Blank amdin page - already tried suggested solutions from FAQs and Forum

[keithduong]

Hi,

I hope you could help again. I thought that I have moved my zen cart to another server successfully. I tested the newly installed website and it worked beautifully. I was even able to get into the admin area after the successful installation. A day later, I bought a second domain which was installed in the arrangement below. However, when I tried to log into the admin folder 2 days later by typing in the http address mydomain.com/zencart/admin, I got a blank page with no error or explanation. When I examined the error log file on my cpanel provided by the hosting company, the error was "the file does not exist".

I have tried to follow the posted instructions on this website to solve the problem without any success. Now, I am thinking about starting from scratch by doing another fresh installation of the zen cart. My questions are:

-do I need to delete everything related to the existing zen cart?

I have a second domain name situating in the arrangement below:
root (it is where my domain.com/index.php locates)
-root/seconddomain.com/
-root/zencart/

-does my seconddomain.com interfere with zencart? do I have to relocate it to somewhere else? I am asking this question because one of my error messages referred the seconddomain.com folder

-do I have to do anything with the existing database? It works well currently.

Thanks again for your help

[mc12345678]

Hi,

I hope you could help again. I thought that I have moved my zen cart to another server successfully. I tested the newly installed website and it worked beautifully. I was even able to get into the admin area after the successful installation. A day later, I bought a second domain which was installed in the arrangement below. However, when I tried to log into the admin folder 2 days later by typing in the http address mydomain.com/zencart/admin, I got a blank page with no error or explanation. When I examined the error log file on my cpanel provided by the hosting company, the error was "the file does not exist".

I have tried to follow the posted instructions on this website to solve the problem without any success. Now, I am thinking about starting from scratch by doing another fresh installation of the zen cart. My questions are:

-do I need to delete everything related to the existing zen cart?

I have a second domain name situating in the arrangement below:
root (it is where my domain.com/index.php locates)
-root/seconddomain.com/
-root/zencart/

-does my seconddomain.com interfere with zencart? do I have to relocate it to somewhere else? I am asking this question because one of my error messages referred the seconddomain.com folder

-do I have to do anything with the existing database? It works well currently.

Thanks again for your help

This writeup is *very* vague. What file doesn't exist?
Someone I know that has multiple domains pointing to the same server had to remove the period from the alternate domain folder name. What are the settings/values in the various configure.php files? (Second domain/includes/configure.php and it's admin for example?) Probably easiest to help by posting them rather than saying they are correct. Though the actual admin directory path in the admin version should be obscured.
Where is the second domain pointing? What is in the .htaccess file in root if there is one?

What plugins are installed on both versions assuming that there are only two carts, not a third at root. Are the databases different for each cart or are they all the same database? Doing a new install will pretty much square away the configure.php files if they are an issue, but will also clear the database if nothing is done to maintain it. What version of the software was used to install the second site/how was it created.

Soooo much more can be asked, but as one can see,much more needs to be provided unless access is granted to allow independent review, diagnosis, and resolution..

[keithduong]

This writeup is *very* vague. What file doesn't exist?
Someone I know that has multiple domains pointing to the same server had to remove the period from the alternate domain folder name. What are the settings/values in the various configure.php files? (Second domain/includes/configure.php and it's admin for example?) Probably easiest to help by posting them rather than saying they are correct. Though the actual admin directory path in the admin version should be obscured.
Where is the second domain pointing? What is in the .htaccess file in root if there is one?

What plugins are installed on both versions assuming that there are only two carts, not a third at root. Are the databases different for each cart or are they all the same database? Doing a new install will pretty much square away the configure.php files if they are an issue, but will also clear the database if nothing is done to maintain it. What version of the software was used to install the second site/how was it created.

Soooo much more can be asked, but as one can see,much more needs to be provided unless access is granted to allow independent review, diagnosis, and resolution..

Thanks for your input, please find below additional details.

This writeup is *very* vague. What file doesn't exist?

When I tried to log in to the admin folder by typing in the http address mydomain.com/zencart/admin, I got a blank page with no error or explanation. When I examined the error log file on my cpanel provided by the hosting company, the error was "the file does not exist". Here are a few examples from the error log:

File does not exist:../root/seconddomain.com/robots.txt
File does not exist:../root/robots.txt
File does not exist:../root/zencart/robots.txt

One observation, the file name jumps around from one folder to another.

Where is the second domain pointing? What is in the .htaccess file in root if there is one? What plugins are installed on both versions?

I just bought a second domain name and hostpapa installed the seconddomain.com folder for me where it sits. I have not touched or developed it yet. There is only 1 cart installed for the primary domain name.

By the way, after I followed one of the instructions from this website to change the .htaccess file to .htaccess_bak, I did not see the file .htacess_bak anywhere. What happens to the file? How do I bring it back?

Thanks again for your help

[lhungil]

What is in the Zen Cart "debug" logs (please use the forum editor's [ CODE] tags when posting logs)?

