Hi, I'm new to the forum, so please bear with me; I have been using ZenCart for several years but kept to version 1.3.8. After my hosting provider, Bluehost, upgraded to php 5.6 I could no longer gain access, and after reading the forum, added the work-around for "date_diff" to gain access to admin, however, the shop could not be reached through a web browser. I decided to make a fresh installation of version 1.5.4 altogether in a new folder, the installation completed without errors, I have full access to admin, but the site cannot be reached (error message "cannot determine page link").

Suspecting that it might have something to do with changes at Bluehost I contacted their support and got the rather unhelpful reply (Web advisor Richard on 12 March): "You need a version of zencart that is compatible with php 5.4 or php 5.6, the current version is not compatible with either of those versions." I understand version 1.5.4 was designed for php 5.6, so guess this can't be true, but Bluehost, although I have been with them for an entire decade, have not responded to further queries.

I checked all configuration files and the links in them are correct. There are no entries in the error log. Yet, the site can't be loaded.
A particularity of my setup is that the shop is hosted on a secondary domain, so the "Catalog" directory is not directly under the public_html directory, but one further down, i.e. MAINDOMAIN / public_html / SECONDARYDOMAIN / Category /
This has not posed a problem in the past when I was using version 1.3.8 and before Bluehost upgraded their php version, but may be relevant.

Any advice of what to check or change would be most appreciated as my shop remains down until I can restore access to through pointing a web browser to the Catalog directory.

Thank you in advance.

Check your bluehost cPanel tools. Most hosts provide a PHP version-selection tool; you could try down-leveling your PHP version to 5.3 (best) or 5.4 to see if your store comes back to life.

shop is hosted on a secondary domain, so the "Catalog" directory is not directly under the public_html directory, but one further down, i.e. MAINDOMAIN / public_html / SECONDARYDOMAIN / Category /
Did you use the cpanel "addondomain" function to create this??

In the folder structure above where your new site is located, what .htaccess file(s) are present and what are the contents? Be sure to obscure any reference to an admin directory.

Also, now that you have a sub-folder location, are you expecting to access the new site by use of your previous domain name followed by the sub-directories or have you pointed your main domain name directly to the sub-directory?

Thanks for replies so far.

• I tried rolling back to php 5.4 with not improvement. 5.3 no longer offered on Bluehost
• The subdomain was set up directly by Bluehost donkeys years back, the domain name points directly to that subdirectory and this is how the shop would be accessed (and was successfully accessed in the past)
• the .htaccess file in the "admin" directory under the "Catalog" directory does not contain any path-related info and reads:

@copyright Copyright 2003-2013 Zen Cart Development Team

@license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0

@version GIT: $Id: Author: DrByte Sat Dec 21 17:00:00 2013 -0500 Modified in v1.5.3 $

This is used with Apache WebServers

The following blocks direct HTTP requests to all filetypes in this directory recursively, except certain approved exceptions

It also prevents the ability of any scripts to run. No type of script, be it PHP, PERL or whatever, can normally be executed if ExecCGI is disabled.

Will also prevent people from seeing what is in the dir. and any sub-directories

For this to work, you must include either 'All' or at least: 'Limit' and 'Indexes' parameters to the AllowOverride configuration in your apache/conf/httpd.conf file.

Additionally, if you want the added protection offered by the OPTIONS directive below, you'll need to add 'Options' to the AllowOverride list, if 'All' is not specified.

Example:

#<Directory "/usr/local/apache/htdocs">

AllowOverride Limit Options Indexes

#</Directory>
###############################
DirectoryIndex index.php

deny everything

<FilesMatch "...">
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
</FilesMatch>

but now allow just certain necessary files:

<FilesMatch "(?i).*.(php|js|css|html?|ico|otf|jpe?g|gif|webp|png|swf|flv|xml|xsl)$">
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
</FilesMatch>

IndexIgnore /

<limit POST PUT> order deny,allow deny from All </limit>

NOTE: If you want even greater security to prevent hackers from running scripts in this folder, uncomment the following line (if your hosting company will allow you to use OPTIONS):

