Looks like 2.8.6 to 2.9 Wordpress upgrade is is failing for many folks. Just after the upgrade the screen of death (blank screen) is displayed with just wordpress logo

This is what happened

1. Upgraded Wordpress from 2.8.6 to 2.9 from within wordpress
2. Refreshed the wp-admin page
3. Following screen was displayed

Database Upgrade Required

WordPress has been updated! Before we send you on your way, we have to upgrade your database to the newest version.

The upgrade process may take a little while, so please be patient.

Upgrade WordPress Database

When I click on the button, after few seconds empty  WordPress logo was diaplayed. Lookig at the url, there seems to be problem with url redirect. I can now not log into my domain b/c it brings me back to same Database Upgrade Required Page.

I searched online to see that many are having same issue. I came across the following solution that had the fix.Changing wp_db_verison to same value displayed in the databse for Wordpress 2.9 fixed the problem.

Value in Database for 2.9 was 11548.

Next time I’m not going to do an automatic upgrade within few days of new wordpress release.

Related posts:

1. 9 Things To Do Before Ugrading Wordpress
2. Wordpress Database – Backup and Restore
3. How to Change Wordpress Theme Editing MySql Tables