92s Fre…’ for column ‘option_value’ at row
   > 158
 * How exactly do you find either the incorrect sting or row 158?

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/)
 * (@macmanx)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11264833)
 * The easiest way to track that down is to use phpMyAdmin, typically found in your
   hosting account’s control panel.
 * That will give you a graphical way to browse your database, where you’ll simply
   head over to the 158th row of wp_options table, or just search for `\x92s Fre…`
 *  Thread Starter [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/)
 * (@shyzer)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11264855)
 * Hey James, thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, I tried both of those methods
   earlier and come up empty.
 * My phpMyAdmin doesn’t list rows, so I’ve tried using both the [default sorting method](https://gyazo.com/fabb861a990537219f078815a569fea0)
   and then [sorting by option_value](https://gyazo.com/635e4a2094557c6ed198817f94ddce8a).
   In both instances, line 158 doesn’t appear to have any incorrect strings.
 * When I search for the string, [nothing is returned](https://gyazo.com/3f22d6c89b16f7e4de688d4ec3cf3edc).
   I’ve tried searching without the slash and even just “Fre” but nothing shows 
   up.
    -  This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/).
 *  Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/)
 * (@macmanx)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11264893)
 * Hm, you might need to double-check your search parameters, it looks like the 
   query in your screenshot only searched 24 rows.
 * If that still doesn’t work, try the steps at [https://pento.net/2014/04/07/wordpress-and-utf-8/](https://pento.net/2014/04/07/wordpress-and-utf-8/)
   instead. That worked fine for me 4 years ago.
 *  Thread Starter [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/)
 * (@shyzer)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11264942)
 * You’re right! I thought my [search worked in real time](https://gyazo.com/6a3923ca92a06eaf6aef8059a02e1b83),
   but now I see the “filter rows” only filters the visible 25 rows on screen as
   opposed to _all_ of them.
 * Would you have any tips on refining the search parameters? I [tried %x92%](https://gyazo.com/eff97f428f0bb9d0985cac3be5227af7)
   with 0 results. A similar search of %fre% produces 286 rows, but x92 doesn’t 
   appear in any of them.
 *  Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/)
 * (@macmanx)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11265171)
 * No luck with just `\x92s`?
 *  [Dion](https://wordpress.org/support/users/diondesigns/)
 * (@diondesigns)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11265358)
 * Assuming you have already changed the collation to uft8mb4_unicode_ci, a much
   better way to convert the character set is via the following query:
 *     ```
       UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = CONVERT(CONVERT(CONVERT(option_value USING latin1) USING binary) USING utf8);
       ```
   
 * Please make a backup of the wp_options table before running the query!
 *  Thread Starter [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/)
 * (@shyzer)
 * [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11265368)
 * > No luck with just \x92s
 * Unfortunately not.
 * However, the [method you provided](https://pento.net/2014/04/07/wordpress-and-utf-8/)
   worked for me! I now have all my tables in InnoDB utf8mb4_unicode_ci. I really
   wish that page was listed as a resource on the codex!
 * One final question: my database default storage engine is still set to MyISAM
   latin1. Is the only way to change that in my.cnf?
    -  This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/).

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The topic ‘Converting Database Character Sets Incorrect String Issue’ is closed 
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## Tags

 * [collation](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/collation/)
 * [database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database/)
 * [MySQL](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/mysql/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 7 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Steven](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shyzer/)
 * Last activity: [7 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/converting-database-character-sets-incorrect-string-issue/#post-11265368)
 * Status: resolved

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