First, I think I would use a tool like phpMyAdmin to look at the database and see if the old tables and old posts are there. Maybe you just have something like a different table prefix in your new installation so it’s not seeing the old installation any more?
Do you have direct access to the database to look and see what tables are present, then, what’s in the bb_posts table (or any other *_posts tables)?
I found the issue. The table names were custom set to not interfear with anything that that wasn’t called out anywhere in the install process except in an advanced (hidden) area.
I’ve re-installed BBPress 4 times now and I finally go it to work, with all my old posts, but I can’t log in.
Is there a manual way to get someone set to KeyMaster? I registered and was user #1. There seems to be no use #0 so there is no administer for the forum. I’m totally locked out.
After a lot of digging and hacking I finally got a user set to admin level. Thank goodness for PHPmyAdmin. All is good now.