This is my upload model
function upload_avatar()
{
$id = $this->tank_auth->get_user_id();
//config upload parameters and upload im
Is your post_max_size limit less than 2MB? (http://ca3.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.post-max-size) If so the file may have been discarded before your code is invoked.
Update:
If you take out your function call in the else block, and just drop in an exit('too big'); are you able to see errors then? If so there may be an issue with how you're pasing the call off.