1366 Incorrect string value: '\xA0\x0D\x0A ...' for column 'products_description' at

Version: latest
Add-ons: none
Server environment: Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise
MySQL version: 5.1.50.Community

Everytime we try and add a product, we get an error code. We didn't start getting this error until recently. After the last major upgrade, the problems started. The only way we can add a product description is by injecting it via PhpMyAdmin. See below for our error:

----------

1366 Incorrect string value: '\xA0\x0D\x0A ...' for column 'products_description' at row 1
in:
[insert into products_description (products_name, products_description, products_url, products_id, language_id) values ('HP Black Toner Cartridge Q1338A', '
General Information
Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
Manufacturer Part Number: Q1338A
Manufacturer Website Address: www.hp.com
Brand Name: HP
Product Model: No. 38A
Product Name: Black Toner Cartridge
Information:

Print cartridge is designed precisely for the HP LaserJet 4200 Series printers for crisp, sharp results every time. Featuring advanced toner and cartridge design, plus HP smart printing technology for easy maintenance and consistent, outstanding print quality. Each yields 12,000 pages.

Packaged Quantity: 1 Each
Product Type: Toner Cartridge
Technical Information
Print Technology: Laser
Print Color: Black
Typical Print Yield: 12000 Page
Miscellaneous
Package Contents: 1 x Cartridge
Additional Information:
# Advanced toner formulation and cartridge design complement technology in the HP LaserJet Q1338A print cartridge to ensure a new level of print quality consistently over the life of the supply and from cartridge to cartridge.
# An essential element of reliable HP printing, engineered to deliver consistently great results every time. By using these supplies, which are precisely matched to the HP printer, workgroups can count on reliable performance and precise results.
# HP printing supplies features make HP LaserJet Q1338A print cartridges very easy to order, install, manage and maintain. These supplies offer an added measure of control and convenience to everyone in the office.
# HP LaserJet Q1338A print cartridges offer higher capacity and increased yields for economical use as well as a time saving design and proven-reliable operation, all designed to reduce total cost of ownership.
# Resolution technology: Smart

Compatibility: HP LaserJet 4200 Series Printers
Recycled: Yes
Recycled Content: 20%
Post-consumer-waste%: 20%
', '', '144', '1')]
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

Those \X0D\x0A are carriage-return symbols.
Seems odd that they're being translated to binary equivalents.

More specifically, this is the first time I've seen anyone report such symptoms.

What more can you tell us about your environment? about your Zen Cart current version (ACTUAL number, not "latest", since tomorrow the word "latest" might actually no longer be "latest"), version history (ie: what you've upgraded from), etc ... and when you click Reply below, there are several questions in the Posting Tips section that would be helpful if you would answer too ...

Thank you for your response back.

We are using ZenCart v1.3.9h

We were using v1.3.9f and prior to that, we were using v1.3.9a. We did a full upgrade to v1.3.9f. When we were using version "a", it was working without issues.

We are running this on a Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise edition with IIS 6.0 and MySQL 5.

We do not have any add-ons installed (except if you consider the Authorize.NET payment modules as one).

The servers are hosted and maintained by our company and we have root access to everything.

We currently have to add all descriptions by injecting it into the database (which we shouldn't have to be doing).

Any assistance would be helpful.

Thank you,

Nic Chambers
Network Engineer
Network Operations Center
Ben Jen Online, LLC

I can't think of anything that changed between v1.3.9a and v1.3.9h that would cause error messages such as you're reporting, unless something is translating input data at the webserver level before handing it over to PHP for processing and insertion into the database.

So, since this is a highly unusual scenario, it suggests that you've got something broken in one or more PHP files, thus the first place I'd start would be here: http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.p...Obscure_Issues to identify what's different in *your* site compared to a clean new fresh uncustomized install.
I'd also inspect your database to see what's going on there with character sets and collations.

Not sure why you're running such an old version of IIS. It's too bad that you're stuck with having to use IIS at all. Linux hosting is so much simpler, secure, and easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. Then again too many people are married to MS for some reason. This isn't a comment intended to cause a battle of whits over hosting choices; merely acknowledgement that you're using outdated software. Is it even supported by MS anymore?

What version of PHP?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrByte

I can't think of anything that changed between v1.3.9a and v1.3.9h that would cause error messages such as you're reporting, unless something is translating input data at the webserver level before handing it over to PHP for processing and insertion into the database.

So, since this is a highly unusual scenario, it suggests that you've got something broken in one or more PHP files, thus the first place I'd start would be here: http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.p...Obscure_Issues to identify what's different in *your* site compared to a clean new fresh uncustomized install.
I'd also inspect your database to see what's going on there with character sets and collations.

Not sure why you're running such an old version of IIS. It's too bad that you're stuck with having to use IIS at all. Linux hosting is so much simpler, secure, and easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. Then again too many people are married to MS for some reason. This isn't a comment intended to cause a battle of whits over hosting choices; merely acknowledgement that you're using outdated software. Is it even supported by MS anymore?

What version of PHP?

---

Hello,

We have not made any changes to our database prior to this incident that would warrant the cause of any errors.

IIS6 is still supported by Microsoft and it is a choice of ours to use. I'm not really interested in going about my justifications over Windows server for hosting versus Linux on here. We are using a Linux server as a base with Microsoft Server 03 in a VM environment.

In terms of our version of PHP, we are using PHP 5.

I am looking into the link that you've provided.

Jay Lewiston
Network Administrator / General Manager
jlewiston [at] benjenonline.com
Ben Jen Online, LLC

There are several versions of PHP 5. Which are you using?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrByte

There are several versions of PHP 5. Which are you using?

---

I'm not the SysAdmin, but I am confident that we are running PHP 5.2.1 on it. I'm 70% sure of this.

Jay Lewiston
Network Administrator / General Manager
jlewiston [at] benjenonline.com
Ben Jen Online, LLC

Well, if you're using an older version like that you may run into a known problem: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...964#post953964
Since you should be upgrading anyway, the better solution is to upgrade PHP, rather than hack up code that will have to be updated on the next upgrade.
Also, that older version isn't PCI Compliant. As of today I believe the PCI Compliant version is 5.2.14 or 5.3.3.

No idea if that quirk is related to your specific problem or not.

This is definitely something our Sysadmin needs to answer.

I definitely know that we are PCI compliant since we just had our monthly testing done on Wednesday. I will have him respond to this thread in the morning (US Eastern Time).

Jay Lewiston
Network Administrator / General Manager
jlewiston [at] benjenonline.com
Ben Jen Online, LLC

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bjen07921

I'm not the SysAdmin, but I am confident that we are running PHP 5.2.1 on it. I'm 70% sure of this.

---

Actually, our web server is running 5.3.3 of PHP, MySQL 5.1.50-community, and IIS 6.0 / Win Server 2003 Ent. I think my colleague pulled the version off of our internal testing server which is bit dated.

The only other thoughts not already mentioned I could provide is our MySQL server is set to en.UTF-8 in my.ini. I've set the zen cart locale to UTF-8 and back without much success according to this page: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=26

I will look into the WinMerge tool and see if there was some error missed during one of our updates. I will post back results when I get to this.

Thanks for your help.

--
Pu Cheng
Systems & Web Administrator
Ben Jen Online, LLC
pcheng [at] benjenonline.com