OPTIONS -Indexes -ExecCGI

##################

Optional caching improvements

Requires mod_header and mod_deflate to be enabled within Apache

##################
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header unset Pragma
FileETag None
Header unset ETag
#Header set Cache-Control "no-transform"
<FilesMatch "(?i)..(ico|jpe?g|gif|otf|webp|png|swf|flv|svg|svgz)$">
Header set Cache-control "max-age=864000, public, must-revalidate"
Header unset Last-Modified
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "(?i)..(html|htm|xml|txt|xsl)$">
Header set Cache-control "max-age=7200, must-revalidate"
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<FilesMatch "(?i).(js|css)$">
SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

##################

Optional improvements

Requires mod_expires to be enabled within Apache

##################
<ifmodule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresDefault A300
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A3600
ExpiresByType text/css A3600
ExpiresByType image/gif A604800
ExpiresByType video/x-flv A604800
ExpiresByType application/pdf A604800
ExpiresByType text/html A300
ExpiresByType image/x-icon A86400
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A2592000
ExpiresByType image/png A2592000
ExpiresByType text/cache-manifest "access plus 0 seconds"

</ifmodule>

#turn off X-PHP-Originating-Script header when sending emails from admin
#uncomment to activate:

php_flag mail.add_x_header Off

That's the wrong direction in the directory path... Wanting to know what .htaccess files exist and their content in folders such as:
MAINDOMAIN / public_html / SECONDARYDOMAIN / Category /
MAINDOMAIN / public_html / SECONDARYDOMAIN /
MAINDOMAIN / public_html /
And
MAINDOMAIN /

In particular in that order of folders... The first .htaccess file before the current directory will affect every sub-directory in it until another/new .htaccess file is found also, ZC does not require a .htaccess file in the root of the store. Existence of one indicates some level of modification to operation...

under public_html

.htaccess

Use PHPBETA as default

AddHandler application/x-httpd-phpbeta .php

Set PHP handler to application/x-httpd-phpbeta on Fri Dec 18 07:18:52 MST 2015.

htaccess-php-upgrade-backup
[empty]

under public_html/SECONDARYDOMAIN

no htaccess file

under public_html/SECONDARYDOMAIN/Catalog
no htaccess file

under public_html/SECONDARYDOMAIN/Catalog/admin
the htaccess file quoted earlier

under the MAINDOMAIN
no htaccess file

My current php configuration is

PHP 5.6 [Beta, check site functionality for compatibility after enabling]
All files with the extension .php will be handled by the PHP 5.6 engine.
Latest version of PHP.

Also available as alternative are:

PHP 5.6 (Single php.ini) [Beta, check site functionality for compatibility after enabling]

Same as PHP 5.6, but all subdirectories will use ~/public_html/php.ini
PHP 5.6 (FastCGI) [Beta, check site functionality for compatibility after enabling]
All files with the extension .php will be handled by PHP 5.6 FastCGI processes.
FastCGI for PHP makes all your PHP applications run through mod_fastcgi instead of mod_suphp. This eliminates the overhead of loading the PHP interpreter on every hit. Since it is always in memory ready for the next hit, the responses will be generated faster.

Two things come to mind. Since the admin is accessible, but the catalog is not, perhaps there is some important difference in the includes/configure.php and admin/includes/configure.php. Could you please post each, obscure your admin directory (if it is listed in plain text) and your DB credentials (but validate for yourself that they are exactly the same between the two).

The second thought is trying FastCGI because I thought that suphp might be an issue, but I haven't done any research related to it. I recall seeing that potentially suhosin could be a problem and making a broad leap/assumption was thinking that suphp is somehow associated with suhosin... I may be wrong in that.

Last potentially related issue, MAIN_DOMAIN, how do the contents of that folder/area relate to ZC? Is that where your old ZC is/was? Or is it just a sort of "placeholder" allowing you to have a secondary/tertiary domain associated with your account?

Just had another thought/test.

If you create a file in your domain sub-directory with the following contents and then try to access it, does it work?

