# Mongrel not starting

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [June 17, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044 "2007-06-17T03:15:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/df705f/32.png) [@ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ike)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044/1 "2007-06-17T03:15:16Z")

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Uh oh…I made NO changes to any of my files. Yet, from within Instant  
Rails, when I go to Configure - Rails Application, check my  
application then press “Start with Mongrel” I get:

\*\* Starting Mongrel listening at 0.0.0.0:3000  
\*\* Starting Rails with development environment…

And then the Dos window disappears, and my rails app never starts.  
Ugh…anyone have any idea where I can even start looking for whats  
wrong here? Thanks, rv

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**Author:** ![ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/df705f/32.png) [@ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ike)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044/2 "2007-06-17T03:54:19Z")

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Is there anything in your log file? It sounds like mongrel is  
crashing. Are you using any C gems beyond those that come with Ruby?  
I have not used instant Rails. Can you try starting mongrel from the  
command line so the window stays open even if the process crashes?

Michael

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/df705f/32.png) [@ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ike)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044/3 "2007-06-17T13:52:08Z")

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I see in \rails\_apps\myapp\loga\mongrel\_debug\ files.log it says:

FILES OPEN AT EXIT

I dont have a clue what this means or how to resolve it? Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/df705f/32.png) [@ike](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ike)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-not-starting/107044/4 "2007-06-17T16:36:29Z")

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Hi Ike,

Ike wrote:

> Uh oh…I made NO changes to any of my files.

Not sure what you mean by this. Does you mean that mongrel _was_  
runnable  
before but now it’s not? Or that you just unzipped InstantRails, didn’t  
change anything, etc.?

> Yet, from within Instant Rails, when I go to Configure -  
> Rails Application, check my application then press “Start  
> with Mongrel” I get:
> 
> \*\* Starting Mongrel listening at 0.0.0.0:3000  
> \*\* Starting Rails with development environment…
> 
> And then the Dos window disappears, and my rails app never  
> starts. Ugh…anyone have any idea where I can even start looking  
> for whats wrong here? Thanks, rv

This behavior is often seen when mongrel is started on a port that’s  
already  
in use by another process. Open a command window and run ‘netstat -a’.  
That will give you a list of all the ports in use and the processes  
using  
them. If you see port 3000 being used, that’s the problem. Easiest  
thing  
to do is start mongrel on a different, unused port.

hth,  
Bill