how to debug why customer accounts not created??

People are getting this error when trying to set up accounts on our ZC site:

Please Log In
Error An error happened when you tried to log in. Please check that you correctly typed your email address and/or password.

Where do I find info on how to debug this??

Is there anything ELSE I can do besides looking in the the /cache/ folder to see the PHP debug logs???

Thank you, Tom

tlyczko:

Is there anything ELSE I can do besides looking in the the /cache/ folder to see the PHP debug logs???YES!
You can reply with the answers to the posting tips so that we can help. If you can give us a link but don't want it published, just give it as MySiteDOTcom or similar.

Is there anything ELSE I can do besides looking in the the /cache/ folder to see the PHP debug logs???
You did not state what version of ZenCart you have???

Later versions place the debug files in /logs

version 1.3.9h -- don't tell me to upgrade :)
VERSION NUMBER IS NOW ALWAYS IN THE SUBJECT LINE

no plugins addons installed in last 3 weeks
normal install ZC 2+ years ago
Database Host: localhost (127.0.0.1)
Server OS: Linux 2.6.18-308.24.1.el5 Database: MySQL 5.1.68-cll
Server Date: 04/10/2013 21:07:00 Database Date: 04/10/2013 21:07:00
Server Up Time: Disabled/Unavailable HTTP Server: Apache
PHP Version: 5.3.22 (Zend: 2.3.0) PHP Memory Limit: 128M PHP Safe Mode: Off
PHP File Uploads: On Max Size: 20M POST Max Size: 20M
Database Data Size: 5,629 kB Database Index Size: 1,181 kB

problem started within last 2-3 weeks
most recent usable customer entry was 3/26/13 or so
only change I can recall during this timeframe is editing define_main_page.php
already looked in wiki -- nothing about customers not being able to create accounts

URL is https://www.bristolbayflies.com

tlyczko:

Error An error happened when you tried to log in. Please check that you correctly typed your email address and/or password.
The very first step in finding out the exact cause is to find that exact error message in your PHP files.
But the exact error message you quoted doesn't seem to exist in original Zen Cart files.

Steps:

1. find the exact error message text in your language files. The Developers Toolkit has a language-files-search which is very useful for this.
2. For the "define" where that message appears, grab the first half (the "constant") of that define statement, and then do another search for that across all the PHP files on your site.
3. Then in the files where that constant is found, follow the logic to see what's going on there to specifically trigger that error message to be displayed.

Syntax lesson on "define" statements:
define('NAME_OF_CONSTANT_HERE', 'Defined text here');
constant = NAME_OF_CONSTANT_HERE
text/string/value = 'Defined text here'

no plugins addons installed in last 3 weeks

problem started within last 2-3 weeks
What did you install/alter 3 weeks ago?

DrByte:

The very first step in finding out the exact cause is to find that exact error message in your PHP files.
But the exact error message you quoted doesn't seem to exist in original Zen Cart files.

Steps:

1. find the exact error message text in your language files. The Developers Toolkit has a language-files-search which is very useful for this.
2. For the "define" where that message appears, grab the first half (the "constant") of that define statement, and then do another search for that across all the PHP files on your site.
3. Then in the files where that constant is found, follow the logic to see what's going on there to specifically trigger that error message to be displayed.

Syntax lesson on "define" statements:
define('NAME_OF_CONSTANT_HERE', 'Defined text here');
constant = NAME_OF_CONSTANT_HERE
text/string/value = 'Defined text here'

I tried this but am not sufficiently fluent in PHP to figure out where/how the error occurs.
Is there a way to have PHP display debug messages at differnet points within the php file's processing??
I also discovered that the forgotten password routine no longer works...it's as though the customer table is not there any more...
AND no debug logs are being created whatsoever so that means ZC thinks everything is normal even though its not :(
Thank you, Tom

I posted my previous reply in hopes that you'd follow the instructions and post your findings, at least for the first step.