<?php
echo 'hello';

Creating a hello.php with the suggested content returns
hello
when accessed via SECONDARYDOMAIN.co.uk/hello.php

/includes/configure.php reads:

<?php /** * @package Configuration Settings circa 1.5.4 * @copyright Copyright 2003-2014 Zen Cart Development Team * @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce * @license <http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt> GNU Public License V2.0 * File Built by zc_install on 2016-03-10 06:28:04 */ /*************** NOTE: This file is similar, but DIFFERENT from the "admin" version of configure.php. ***********/ /*************** The 2 files should be kept separate and not used to overwrite each other. ***********/ // Define the webserver and path parameters // HTTP_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg-http://www.your_domain.com // HTTPS_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg-https://www.your_domain.com define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://***.co.uk'); define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://***.co.uk'); // Use secure webserver for checkout procedure? define('ENABLE_SSL', 'false'); // NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes! // * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL) // these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder) define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/***/'); define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/***/'); define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/'); define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/'); define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/'); define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/'); define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/'); define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/'); define('DIR_WS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'pub/'); define('DIR_WS_TEMPLATES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'templates/'); define('DIR_WS_PHPBB', '/'); // * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical) //the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/ define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/'); //the following path is a COMPLETE path to the /logs/ folder eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/logs ... and no trailing slash define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/logs'); define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/'); define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'pub/'); define('DIR_WS_UPLOADS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'uploads/'); define('DIR_FS_UPLOADS', DIR_FS_CATALOG . DIR_WS_UPLOADS); define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/'); // define our database connection define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql'); define('DB_PREFIX', ''); define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8'); define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost'); define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', '***'); define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', '***'); define('DB_DATABASE', '***'); // The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support. // For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from: none, database, or file // If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache // or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder // ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache -- leave no trailing slash define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none'); define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/cache'); // EOF admin/includes/configure.php reads <?php /** * @package Configuration Settings circa 1.5.4 * @copyright Copyright 2003-2014 Zen Cart Development Team * @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce * @license <http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt> GNU Public License V2.0 * File Built by zc_install on 2016-03-10 06:28:04 */ /*************** NOTE: This file is similar, but DIFFERENT from the "store" version of configure.php. ***********/ /*************** The 2 files should be kept separate and not used to overwrite each other. ***********/ /** * WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE SSL PROTECTION FOR YOUR ENTIRE ADMIN: * To do that, make sure you use a "https:" URL for BOTH the HTTP_SERVER and HTTPS_SERVER entries: */ define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://***.co.uk'); define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://***.co.uk'); define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'http://***.co.uk'); define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://***.co.uk'); // secure webserver for admin? Valid choices are 'true' or 'false' (including quotes). define('ENABLE_SSL_ADMIN', 'false'); // secure webserver for storefront? Valid choices are 'true' or 'false' (including quotes). define('ENABLE_SSL_CATALOG', 'false'); define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', preg_replace('#^' . str_replace('-', '\-', zen_parse_url(HTTP_SERVER, '/path')) . '#', '', dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])) . '/'); define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/***/'); define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', preg_replace('#^' . str_replace('-', '\-', zen_parse_url(HTTPS_SERVER, '/path')) . '#', '', dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])) . '/'); define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/***/'); // NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes! // * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL) // these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder) define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/'); define('DIR_WS_ICONS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'icons/'); define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_IMAGES', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'images/'); define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_TEMPLATE', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'includes/templates/'); define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/'); define('DIR_WS_BOXES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'boxes/'); define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/'); define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/'); define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/'); define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/'); define('DIR_WS_CATALOG_LANGUAGES', HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'includes/languages/'); // * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical) define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', preg_replace('#.includes$#', '', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/../') . '/')); //the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/ define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/'); //the following path is a COMPLETE path to the /logs/ folder eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/logs ... and no trailing slash define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/logs'); define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_LANGUAGES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/languages/'); define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_IMAGES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'images/'); define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_MODULES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/modules/'); define('DIR_FS_CATALOG_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'includes/templates/'); define('DIR_FS_BACKUP', DIR_FS_ADMIN . 'backups/'); define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/'); define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/'); // define our database connection define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql'); define('DB_PREFIX', ''); define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8'); define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost'); define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', '***'); define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', '***'); define('DB_DATABASE', '***'); // The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support. // For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from: none, database, or file // If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache // or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder // ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache -- leave no trailing slash define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none'); define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/home1/***/public_html/***/***/cache'); // Define the webserver and path parameters // Main webserver: eg-http://www.your_domain.com - // HTTP_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg-http://www.your_domain.com // HTTPS_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg-https://www.your_domain.com // HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg-http://www.your_domain.com // HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg-https://www.your_domain.com /* * URLs for your site will be built via: * HTTP_SERVER plus DIR_WS_ADMIN or * HTTPS_SERVER plus DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN or * HTTP_SERVER plus DIR_WS_CATALOG or * HTTPS_SERVER plus DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG * ...depending on your system configuration settings */ // EOF All paths are correct as far as I can tell As for server directory structure, I have several domain names all hosted on the same server, i.e. MAINDOMAIN directory is accessed via MAINDOMAIN.com and points to public_html SECONDARYDOMAIN directory is accessed via SECONDARYDOMAIN.co.uk and points to subfolder SECONDARYDOMAIN under public_html This subfolder in turn contains a folder CATALOG (which contained the old 1.3.8 version of ZC and which I have since removed) and a folder CATALOG2 which contains the new 1.5.4 version of ZC TERTIARY DOMAIN directory is accessed via TERTIARYDOMAIN.com and points to subfolder TERTIARYDOMAIN public_html I'll try switching to FastCGI but wait until you have been able to check the configure.php files Thanks.

