What do I do when the instructions DON'T work for me!?

Dr Byte,

I'm upgrading from 1.3.9 to 1.5.1

What's to be done when I've read multiple "how to install" and "how to upgrade" posts and followed the instructions as you said numerous times...

DrByte:

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you do that then you will have database tables that have different structures than what the PHP code expects, and will thus run into errors, and then you'll be back here asking for support on how to fix probably the hardest problem to ever sort out.

Do a COMPLETE backup, and import the COMPLETE database, and upgrade the COMPLETE database using zc_install. That's the smartest, safest, and official way to do an upgrade.

Clearly if you need to ask the questions you're asking then your knowledge isn't strong enough to handle all the zillion issues that will arise if you cheat in the process. Sorry if you find that statement offensive, but it's a fact, and if you bust everything by doing it the wrong way then it's going to cost you big bucks to get an expert to clean it all up for you.

There's NO NEED WHATSOEVER to take the shortcuts you're suggesting in your first post. Take the COMPLETE database forward to your new site.

If you don't understand why I'm saying that, then clearly you absolutely need to NOT take the shortcuts you're talking about.

...and the database upgrade still fails??

To be fair, I did a practice run and it worked - once. Then with an up-to-date database, I tried again and it fails to upgrade the database - 6 times!! The instructions say to check it out, it might run anyway.

Well, the database looks good in phpmyAdmin. But it completely breaks the store's checkout system when running the site.

I followed the instructions. I had the boss look over my shoulder as I did so. Where do we go when following instructions doesn't work?

I've read maybe dozens of posts. These and more...

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?140 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?148 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading -
http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?193748-How-to-install-v139h-database-into-fresh-copy-1-50 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.p

EricRas:

I'm upgrading from 1.3.9 to 1.5.1

What's to be done when I've read multiple "how to install" and "how to upgrade" posts and followed the instructions as you said numerous times...
...and the database upgrade still fails??

To be fair, I did a practice run and it worked - once. Then with an up-to-date database, I tried again and it fails to upgrade the database - 6 times!! The instructions say to check it out, it might run anyway.

Well, the database looks good in phpmyAdmin. But it completely breaks the store's checkout system when running the site.

I followed the instructions. I had the boss look over my shoulder as I did so. Where do we go when following instructions doesn't work?

I've read maybe dozens of posts. These and more...

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?140 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?148 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading -
http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?193748-How-to-install-v139h-database-into-fresh-copy-1-50 -
http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.p
Two things stand out in your post..

1. You stated "Then with an up-to-date database, I tried again and it fails to upgrade the database - 6 times!!"
   Meaning you updated the database successfully and then attempted to update the database again.. Why??

2. You stated "But it completely breaks the store's checkout system when running the site."
   Meaning what exactly?? Do flames fly out of your monitor?? or is there some details you can provide.. (on-screen error messages, error logs, etc)

DivaVocals:

Two things stand out in your post..

1. You stated "Then with an up-to-date database, I tried again and it fails to upgrade the database - 6 times!!"
   Meaning you updated the database successfully and then attempted to update the database again.. Why??

2. You stated "But it completely breaks the store's checkout system when running the site."
   Meaning what exactly?? Do flames fly out of your monitor?? or is there some details you can provide.. (on-screen error messages, error logs, etc)

As I stated: it worked on a practice/trial run. Trial and practice runs seem to be commonly recommended on this site. Just trying to follow instructions.

So I did it again when ready for the real thing. It failed. Why did I do it 6 times? Well because I'm a slow learner...? Actually It was to go through the process again, following instructions to see if I had made some mistake.

Yes, there was smoke and perhaps flames, but not from the monitor, I think they came from the cpu.

I did not see any error messages. In the shopping cart, when I pressed "estimate shipping" button, and the shipping estimator popped up with nothing to display. Ignoring that, I tried to move to the next page of the checkout - the page came up completely blank.

That's "broken".

So finally after six attempts, I realized the following: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

Hence this post.

I know I'm mildly sarcastic, but any help is appreciated. I just don't have much to go on.

EricRas:

As I stated: it worked on a practice/trial run. Trial and practice runs seem to be commonly recommended on this site. Just trying to follow instructions.

So I did it again when ready for the real thing. It failed. Why did I do it 6 times? Well because I'm a slow learner...? Actually It was to go through the process again, following instructions to see if I had made some mistake.

Yes, there was smoke and perhaps flames, but not from the monitor, I think they came from the cpu.

I did not see any error messages. In the shopping cart, when I pressed "estimate shipping" button, and the shipping estimator popped up with nothing to display. Ignoring that, I tried to move to the next page of the checkout - the page came up completely blank.

That's "broken".

So finally after six attempts, I realized the following: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

Hence this post.

I know I'm mildly sarcastic, but any help is appreciated. I just don't have much to go on.
Blank page = error.. did you check your error logs?? the details of the error logs will provide some pretty useful information..

Blank Page (even in a popup) suggest a FILE error rather than a database error. (though not always).

Usually, with a database error, the error message is thrown to the screen. In zencart, file/db errors are recorded in the /logs/ folder.

Does your table structure in the dbase match that in a zc_install sql file ? (discounting addons that will have written in data)

EricRas:

Where do we go when following instructions doesn't work?

The 1st place I tend to go is back to the instructions.. Usually to find I've missed an important step.

If I do find I've followed the instructions to the letter, I then start asking myself, what is different about my store that would cause a problem that 1000's of other stores don't have? It's often the result of an incompatible add-on.

Only rarely do I come to the conclusion that the instructions are wrong.

Cheers
Rod

blank page debugging instructions are here:

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?124

RodG:

The 1st place I tend to go is back to the instructions.. Usually to find I've missed an important step.

If I do find I've followed the instructions to the letter, I then start asking myself, what is different about my store that would cause a problem that 1000's of other stores don't have? It's often the result of an incompatible add-on.

Only rarely do I come to the conclusion that the instructions are wrong.

Thanks for the comments, yours and others offer useful approaches to solving the problem.

I never concluded that the instructions were wrong, only that they didn't work for me this time.

I agree that following instructions and procedures will minimize problems and issues in the long run.

DivaVocals:

Blank page = error.. did you check your error logs?? the details of the error logs will provide some pretty useful information..

I did open the logs. When I viewed them in the ISP's interface, they're just one long text string. Is there a more reasonable way to view them?

swguy:

blank page debugging instructions are here:

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?124

This was also helpful, but when and how does one decide to wipe everything out and start over?

EricRas:

I did open the logs. When I viewed them in the ISP's interface, they're just one long text string. Is there a more reasonable way to view them?If you post the error log text it would allow folks to help you get to the bottom of your issue before you simply start over..