"certain patches may need upgrading" when upgrading 1.3.9 to 1.5

Hi my website is https://www.artbylowell.com and I got a email advising my to upgrade to 1.5 from 1.3.9 so I did. Now I have a banner warning that certain patches may need upgrading, go to admin/tools/server info. When I go to said page there is a great deal of info that I do not understand, and no clue as to what I am supposed to do.
In the meantime, although most of my site is in good shape, the main page and other pages are missing all the images and language I designed and have reverted to default page defines. I checked my file manager and all my page defines are gone. I am attempting to extract the backup files from Softaculous, but doesn't seem to be working. Please help, I'm at sea here, Lowell

backup files from Softaculous Did you follow a "one-click" upgrade from Softaculous? That is guaranteed to be a disaster, as those programs inherently cannot preserve and upgrade your customized files. I cannot even imagine why they try to offer an "upgrade" service.

V1.3.9h is stable and secure, so assuming you are able to recover backups you should revert to that and study the tutorials on upgrading, then do it manually on a test copy of your site. When you have it down, THEN you upgrade your live site.
We cannot help with recovery; that is something your host will have to assist you with.

Thank you, I was afraid of that. I guess I have a lot of work to do. But regarding the big red warning banner at the top of my page:
Your database appears to need patching to a higher level. See Admin->Tools->Server Information to review patch levels.
I don't know what to do with that. the server info doesn't mean anything to me.

It means the upgrade didn't complete, leaving the database probably at the 1.3.9 level. If you post the server info minus database/usernames/passwords etc., somebody may be able to advise you better.

gjh42:

It means the upgrade didn't complete, leaving the database probably at the 1.3.9 level. If you post the server info minus database/usernames/passwords etc., somebody may be able to advise you better.

Server Host: artbylowell.com
Server OS: Linux server4.websitehostserver.net 2.6.18-408.el5.lve0.8.58 #1 SMP Wed Mar 14 14:10:01 EDT 2012 x86_64 Database: MySQL 5.0.95-community
Server Date: 05/02/2012 10:27:33 Database Date: 05/02/2012 10:27:33
Server Up Time: Unsupported HTTP Server: Apache
PHP Version: 5.2.17 (Zend: 2.2.0) PHP Memory Limit: 64M PHP Safe Mode: Off
PHP File Uploads: On Max Size: 10M POST Max Size: 10M
Database Data Size: 823 kB Database Index Size: 474 kB

Zen Cart 1.5.0
Database Patch Level: 1.3.9h
v1.3.9h [2012-01-01 11:44:04] (Fresh Installation)
v1.3.9h [2012-01-01 11:44:04] (Fresh Installation)

PHP Version 5.2.17

Should I try re-installing 1.5? or is there a way to re-install 1.3.9 (or is it too late for that?)

Lowell37:

Should I try re-installing 1.5? or is there a way to re-install 1.3.9 (or is it too late for that?)

Any ideas? Anyone?

It would have been smart to ask your hosting company for help immediately when that problem started so they could restore your site from backups.

But, since it's several days since then it's probably too late for that now, not only because their backups are probably gone, but also because if your storefront is operational then you've got new data in there too, and a restore would wipe that out.

It's impossible for anyone here to tell you exactly what was done by that automated script, which also means it's also impossible for us to tell you what exactly still needs to be done. All we can do is react to error messages. But you should go and follow the upgrade instructions and do a complete upgrade on your site the proper way: https://www.zen-cart.com/upgrade.

As for the error message, it's telling you that the database doesn't match the PHP files. So you need to resolve that. In the upgrade instructions you'll see the part where it tells you to upload the zc_install files and run that and choose the database-upgrade option. That will deal with the error message. But that's ALL it will deal with.

DrByte:

It's impossible for anyone here to tell you exactly what was done by that automated script, which also means it's also impossible for us to tell you what exactly still needs to be done. All we can do is react to error messages. But you should go and follow thAs for the error message, it's telling you that the database doesn't match the PHP files. So you need to resolve that. In the upgrade instructions you'll see the part where it tells you to upload the zc_install files and run that and choose the database-upgrade option. That will deal with the error message. But that's ALL it will deal with.

e upgrade instructions and do a complete upgrade on your site the proper way: https://www.zen-cart.com/upgrade.

