found a solution to admin issue on linux install

[durangod]

What version of MySQL (and is it on the Zen Cart compatibility list)? I seem to remember a conversation regarding changing the default dates in a future Zen Cart release to add support for changes in newer versions of MySQL...

As for having two configure files, I suspect this was done to allow flexibility for the location of the administrative system. For example one could place the administearive code on a different subdomain / server. Having them separate also means if the main site was compromised, the admin location would not necessarily be leaked...

yes that makes sense honestly i didnt think about having the admin on a different server, that is a nice feature and would justify the two configs for sure, thanks for pointing that out. Just fyi.. .mysql 5.5 and php 5.4.31

[RodG]

yes that makes sense honestly i didnt think about having the admin on a different server, that is a nice feature and would justify the two configs for sure, thanks for pointing that out.

Yet another possibility for this is the ZenCart was based on the OsCommerce code (which also has the two config files) so the *real* reason for it is unknown to the ZenCart developers, but since it has several potential benefits there has never been a need/reason to adopt a single config file system.

Just fyi.. .mysql 5.5 and php 5.4.31

Also just a FYI, the code(s) you posted earlier both worked fine on my test DB running MySQL V5.5.38.
I do/also suspect that the issue is somehow related to MySQL versions though.

Cheers
RodG