Will not install: blank white page

[RixStix]

• When I start the v1.5.3 installer (http://mydomain.com/ZEN153/zc_install/index.php, the next screen is blank, white, view source is empty.
• IF I use the v1.5.1 installer, things progress through a typical install but I did not expect to end up with a functional v1.5.3 installation.

http://mydomain.com/ZEN153/ does display the "Hello. Thank you for loading Zen-cart" screen. System setup required.

I spent the better part of yesterday uploading the fileset several times and verifying folder/path permissions. Surely someone will be able to point out my shortcomings.

Steps:
Download v1.5.3 zip and verify hash
Unzip v1.5.3
ftp complete set of files to the mydomain.com/ZEN153/
rename /ZEN153/includes/dist-configure.php & verify permission 777
rename/ZEN153/admin/includes/dist-configure.php & verify permission 777
change permissions of folders to 777
create new, empty database zen153
enter http://mydomain.com/ZEN153/zc_install/index.php
blank screen

Delete contents of /ZEN153 folder and start over:
Repeat above from my notes
Same result

Delete contents of /ZEN153 folder.
Upload v1.5.3 zipped file to server.
Unzip v1.5.3 on server to folder /ZEN153
Repeat install steps. Same result.

For the heck of it:
Make no changes to files/folders except rename zc_install folder to 1zc_install
FTP v1.5.1 zc_install folder to server folder /ZEN153
Start installer:
http://mydomain.com/ZEN153/zc_install/index.php
Installation begins & progresses through all steps but doesn't yield a fully functional v1.5.3 install but I didn't expect that either.

There is a functional v1.5.1 installation in the domain root.
Apache 2.2.27
php: 5.3.28
MySQL: 5.5.37

[lat9]

Anything in the /logs folder?

[RixStix]

/ZEN153/logs folder empty except for .htaccess, index.html and index.php

cpanel server error log empty

[swguy]

Ensure logs is writable and retry.

[RixStix]

change permissions of folders to 777

Recheck /ZEN153/logs folder and verify permission still 777
Check root/logs and verify permission 755 (just in case the installer wants to write there)

[DrByte]

Look at php-info and see whether it says mysqli support is enabled (not just mysql)
Who's the hosting company?
Do you have access to the apache errorlogs? Any PHP errors causing white pages should be shown there (assuming it's running PHP in SAPI mode, not CGI)

[RixStix]

Look at php-info and see whether it says mysqli support is enabled (not just mysql)

Both appear to be enabled - screenprint below

Who's the hosting company?

TVCnet.com

Do you have access to the apache errorlogs? Any PHP errors causing white pages should be shown there (assuming it's running PHP in SAPI mode, not CGI) That's over my head

cPanel error logfile
I cannot tell whether these were generated by my install attempt or from my root v1.51 install
[Wed Jul 09 10:02:09 2014] [error] [client myIPaddress] File does not exist: /home/mysandbox/public_html/404.shtml
[Wed Jul 09 10:02:09 2014] [error] [client myIPaddress] File does not exist: /home/mysandbox/public_html/favicon.ico
[Wed Jul 09 10:02:09 2014] [error] [client myIPaddress] File does not exist: /home/mysandbox/public_html/404.shtml
[Wed Jul 09 10:02:09 2014] [error] [client myIPaddress] File does not exist: /home/mysandbox/public_html/favicon.ico

Attachment 14265

[RixStix]

Though I'd rather not.

If it makes any difference or if it will help,
I can wipe the v1.5.1 sandbox in the server root and attempt a v1.5.3 install there.

[RixStix]

I went to a live site. Same host. Different server. Significantly different php-info settings between the 2 servers.
created /ZEN153 folder
performed same steps as before, creating empty db, unzip v1.5.3, run zc_install

Installation completed as designed.

I am confused that the db tables after the install are showing MyISAM, latin-1 collation because I thought that I read InnoDB and UTF-8 was the v1.5.3 default.

Also gunshy about performing a v1.5.3 update once the edits are finalized in the sandbox. Is v1.5.3 that finicky with server settings. Maybe I just drew the short straw.

[DrByte]

Is v1.5.3 that finicky with server settings. Maybe I just drew the short straw.

Shouldn't be. Nothing much changed as far as server requirements. Just built for compatibility with more and newer PHP versions.

I am confused that the db tables after the install are showing MyISAM, latin-1 collation because I thought that I read InnoDB and UTF-8 was the v1.5.3 default.

Zen Cart operates as utf-8 out of the box. But, it doesn't explicitly force an override of the database's defaults when creating new tables. So, it appears your server's database currently has latin1 set as that specific database's defined default collation. You can edit that database's default so that future tables are will be utf8 when created.
But Zen Cart will still attempt to store its data as utf8 data, stuffed into whatever format you've created your tables as. So, if you're starting fresh, you should probably change the db default, and then wipe out those temporary latin1 tables, and do a new install.

InnoDB vs MyISAM is a different issue. Zen Cart v1.5.x still uses MyISAM for all its tables, although there are plans to make some of those InnoDB in a future release. Unfortunately, historically speaking, few webservers have any tuning done for the InnoDB engine, so realize few performance gains by making the switch. Fortunately modern trends are beginning to prevail and InnoDB is becoming more commonplace, so the time will soon be good for making the switch.