OK, I'm looking at the step by step instructions, which is confusing for me because I am very ignorant.. I am stuck when I am advised to "RUN" the zc_install/index.php file. How do I "Run" it? I've found it, but what do I do to "RUN" it? THanks

Lowell37:

OK, I'm looking at the step by step instructions, which is confusing for me because I am very ignorant.. I am stuck when I am advised to "RUN" the zc_install/index.php file. How do I "Run" it? I've found it, but what do I do to "RUN" it? THanks
Open your browser, type in your store URL, and add zc_install/index.php to the end .... ie: www.your_store.com/zc_install/index.php

OK I've gone ahead and created a whole new site in a separate folder. Can I now replace /english files from my old site, or should I edit the new files step by step? What about /images /downloads and /my_template files? Thanks

As far as the /images/ and /download/ folders, those don't change (other than maybe the .htaccess files, which should be compared).

But for EVERYTHING else:
The old versions of those files are not necessarily compatible with the new. That's why the upgrade instructions direct you to compare them, and use the comparison results to see what changes to apply to the new versions.

OK I'm afraid I got a bit confused when I installed the new version and put it in all in a file under public_html and now I see the upgrade instructions recommended a new database, but I have created 4 MSql databases now, all with 0 bytes info in them and I don't know how to access them. As I am extremely ignorant and of limited abilities, and my store is new and relatively unused, is it possible to safely replace the public_html file with my new version (a subfile at this point), once it has been completely adapted to all my products and layout? Also, I have not been able to access admin for my new site, so I can't switch my overides on or make any other changes via admin, so I am flying blind as to adapting the new version to my layout. Thanks, and I apologize for my ineptness, Lowell

Well, I never got a response on my previous post,(I know you're busy) so I slugged away with WinMerge until I felt confident that everything was ready, then I backed up the subfolder my previous install was running from and deleted it. Didn't work. On top of everything, my host has problems whenever I move things around and the server is "not found". What I tried to do is what I found on the following forum topic:

Moving your site to another folder on your server
1.Determine the new foldername where your Zen Cart® files will be running from

2.Go into Admin > Configuration > Sessions and change the Session Directory to reflect the new folder name. If you cannot do this, see the alternate approach in step 5 below.

3.Move/Rename the folder. You may need to use your FTP program to do this.

4.Your /includes/configure.php and /admin/includes/configure.php files are used to point Zen Cart® to the right folders. In those files, you need to update several entries to match the new path information:
•DIR_WS_CATALOG
•DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG
•DIR_FS_CATALOG
•DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE
•DIR_WS_ADMIN (in admin)
•DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN (in admin)
•DIR_FS_ADMIN (in admin)

Note that the configure.php files are normally "read-only". You'll need to change their permissions to "writable" before you can upload your changes. Be sure to note level the permissions were at before changing, so that you can put them back to the read-only permissions again after updating.

5.If you could not set the Session Write Directory in step 1 above, you can use a utility to do it for you. The goal is to make sure that the new path information (specifically the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE setting in your new configure.php file) matches the Session Write Directory setting. If it doesn't, you may end up with difficulties logging in to the Admin area or maintaining login sessions in the store. The Fix Cache Key Utility from the Downloads > Troubleshooting Tools area on the main Zen Cart® site will help you to do this if you need assistance. There is no harm running it to have it check that things are set properly. Be sure to delete the file from your server when done.

I highly suspect that I did it all wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is where my main problems lie. I'm hoping the FIx Cache Key will eventually work, but right now the "server for www.artbylowell.com is not found."

I would really appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you.

Lowell37:

my host has problems whenever I move things around and the server is "not found".

...

right now the "server for www.artbylowell.com is not found.
That's the first thing you need to sort out, and only your hosting company can accurately help you there.
It does seem very odd.

Hopefully you're not actually moving the "public_html" folder itself around. That would be very bad. You should only touch stuff "in" or "under" it, not that folder itself or any of its peers in the same folder where you see the public_html folder's name listed along with others.

But, again, your hosting company is where you need to turn to sort out the "is not found" situation.