[keithduong]

What is in the Zen Cart "debug" logs (please use the forum editor's [ CODE] tags when posting logs)?

Hi,

Thanks for your question, here are the details:

[21-Sep-2014 21:41:02] PHP Fatal error: 1146:Table accountxxx.zen_configuration' doesn't exist :: select configuration_key as cfgkey, configuration_value as cfgvalue from zen_configuration in /accountxxx/includes/classes/db/mysql/query_factory.php on line 120

But I think this error might have been solved as the date was old. I found the error below which might be more interesting as it happened yesterday 9/25

PHP Warning: mysqli::mysqli() [<a href='mysqli.mysqli'>mysqli.mysqli</a>]: (HY000/2003): Can't connect to MySQL server on 'yyy' (110) in /root/config.php on line 22

where yyy refers to my previous server from a different hosting service.

If you don't mind, I have some questions:

-does zen cart use any file named config.php?
-why when I type the http address mydomain.com/zencart/admin, the system refers to my previous server from a different hosting service?
-does the word 'dir' interfere with the server's operating system if one uses it to refer to a folder?

Thanks again for your help

[potteryhouse]

Hi,
Maybe this will help in understanding the configuration (I think you are looking to create).
It seems to me based on what I have read, you want to have two complete Zen Cart installations on the same server (not using any sort of multisite add on Mod).


If my assumption is correct you want to have:
www.domain1.com
www.domain2.com


Two domains on the same host as separate stores.
There are some things with this configuration you should be aware of:
1. The primary domain will be the only domain with an SSL and a dedicated IP address.
2. The secondary domains will use the primary domains SSL and IP, but only if properly configured.
3. The secondary domains will show the path through the primary domain when making sales or using "https://" (i.e., https://www.domain1.com/SecondDomain/index.php)
4. There will be some extra configuration effort for some of the "Plugins" available in Zen Cart to make them work correctly.
5. There is extra effort for store owner to manage sales, customers, etc.
6. Upgrades and maintenance tend to be tedious.
7. You can get "multi Domain" SSL from some hosting providers, but you will still only have one dedicated IP.
8. The 'multisite" plugin might help overcome some of these issues, but that plugin takes some effort to install and properly configure (I am trying that myself now).
9. After install, the zc_install folder must be removed and the "admin" folder must be renamed.
10. The files "configure.php" must be set to "read only".


To accomplish this configuration the first domain (www.domain1.com) must be set as the primary domain on the hosting account.
The second domain will be an "Add On" domain (www.domain2.com).
Domain2 (the "Add On" domain) will point to a folder (SecondDomain)(use whatever name you want for the folder) under you public_html (or whatever name the hosting company used on your site for the root).

Install the first Zen Cart to the root of your site, and the second copy to the sub-folder you create (i.e., SecondDomain).


Simulated "root" folder structure:

admin
cache
docs
download
editors
email
extras
favicon.ico
images
includes
index.php
install.txt
ipn_main_handler.php
license.txt
logs
mcs_learn_more.html
media
nddbc.html
page_not_found.php
pub
SecondDomain
README.md
robots_example.txt
vbv_learn_more.html

In this scenario both "stores" will have a full set of Zen Cart files, each with there own database.
Thus you will have two separate "admins" to manage the stores and there respective looks via templates, tracking sales, etc..


As for the configuration of the "includes/configuration.php" files the primary store/domain should be set-up by default when you first install.
Normally the following configure.php files will be set-up correctly when you install Zen Cart, this is provided as a reference only.


Assuming installation of Zen Cart 1.5.3


Primary Domain (includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');


  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/cache');

Primary Domain (/admin/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
  
  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/cache');

Second Domain (/SecondDomain/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');


  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/cache');

Second Domain (/SecondDomain/admin/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  
  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/cache');

Notice that the "http://" settings are the same between the primary and secondary domains.
Paths to sub folders are different.


In the "c-panel" using the domain controller:
1. The primary domain name should point to the root of you site (which should be the normal or default set-up that the host had installed).
2. The second domain should be pointed at the folder that the second copy of Zen Cart is installed "SecondDomain"


Example site using this concept:
http://1potteryhouse.com/
http://tikidecorstore.com/
http://www.caribbeanrays.com/


Good Luck.

[keithduong]

Hi,
Maybe this will help in understanding the configuration (I think you are looking to create).
It seems to me based on what I have read, you want to have two complete Zen Cart installations on the same server (not using any sort of multisite add on Mod).


