product detail pages produce 404 error (on site and in admin) - Zen 1.38a

[tp1687]

For an older Zen 1.38a install (PHP 5.3.29, CAPTCHA code added to Zen, no other major plugins running) that has been working fine lately, a client made updates to products yesterday (added new category with a handful of new items) and somewhere during that process the product detail pages became unavailable (404, site map error page). I've looked at all this forum's search results that seem to deal with that, but nothing is completely applicable.

There was potential concern that one of the product names added included parenthesis and that may have messed something up, but I was told they went back and changed the product name afterwards.

I've compared site files from a previous backup (right before the CAPTCHA code was added) and there are a handful of files that are different, but most of the specific differences certainly seem to be related to that CAPTCHA code. Nothing else jumps out immediately.

When browsing the site itself, if you mouse over a product, the URL shown for the product details page looks like this:
/index.php?main_page=_info&cPath=23&products_id=921

Interestingly, when logged into the admin area, the product lists can be seen, but the detail pages are also *not* accessible from there - "The requested URL /zencart/admin/.php was not found on this server." So, it doesn't seem to be referencing an actual filename, just the ".php" extension.

Error logging shows a bunch of deprecated PHP which was a known issue from a while back. The logs are dense enough from that problem that it's difficult to tell whether one of the deprecated calls relates to this.

Again, site has been running fine lately - no plugins recently added, no major server changes that I'm aware of. Just some product and category updates that seemed to be going fine until partway through that process the product detail pages went away.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[mc12345678]

Just one: Upgrade to ZC 1.5.4. http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-...d-of-upgrading

[tp1687]

An upgrade can't happen quickly at the moment and the site was running smoothly yesterday. Other thoughts on what might be causing the issue?

[mc12345678]

An upgrade can't happen quickly at the moment and the site was running smoothly yesterday. Other thoughts on what might be causing the issue?

PHP version possibly increased to 5.4+ or a version of 5.3 that has finally caused one or more functions to no longer return the data necessary. Or could be a problem with database information.

Really should only take a day or two to have site back to way it was or a couple of hours to at least be functional. (After the upload of the files is complete.)

[mc12345678]

Also, based on the version of ZC being used and the known history/vulnerabilities could also be compromised as a possibility. But seems like that is not as likely considering the sequence of events, system response, and that it is known that similar issues can occur from the things described above...

[tp1687]

Yeah, I don't feel that things are likely compromised. And I confirmed that there were no PHP changes to the server that coincided with the issue. It literally was "entering products, detail pages are fine" and then "entering a product and now the detail pages are broken." The idea of the parenthesis in the product name was a shot in the dark since I'm just not finding much else to grab onto here.

My biggest concern would be that the upgrade process doesn't solve the issue here since it's going to be very time consuming to make sure that every one of the changes over the years carries through correctly. I don't want to end up with an upgraded site that still has the same issue. But if it seems certain that it's a PHP deprecation issue or similar, then I guess that might our only option.

There's always the option to restore the site to a backup from a few days ago if it seems more likely to be an issue with the DB or some of the PHP files.

[mc12345678]

If done per the. Above instructions the restore time loss loss would not exist... In doing the upgrade (reinstall by rebuilding) the live site is left alone while a temporary site is built and tested... After that is performed the live site is briefly put in maintenance mode, while the files (folders) are moved around/renamed and the database updated... Back online, and done...

Basically, what has been seen in the past is exactly as described, make a chnge to a product's details and things start to fall apart... I have seen some that have been able to maintain functionality by doing all edits in phpmyadmin (host ought to offer the ability to restore the database from say the previous day...)

[tp1687]

It has come to light that they likely deleted a couple of actual product types by mistake. Any easy way to try to restore those? Seems like this may have been our trigger and I'd like to see if getting them back helps in any way.

[mc12345678]

It has come to light that they likely deleted a couple of actual product types by mistake. Any easy way to try to restore those? Seems like this may have been our trigger and I'd like to see if getting them back helps in any way.

Could apply the following (possibly one by one or each as necessary to restore the product type database information, or manually enter the information as necessary, whatever works):

INSERT INTO product_types VALUES (1, 'Product - General', 'product', '1', 'Y', '', now(), now());
INSERT INTO product_types VALUES (2, 'Product - Music', 'product_music', '1', 'Y', '', now(), now());
INSERT INTO product_types VALUES (3, 'Document - General', 'document_general', '3', 'N', '', now(), now());
INSERT INTO product_types VALUES (4, 'Document - Product', 'document_product', '3', 'Y', '', now(), now());
INSERT INTO product_types VALUES (5, 'Product - Free Shipping', 'product_free_shipping', '1', 'Y', '', now(), now());

The above is from the default ZC install sql and basically applies to all ZC from 1.20 and beyond.

[tp1687]

It did, indeed, end up being the missing product types that caused the issue. Four of the five had been deleted. Was able to re-insert them and things appear to be working as expected now - thanks!