Howdy,
Years ago I volunteered to help make this store for a family member and after a long absence am back at trying to upgrade. I wish this was done sometime ago but it is what it is. Recently the SSL certificate needed updated by host and that broke the shipping module of old store, plus a few other PayPal checkout quirks. Seeing how outdated the cart was and the newer server upgrades to PHP and Mysql made me think its time to move on and not try to keep the old store going. Although store did work ok until that cert. install and the many years is a testament of how good 1.3.9h was. Store is down for maintenance for now, unfortunately.

We have been going deep for over 2 weeks and researched the forum and other sources but appear to be at a dead end.
Did a copy of DB and followed Dr. Bytes "How do I Upgrade My Zen Cart" for test site. Been many years so I need to re remember where able.

So we repeatedly get to the point of My_store/ZC_install with 1.55f and after it tries to Upgrade DB it gives up before reaching a 1.50 upgrade.
My DB experience is lacking and am trying to wrap my mind around possible fixes but does anyone recognizes what direction I may start towards at at this point?

Also should I try to uninstall any Plugins SQL from the DB before upgrading?
I know some plugins like Image Handler will need a newer version anyway and other may just need cleaned out for good. I did use a My_template override system as well. Tried to keep store simple but found remnents of older stuff back from the 1.2.x days

Below is the Logs we usually find in the new store after a DB upgrade attempt with 1.5.5f;

Code:
---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
INSERT INTO configuration (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, date_added) VALUES ('Telephone - Customer Service', 'STORE_TELEPHONE_CUSTSERVICE', '', 'Enter a telephone number for customers to reach your Customer Service department. This number may be sent as part of payment transaction details.', 1, 7, now());  1364: Field 'configuration_id' doesn't have a default value  

---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
INSERT INTO configuration (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, date_added) VALUES ('login mode https', 'SSLPWSTATUSCHECK', '', 'System setting. Do not edit.', 6, 99, now());  1364: Field 'configuration_id' doesn't have a default value  

---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log CHANGE COLUMN log_id log_id bigint(15) NOT NULL auto_increment;  1075: Incorrect table definition; there can be only one auto column and it must be defined as a key  

---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log DROP INDEX page_accessed;  1091: Can't DROP 'page_accessed'; check that column/key exists  

---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log DROP INDEX access_date;  1091: Can't DROP 'access_date'; check that column/key exists  

---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:11 -- upgradeException
FROM project_version;  1364: Field 'project_version_id' doesn't have a default value

And of course this log, all others Passed;

Code:
---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:10 -- checkPhpVersion
FAILED
(
    [version] => 7.1.0
    [versionTest] => ge

And from a third Log is the below Fails, all other Passed;


Code:
---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:09 -- checkIniGet
FAILED
(
    [inigetName] => output_buffering
    [expectedValue] => 1
)


---------------
Apr 12 2018 18:10 -- checkIniGet
FAILED
(
    [inigetName] => output_buffering
    [expectedValue] => 1
)
And from a forth Log is the below errors;


Code:
[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
INSERT INTO configuration (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, date_added) VALUES ('Telephone - Customer Service', 'STORE_TELEPHONE_CUSTSERVICE', '', 'Enter a telephone number for customers to reach your Customer Service department. This number may be sent as part of payment transaction details.', 1, 7, now());
---------------


[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
INSERT INTO configuration (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, date_added) VALUES ('login mode https', 'SSLPWSTATUSCHECK', '', 'System setting. Do not edit.', 6, 99, now());
---------------


[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log CHANGE COLUMN log_id log_id bigint(15) NOT NULL auto_increment;
---------------


[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log DROP INDEX page_accessed;
---------------


[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
ALTER TABLE admin_activity_log DROP INDEX access_date;
---------------


[12-Apr-2018 18:11:00 America/Detroit] MySQL error 1364 encountered during zc_install:
Field 'upgrade_exception_id' doesn't have a default value
FROM project_version;
---------------

Can someone please help?
Thank you,



My world;
PHP version 5.4.45
Mysql version 5.6.38
Linux server

Plugins are likely1.3.9 or before (or found remnants of older plugins)
Supertracker
Google Sitemap or Sitemapxml
Syscheck 1.3.8
ImageHandler 3
ckeditor
fckeditor
htmlarea
google analytics