Well, unfortunately because of the "security" actions taken there is no useful information in the above post to provide support. **** in one file looks like **** in the other... So from your side, you'd have to do the one for one comparison. I would almost suggest using a comparison tool to line up the lines equivalent in both files to see if/what the differences are. Since the sample php file worked, and your admin works, there is something about the catalog that doesn't... The first place to start is with the configure.php files. Then to look at/for the logs directory. Try to force an error to be generated and verify that it happens. I usually use a malformed sql search after including application_top in a file in the root of the admin folder (after login, try the file, check the logs directory). So permissions on the folder could be a problem or something else after all that.

The *** represented the folder names etc. and I verified that they are identical and correct in each case, so unless there is something else strikingly wrong with the configure.php files I suppose they aren't the problem?

after changing php version and back:

PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STATIC in /home1/MainDomain/public_html/SecondaryDomain/Catalog/admin/includes/classes/class.admin.zcObserverLogEventListener.php on line 118

page returns a 500 error

The referenced file reads:

code removed

When posting code, it is much easier to read if encompassed by ```
[CODE] and [/CODE]

The shift of PHP versions, did it include going down to say 5.2.17 and during which you tried to access the login? Do you get the same error generated each time you try to access the admin?

Have you applied the patches applicable to response and conditions identified in your ZC area as posted here: <http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?215694-Known-Bugs-%28and-fixes%29-with-v1-5-4>

No, it's rather bizarre. Following a downgrade to 5.4 after which I could no longer get the login screen to admin. I went back to 5.6 beta and got the login screen. I tried some other settings, all of which returned a blank screen and then set it back to 5.6 but the login did not return although it had worked previously. There's not been any downgrade below php 5.4.

bleher:

after changing php version and back:

PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STATIC in /home1/MainDomain/public_html/SecondaryDomain/Catalog/admin/includes/classes/class.admin.zcObserverLogEventListener.php on line 118

page returns a 500 error
That was a known bug with Zen Cart v1.5.4 on earlier versions of PHP: https://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?215694-Known-Bugs-%28and-fixes%29-with-v1-5-4&p=1268233#post1268233
Problem doesn't occur in the newer v1.5.5

When I check for updates (before I lost login) it says I have latest version. So can I udpate to 1.5.5?

And according to the link you sent I should only get the error if server uses php 5.2, but it is using 5.6 beta ???
ZenCart served me well for 8 years but with all the time spent on trying to sort out this bug I am beginning whether a shopping cart so vulnerable to so simple server upgrade without being able to trace nor easily correct the effects is really worth investing more time in or whether it's a nudge to move on to something more stable?