This will be a long post, so I apologize in advance. This is a great platform, but this problem threatens to render it unuseable for my clients. Please note: this is not a live website, this is internal to a network. If that is the source of the problem, I will rename it internally (i.e. internal/external DNS collisions). The db and apache reside on the same box, and the proper internal DNS resolves correctly. Here is the platform:

Apache 2.2.3
MySQL 5.0.24a
PHP 5.1.6

I am a programmer by profession, so feel free to deep dive.

I have read about a zillion threads in the last two days on this topic, and followed the reccommendations of them all:

changing sessions in config, making sure the PHP bug code is there, deleting open sessions in the db, etc.

Here is the deal...My fourth complete re-install worked well yesterday. I was able to move fluidly in and out of the admin console. The site works well. This morning, After the login page is submitted, the admin console never appears.

the HTML code generated is listed here:

Code:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>Zen Cart!</title>
<script language="JavaScript" src="includes/menu.js" type="text/JavaScript"></script>
<link href="includes/stylesheet.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="includes/cssjsmenuhover.css" media="all" id="hoverJS" />
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function init()
{
cssjsmenu('navbar');
if (document.getElementById)
{
var kill = document.getElementById('hoverJS');
kill.disabled = true;
}
}
// -->
</script>
</head>
<body onload="init()">
<!-- header //-->
My admin/includes/config.php is listed here:
Code:
<?php
...
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.eiga.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.eiga.com');
define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'http://www.eiga.com');
define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://www.eiga.com');
// Use secure webserver for catalog module and/or admin areas?
define('ENABLE_SSL_CATALOG', 'false');
define('ENABLE_SSL_ADMIN', 'false');
// NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes!
// * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL)
// these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder)
define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/');
define('DIR_WS_ICONS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'icons/');
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_IMAGES', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'images/');
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_TEMPLATE', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'includes/templates/');
define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/');
define('DIR_WS_BOXES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'boxes/');
define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/');
define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/');
define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/');
define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/');
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_LANGUAGES', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'includes/languages/');
// * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical)
//the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/
define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', 'C:/MJM/webserver/htdocs/eiga/admin/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', 'C:/MJM/webserver/htdocs/eiga/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_LANGUAGES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/languages/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_IMAGES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'images/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_MODULES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/modules/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/templates/');
define('DIR_FS_BACKUP', DIR_FS_ADMIN . 'backups/');
define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/');
// define our database connection
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_PREFIX', '');
define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');
define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', '*****');
define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', '*****');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'eiga');
define('USE_PCONNECT', 'false'); // use persistent connections?
define('STORE_SESSIONS', ''); // use 'db' for best support, or '' for file-based storage
// The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support.
// For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from: none, database, or file
// If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache 
// or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder
// ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache -- leave no trailing slash 
define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none'); 
define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', 'C:/MJM/webserver/htdocs/eiga/cache');
?>


my include/config.php is here:
Code:
// Define the webserver and path parameters
// HTTP_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg, http://www.yourdomain.com
// HTTPS_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg, https://www.yourdomain.com
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.eiga.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.eiga.com');
// Use secure webserver for checkout procedure?
define('ENABLE_SSL', 'false');
// NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes!
// * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL)
// these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder)
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/');
define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/');
define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/');
define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/');
define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/');
define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/');
define('DIR_WS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
define('DIR_WS_TEMPLATES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'templates/');
define('DIR_WS_PHPBB', '/');
// * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical)
//the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', 'C:/MJM/webserver/htdocs/eiga/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
define('DIR_WS_UPLOADS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'uploads/');
define('DIR_FS_UPLOADS', DIR_FS_CATALOG . DIR_WS_UPLOADS);
define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/');
// define our database connection
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_PREFIX', '');
define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');
define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', '*****');
define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', '*****');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'eiga');
define('USE_PCONNECT', 'false'); // use persistent connections?
define('STORE_SESSIONS', ''); // use 'db' for best support, or '' for file-based storage
// The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support.
// For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from: none, database, or file
// If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache 
// or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder
// ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache -- leave no trailing slash 
define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none'); 
define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', 'C:/MJM/webserver/htdocs/eiga/cache');
?>


Thanks in advance.