Converting phpBB2 to phpBB3

phpBB is my favorite bulletin board system. After 4 years running on phpBB2, I tried to convert my board to phpBB3 RC7 (this is the latest at the time of writing). My phpBB2 version was 2.0.21. I read many in phpBB community forums, many people had some kinds of problem in conversion with the built-in convertor. I tried it myself and failed for 3 times. The problem was connection timed-out during conversion. Googling a bit, I found a solution. Thanks for the problem solver. You are a hero!. :-) Check it out here. This is how I did it:

Open phpbb3/install/install_convert.php

Find these lines:

/**
*
* @package install
* @version $Id: install_convert.php,v 1.53 2007/10/11 08:12:25 acydburn Exp $
* @copyright (c) 2006 phpBB Group
* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php GNU Public License
*
*/

/**
*/

After those lines, add:

@set_time_limit(0);
@ini_set('memory_limit', '256M');
@ini_set('upload_max_filesize', '128M');
@ini_set('post_max_size', '256M');
@ini_set('max_input_time', '-1');
@ini_set('max_execution_time', '-1');
@ini_set('expect.timeout', '-1');
@ini_set('default_socket_timeout', '-1');

(Adjust timeouts and size as needed.)

Next find:

var $batch_size = 2000;

Change to:

var $batch_size = 6000;

It worked for me. I hope this benefits others. Good luck! :-)