Absolute disaster of an upgrade: NMI payment problems and a freeshipping problem

So I've managed to take a working 1.3.8a site, attempt an upgrade to 1.3.9d, and ended up rolling back to 1.3.8a, still having the problems that developed in the upgrade process.

PHP on this server is 5.2.9, and mysql is 5.0.91.

I had done the upgrade on a local test server with no problems. Configured it with a minimum of add-ons specifically to avoid problems on the real server. Upload and install went smoothly, until I discovered that I could not check out successfullly. It's a very long story I won't re-hash here, but I ended up choosing to roll back to 1.3.8a for the time being just to get the site back online.

The problem now is that the two problems I had (payment processor and freeoptions shipping) have somehow persisted through the downgrade, despite the fact that I wiped the tables in the DB and restored both the DB and the files from backups I made before starting the upgrade process. :shocking:

I am utterly defeated at this point having spent something like two days trying to fix it, and I'm desperate for any theories as to how this could be happening. I've wiped and restored twice now and the problems persist.

The first is an error message from the payment processor (Co-card) that my username is not found. I tried two existing usernames, and created a new one as well, but no dice. It works fine with their test user name. I can confirm that the user/password combos are correct by logging into our merchant control panel with them. The error message even returns the username that attempted to make the transaction, and it's correct!

The second is less of a big deal, but makes me suspicious of my work. I previously had the freeoptions shipping set to 4 items or more for free shipping. I've restored that setting, but it's offering free shipping on any order anyway.

Any thoughts or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

So to update, Cocard is an NMI reseller I guess, and I switched to the NMI branded payment module (which didn't work when I first set up the site) and it took my order.

I'm still exceedingly curious as to how these problems could survive repeated wipes of the DB and files. I still have the freeoptions issue; I have the "4 or more items" option in place yet it gives me free shipping on any order.

Any input would still be welcome.

During your upgrade, did you uninstall and then reinstall your payment mods as is recommended in the upgrade instructions?

If not, then that may be the cause of not being able to use payment / shipping options during checkout

Yes, I removed them as recommended prior to upgrading; on my hosting company's advice I removed and reinstalled them after the fact as well, which didn't help.