Ready to Give Up!!!!!!

[sammirah]

I backed up the files and the database and I completed the upgrade from 1.39 to 1.5 and now nothing is working. I have tried to look for the errors but even strict_error_report.php leads to a Forbidden. I've lost my entire store. I want to go back to 1.39, it wasn't broken! Now I'm just frustrated and my store is lost!

[sammirah]

Ok so I finally was able to see the error:

[07-Apr-2012 23:57:46] PHP Fatal error: 1054:Unknown column 'admin_level' in 'field list' :: select admin_id, admin_name, admin_email, admin_pass, admin_level from zen_admin order by admin_name limit 0, 20 in /home/sammirah/public_html/webstore/includes/classes/db/mysql/query_factory.php on line 101

What do I do with this?!!!!

[DrByte]

That means you're trying to access the Admin section without having run the zc_install/index.php and choosing Database Upgrade.

This tells me you've not followed the upgrade instructions that are located at both www.zen-cart.com/upgrade and in your /docs/ folder on your PC and website.

[rstevenson]

Ask your server people to restore your site to a previous version of your store and database. That is, back up to just before you started to do the upgrade. It's an extreme solution, but it will work.

What version of 1.3.9 were you on? If it wasn't 1.3.9h, then you can easily upgrade to that and you're secure and stable.

But others here, more experience in 1.5.0 and serrors, may be able to help you get the new store going, so wait a bit before following my advice to see what they say.

Rob

Opps! Doc got in here while I was typing my answer. Follow his instructions. He's the expert.

[sammirah]

Actually I followed the instructions to the letter. I backed up my files and database then I ran the zc_install/index.php. When I was starting the upgrade it said I needed to change permissions to configure.php, I did that then I ran the upgrade. It gave 25 errors mostly things which it said already existed. Then it said to delete the zc_install folder which I did. I followed the instructions it just didn't turn out the way it should have and it's just causing more and more frustration.

I have even tried to restore the old files, so I will attempt to contact them to see if they can restore the site.

[sammirah]

Ask your server people to restore your site to a previous version of your store and database. That is, back up to just before you started to do the upgrade. It's an extreme solution, but it will work.

What version of 1.3.9 were you on? If it wasn't 1.3.9h, then you can easily upgrade to that and you're secure and stable.

But others here, more experience in 1.5.0 and serrors, may be able to help you get the new store going, so wait a bit before following my advice to see what they say.

Rob

Opps! Doc got in here while I was typing my answer. Follow his instructions. He's the expert.

Thank you so much Rob for your suggestion. You are the only person who has responded to any of my posts without tearing me a new one with the assumption that I "didn't follow instructions". Working with Zen Cart can be extremely frustrating for those of us who do not understand programer jargon. In the last 5 to 6 years of me using this software, I've spent many a night pondering over things which the programers say are simple installation, easy to do, and other such things. And the truth of the matter is it really isn't. But I have managed to trial and error it and had things going quite well until this latest upgrade.

I did contact them about restoring my server and I was able to find that there was several things on their end that may have contributed to some of the issues I am having, such as recent server and PHP upgrades (whatever that stuff is) but they are going to help me get this restored and I will try this all again.

Hopefull

[DrByte]

I completed the upgrade from 1.39 to 1.5 and now nothing is working. I have tried to look for the errors but even strict_error_report.php leads to a Forbidden. I've lost my entire store.

Now I'm just frustrated and my store is lost!

Actually I followed the instructions to the letter.

sammirah,

Lest you flame me for "ripping you a new one", I must challenge your statements here.
If you indeed "followed the instructions to the letter", then your "entire store" would not be "lost" because your live store would still be operating just fine on the old version while you staged your upgrade in another space. And then there wouldn't be all this panic, nor finger-pointing, nor blame-throwing, etc.
It's for this very reason that all the upgrade instructions tell you to do your upgrade in a TEST space first, BEFORE touching your live store, because sometimes things go awry for unexpected and sometimes unexplainable reasons.
There's no need to encounter more than a few minutes of down-time on your live store once your upgrade is ready to go ... but that's only if you follow the steps as given.

So, again, I'm not trying to "rip you a new one" as you so eloquently put it. I'm trying to show you where you went wrong and encourage you to follow the prescribed process in order to get the desired correct end result.


Next Steps: do a complete restore from backups. Then your live store will be working.
Then follow the instructions and set up a test area where you can stage your upgrade. Once that's all tested and ready to go, you can move the files to the live store and upgrade the live store's database and enjoy the new version.

[sammirah]

Dr. Byte, Iwas not referring to you. But there are several programers on here who have a knack of responding to "us" non-programers who use this program and become frustrated in a very un-friendly manner.

I have read several other posts from other people having problems and I find it disconcerting that some of the people who are supposed to try and help you tend to approach things from the stand point of "Are you stupid?" When in all honesty those of us who don't know how to just get it done the 1st try are not technically inclined but we are trying.

I've had a couple of someones respond to me in a disrespectful manner simply because I was expressing my frustrations. But I understand that perhaps they are so technically advanced that they have lost touch with the reality of us other people and simply lack the people skills.

I couldn't respond to my customers in that manner and expect them to want to remain a customer. And while I understand that this is a FREE program being continuously reminded of that fact by programers is not the way to garner respect especially from a user who has contributed donations to Zen Cart in the past and who at some point prior to the most recent negative communications from them wouldn't have mind paying a fee for a service that I see as valuable to my business.

The bottom-line is your users are going to make mistakes, some of us are going to vent (especially when it's 2am and we've been trying to get it done for 12 straight hours with no sleep), but your methods of handling the frustration of others can make all the difference. And that was why I complimented Rob on how he handled my issue.

[DivaVocals]

sammirah,

Lest you flame me for "ripping you a new one", I must challenge your statements here.
If you indeed "followed the instructions to the letter", then your "entire store" would not be "lost" because your live store would still be operating just fine on the old version while you staged your upgrade in another space. And then there wouldn't be all this panic, nor finger-pointing, nor blame-throwing, etc.
It's for this very reason that all the upgrade instructions tell you to do your upgrade in a TEST space first, BEFORE touching your live store, because sometimes things go awry for unexpected and sometimes unexplainable reasons.
There's no need to encounter more than a few minutes of down-time on your live store once your upgrade is ready to go ... but that's only if you follow the steps as given.

So, again, I'm not trying to "rip you a new one" as you so eloquently put it. I'm trying to show you where you went wrong and encourage you to follow the prescribed process in order to get the desired correct end result.


Next Steps: do a complete restore from backups. Then your live store will be working.
Then follow the instructions and set up a test area where you can stage your upgrade. Once that's all tested and ready to go, you can move the files to the live store and upgrade the live store's database and enjoy the new version.

**nods in agreement** Same points I made earlier.. Thanks Doc for your (as usual) WISE input..