Sudden Problems with Paypal since Dec 1???? IPN Handler (Zen Cart v1.2.4)

[Trinity]

Is anyone else having problems with the IPN Handler?

We are having a problem is with the Paypal IPN Handler, which does not return the information back to Zencart and an order is not created in Zencart. ie we have the money but no order.

THIS ONLY HAPPENS WITH ORDERS WHERE THE PAYMENT METHOD IS PAYPAL. Our orders where payment is any other method are working perfectly.

This system has been up for over 4 years with no errors or problems, and we have not had any code changes (We are using Zencart 1.2.4!) but we started to get this problems around 1st/2nd December.

We had this problems with the IPN handler once before and we were advised by Paypal it was due to some changes that they had madeand they corrected it. This time Paypal deny all knowledge and politely told us they could not help. :-(

[Trinity]

One thing I did notice when I did a test order. After the IPN handlers takes the customer back to my site, and we see the Thank You for your order message, I noticed that the order number quoted and the item listed for the notification checkbox IS FROM THE PREVIOUS ORDER THST DID WORK, not from the current order...which is not created anyway.

I just thought this might help with the analysis.

[DrByte]

I noticed that the order number quoted and the item listed for the notification checkbox IS FROM THE PREVIOUS ORDER THST DID WORK, not from the current order...which is not created anyway.

That's merely a result of the order not being released in your store because the IPN hasn't completed properly.

If it stopped working on Dec 1, what changed on your site and/or your hosting server as of that date?
What is PayPal saying about the IPNs? Your account will show the success or failure of IPN notification happening.

Related FAQ: http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal

[Trinity]

Hi Dr Byte

We have not made any changes to our site (code changes) in two years. We haven't even added new products for a couple of weeks now.
Our hosting provider (Doteasy) said the following "There was no change to your server or account since May 01, 2009"
This is the IPN history on our Paypal account;

11/12/2009 07:26 AWST 68X209207K5028149 Sent 0GK024792F7845827
11/12/2009 06:51 AWST 6HT03052KJ427480N Sent 0GK024792F7845827
10/12/2009 22:36 AWST (Resent) 9GX5504757588331D Sent 07V90424D80077621
10/12/2009 22:36 AWST (Resent) 35915851JH893473G Sent 4YB90480RH964821V
10/12/2009 22:00 AWST 2W996274SF662490J Sent 07V90424D80077621
10/12/2009 21:15 AWST 01291990DN4931616 Sent 4YB90480RH964821V
09/12/2009 12:14 AWST 8LK39631CU5982127 Sent 57T08330004029421
08/12/2009 16:05 AWST 92Y162206D4545715 Sent 5VN31012EF490681J
08/12/2009 12:15 AWST 2AW41762B8381622T Sent 2W044171HM462973T
08/12/2009 05:50 AWST 33485124YB2710130 Sent 6UA67156XD695941S
05/12/2009 17:38 AWST 74501139S34929112 Sent 8YT549604G502624R
04/12/2009 08:32 AWST 87P6545836066972C Sent 38D93701AV925400G
03/12/2009 13:33 AWST 8K473669P99814804 Sent 1D183571MU195032S
03/12/2009 11:52 AWST 48D835055J134572P Sent 2DR04897JR546610B
02/12/2009 08:57 AWST 24C02729N0897523E Sent 73E95533UT628724U
02/12/2009 00:15 AWST 93M30974UY1825915 Sent 1BP65553EJ756143Y
01/12/2009 12:26 AWST 6T393705GR6053157 Sent 5RV024737S349383A
01/12/2009 05:37 AWST 4H3671604S139212T Sent 66J87050MY220045U

The last one that we received as an order was;
02/12/2009 08:57 AWST 24C02729N0897523E Sent 73E95533UT628724U

Since then...nothing

Non Paypal orders are working perfectly.

I can gone thorugh the Paypal checklist provided by Zencart and all is complete.

Appreciate any advice that you can provide! :-)

[DrByte]

Have you set your PayPal IPN payment module's "enable debug emails" option to true? What are the debug emails reporting?

[Trinity]

Unfortunately the Paypal Payment module does not have that option...probably due to the old version of our cart. :-(

Or is it in the code?

This was the last reply from Paypal:

PayPal is sending the responses to your IPN script successfully. We are also receiving an HTTP 200 Ok response from the IPN script. You will want to have your developer check the script to verify it is setup to handle the IPN response properly and update the cart appropriately.

[Ooba_Scott]

I have had this problem in the past where it takes the money and but no order has been released....

.....all my times it has been due to paypal doing updates, or they are having problems their end.....Sometimes the orders do get pushed through once they have fixed the issues!


You could always call the customer to get their order, isnt ideal but at least you can process their order while you/paypal figure out the problem!

[Trinity]

Thanks Ooba_Scott, I have been hassling Paypal several times per day and they still insist it is the code on my site. I swear I haven't touched the code so I am really stumped how I can work out what the root cause is!

Have emailed customers, but that is an awful lot now as this has been going on for over a week, am worried that I will miss one.

[Ooba_Scott]

And you have no debigging available to turn on in the admin section?

Have you tried running the ipn_test to see if you have actually got a connection with paypal and that it is talking correctly?


Have you double checked the settings in paypal and zen cart to make sure they are all setup correctly?


Getting the debugging to work would be a helpful step!

[DrByte]

I have been hassling Paypal several times per day and they still insist it is the code on my site.

They're right. It's not *their* problem. Something's wrong with *your* site.

I swear I haven't touched the code so I am really stumped how I can work out what the root cause is!

With each new version of Zen Cart, more and more effective options have been added for troubleshooting the various odd problems that could interrupt the IPN process. Without those tools, it becomes very difficult to help you. That's the main reason why I drew attention to the number of releases that have occurred since the old version you are still using.