Your database appears to need patching to a higher level.

[stuffdone]

Please read this thread:

If this is a mandatory change why was it not an option and a warning in the upgrade install giving the choice to make such a change in the first place?

I have a bunch of zen's to upgrade and this is not turning out to be an "Easy Three Step Process"

Is there another upgrade release on the horizon that will address these issues

[kobra]

If this is a mandatory change why was it not an option and a warning in the upgrade install giving the choice to make such a change in the first place?

It is not, unless somewhere along the way, you or someone has change the DB collation from the default as it appears in your case

[stuffdone]

It is not, unless somewhere along the way, you or someone has change the DB collation from the default as it appears in your case

Is this something my customer could have done via the Zen control panel? I never made any DB changes myself.

I understand the differences between the character sets but have never seen an option at install or other times to select something other than the actual language. If this is something to look for before the upgrade where does one make sure the old matches with the new before an upgrade? Could this check not be part of the upgrade if there are enough people running into the same wall, presenting a fix at the time?

[kobra]

Default is atin1_general_ci

One must do something to alter this

It is not an admin switch

Might be your host configuretion

[stuffdone]

Default is atin1_general_ci

One must do something to alter this

It is not an admin switch

Might be your host configuretion

Host configuration? Can you be more specific so I can find what may have caused this before attempting repair and application to a number of other Zen carts on my server?

[kobra]

Host configuration? Can you be more specific so I can find what may have caused this before attempting repair and application to a number of other Zen carts on my server?

For the server/host in question
Do a test install and check the DB collation

If not latin1_general_ci then they have something set

[stuffdone]

For the server/host in question
Do a test install and check the DB collation

If not latin1_general_ci then they have something set

How is this "They" you keep referring to. Who has what set?

I am the host. My server. Not sure what you want me to check.

This is the test install and the DB check is why I have the error.

[kobra]

You state this

This is the test install and the DB check is why I have the error.

But you did this replacing the default tables with those from the backup

I then backed up from the old DB to retain products

What I am stating is look at the default collation of a fresh inatall

I am the host. My server.

Did you install and configure the LAMP stack yourself'?
If not, you are only the host in name only
Check the my.cnf configuration for the server

[stuffdone]

Did you install and configure the LAMP stack yourself'?

How did this enter the conversation about character set? Did I miss a post?

[kobra]

How did this enter the conversation about character set? Did I miss a post?

How is this "They" you keep referring to. Who has what set?

I am the host. My server. Not sure what you want me to check.

Might be your host configuration

It is where I stated that it might be the host/server configuration
Where when setup there are thousands of variables that can be set

So if you did not do this, then I guess that is the reason you are perplexed

Did you do a test install and look at the "DEFAULT" DB collation before importing any existing DB backup??