If my assumption is correct you want to have:
www.domain1.com
www.domain2.com


Two domains on the same host as separate stores.
There are some things with this configuration you should be aware of:
1. The primary domain will be the only domain with an SSL and a dedicated IP address.
2. The secondary domains will use the primary domains SSL and IP, but only if properly configured.
3. The secondary domains will show the path through the primary domain when making sales or using "https://" (i.e., https://www.domain1.com/SecondDomain/index.php)
4. There will be some extra configuration effort for some of the "Plugins" available in Zen Cart to make them work correctly.
5. There is extra effort for store owner to manage sales, customers, etc.
6. Upgrades and maintenance tend to be tedious.
7. You can get "multi Domain" SSL from some hosting providers, but you will still only have one dedicated IP.
8. The 'multisite" plugin might help overcome some of these issues, but that plugin takes some effort to install and properly configure (I am trying that myself now).
9. After install, the zc_install folder must be removed and the "admin" folder must be renamed.
10. The files "configure.php" must be set to "read only".


To accomplish this configuration the first domain (www.domain1.com) must be set as the primary domain on the hosting account.
The second domain will be an "Add On" domain (www.domain2.com).
Domain2 (the "Add On" domain) will point to a folder (SecondDomain)(use whatever name you want for the folder) under you public_html (or whatever name the hosting company used on your site for the root).

Install the first Zen Cart to the root of your site, and the second copy to the sub-folder you create (i.e., SecondDomain).


Simulated "root" folder structure:

admin
cache
docs
download
editors
email
extras
favicon.ico
images
includes
index.php
install.txt
ipn_main_handler.php
license.txt
logs
mcs_learn_more.html
media
nddbc.html
page_not_found.php
pub
SecondDomain
README.md
robots_example.txt
vbv_learn_more.html

In this scenario both "stores" will have a full set of Zen Cart files, each with there own database.
Thus you will have two separate "admins" to manage the stores and there respective looks via templates, tracking sales, etc..


As for the configuration of the "includes/configuration.php" files the primary store/domain should be set-up by default when you first install.
Normally the following configure.php files will be set-up correctly when you install Zen Cart, this is provided as a reference only.


Assuming installation of Zen Cart 1.5.3


Primary Domain (includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');


  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/cache');

Primary Domain (/admin/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
  
  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/cache');

Second Domain (/SecondDomain/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');


  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/cache');

Second Domain (/SecondDomain/admin/includes/configure.php):

  define('HTTP_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');
  define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.domain1.com');


  define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/SecondDomain/');
  
  define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/');
  define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home/hostassingedname/public_html/SecondDomain/cache');

Notice that the "http://" settings are the same between the primary and secondary domains.
Paths to sub folders are different.


In the "c-panel" using the domain controller:
1. The primary domain name should point to the root of you site (which should be the normal or default set-up that the host had installed).
2. The second domain should be pointed at the folder that the second copy of Zen Cart is installed "SecondDomain"


Example site using this concept:
http://1potteryhouse.com/
http://tikidecorstore.com/
http://www.caribbeanrays.com/


Good Luck.

Hi,

Thanks, your inputs will be extremely useful later when I develop the second domain name. However, at this point, I am hoping to get one zen cart to work with my primary domain name.

-I just did a fresh re-installation of the zen cart using the one-click process provided by Hostpapa. After the installation, I was able to get in and out of the admin panel through the admin login page without any problem.

-Next, I uploaded (ftp) the files that I used with my zen cart at the previous hosting service.
-Then, I changed the fields DB_SERVER_USERNAME, DB_SERVER_PASSWORD and DB_DATABASE in the /includes/configure.php and /admin/includes/configure.php files using the previous settings for the previous database. It was working before the re-installation and I would like to use its data.
-The result is that everything is working including the zen cart, except again, I got a blank admin login page.

I would really appreciate your letting me know what I did incorrectly.

Thanks again

[potteryhouse]

-Then, I changed the fields DB_SERVER_USERNAME, DB_SERVER_PASSWORD and DB_DATABASE in the /includes/configure.php and /admin/includes/configure.php files using the previous settings for the previous database. It was working before the re-installation and I would like to use its data.
-The result is that everything is working including the zen cart, except again, I got a blank admin login page.

Based on your database changes you mentioned, I suspect that the issue is directly related to the database.
Did you move your database from the previous host to the new host (i.e., export the database and import it to the new host, and than create the database user name and give it permissions to the database.)?

On the old host what version of Zen Cart were you using, I assume the new host has 1.5.3 installed, if you were using an older database version and did not update the database using the upgrade tool than the database will not work correctly.

Just some thoughts.

[potteryhouse]

Also, look at the "Log" files in the folder logs, this will often help to find what is crashing the page load process.

[keithduong]

Also, look at the "Log" files in the folder logs, this will often help to find what is crashing the page load process.

Hi,

Thanks again, I believe you were absolutely right. Regarding the zen cart version, Godaddy (my previous hosting service) had 1.5.1 where as hostpapa (my current hosting service) has 1.5.3.

Also, I looked at the root folder (public_html) error log, most recently (tonight, 9/29) the error was: File does not exist: /public_html/old-directory-from-previous-hosting, referer: http://mydomain.com/old-directory-fr...ting/index.php.

I would appreciate your help to direct me to where I can find instructions to solve these problems.

Thank you in advance