Upgrade Issues - Sessions error

[daybuilder]

I am upgrading from ZC v1.5.6c to v2.1.0. and ran into an upgrade issue.

In another post it was advised to me to use the "Database-Only Upgrade Instructions". Sounds reasonable to me to use the existing database with new files, and then install and customize the theme and plugins.

So I installed fresh install files per the instructions on "Database-Only Upgrade Instructions" and attempted to attach my existing database by the zc_install page where I can upgrade the database. The problem is I cannot get past step 1 of the upgrade step: The "Next" button is missing with this error: "Problems with session support " See image below.

I am sure both of my config.php files are in place, and the database name, user, and password are correct. Yet I cannot get past that page to upgrade my site. I did test changing the: SQL_CACHE_METHOD', '' from blank to this: SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'database' to see if that would help in my .htaccess file. See image below

Any suggestions I can troubleshoot. Out of ideas for now.