Login to admin shuts down Apache

I've never had this issue before. I have a local server setup on a Windows Machine - Windows XP Home Edition. I'm running Apache 1.3.34, PHP 4.4.2 and My SQL 5. Several months ago, I installed ZenCart onto my local server for development purposes - I can't remember what version it was, but it ran just fine. Then I heard that a new version of ZenCart was out, and it was all into the tableless design - which rocks, because the last version I had I had to hack to death to get rid of all those icky tables. So I downloaded it - it was the one dated 9/4/2006. I never got around to installing it until last night. Everything went fine - I just deleted the old one, even dropped the complete database and started completely fresh. I installed it, everythign goes smoothly - until I try to log into the admin panel. When I did that, Apache "encountered an error" and completely shut down. It would not start up again until I completely shut down my computer and restarted it. I thought it was a fluke and tried again - and when I tried to log in, it shut down Apache again.

I rebooted, came to the zencart website, found out there's a new version to download (I figured maybe I had a corrupt file or something), I downloaded it. I deleted all my old files, again dropped the database tables and started fresh and clean. Unzipped the new zencart (dated 10/27/2006) and proceeded to install. Everything went fine. Until - yet - again - when I tried to login to the admin panel, Apache shuts down again.

This isn't looking good. If it does this on my development server, what's it gonna do on the real thing? (Actually, it'll probably work! LOL)

I don't understand, though, why it would be shutting down my Apache server. it's getting extremely annoying. It worked fine before, with the old version. Would anyone know why it would suddenly be doing this? or am I gonna have to revert back to the old one I've got and start hacking away at core files to remove the tables?

Oh, by the way, the error log info might help... I should note that, althought I get the "Apache encountered an error and must close" thing, it happens twice. I clik "OK" the first time and the window pops up again. I click "Ok" again, but my Apache window is still open and I have to manually close it. SO it even gets hung up on closing itself.

[Tue Oct 31 08:49:36 2006] [error] PHP Warning: main(DIR_WS_INCLUDESauto_loaders/config.core.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in c:\websites\zencart\includes\application_top.php on line 90
[Tue Oct 31 08:49:36 2006] [error] PHP Warning: main(): Failed opening 'DIR_WS_INCLUDESauto_loaders/config.core.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;c:\php\includes;c:\php\PEAR') in c:\websites\zencart\includes\application_top.php on line 90
[Tue Oct 31 08:49:36 2006] [error] PHP Warning: dir(DIR_WS_INCLUDESauto_loaders): failed to open dir: Invalid argument in c:\websites\zencart\includes\application_top.php on line 91
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets?.conf' not found (Errcode: 2)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index' file
Apache server shutdown initiated...
Apache server shutdown initiated...

Another note (yes, I am actively trying to figure this out on my own, but ANY input would be appreciated) - I've already seen a thread here on the boards (http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47657) that says my configuration file is blank. For the record, it is not. There's a bunch of stuff in there. I checked both files: admin/includes/configure.php (set as "read-only") and the includes/configure.php file (also set ans "read-only") - both have tons of stuff in there.

Also, it was suggested that the .htaccess files be renamed as backups to see if that helps - it only made it worse. Now I can't get to the admin page at all before Apache completely shuts down. (at least before, I could login - it was just when I hot the button that it decided to shut down. Now it won't even go to the login page.)

More investigations produce interesting results...

Now a mysterious file appears in my "logs" folder of my apache program, called "httpd.pid". I've discovered from the Apache site that this file is called a "gnat" and puts a code in it to let you know what error was encountered. I've had two so far (edit: make that three):

2944, 2724 and 676 (which is apparently part of 674). According to the Apache site...

2944:access to requested document name
(yeah, doesn't seem like a complete error message, does it? but that's it!)

2724:a permanent redirect (status code 301) to a non-existent file produces a status code 403 (HTTP_FORBIDDEN) instead of 404 (HTTP_NOT_FOUND)

676 has no message with it, but is marked as a "severe" bug, and part of 674. 674 says:Environment variable REMOTE_USER not being set.

Sooo..some kind of redirection issue - again if anyone could shed some light, it'd be appreciated.

one issue I see is from your first post

main(DIR_WS_INCLUDESauto_loaders/config.core.php)

looks like you have an error in your configure.php file

looks like this definition DIR_WS_INCLUDES is missing

did you do a total fresh install with 1.3.6?

if not I would suggest wiping the entire works,
then starting with a fresh version of 1.3.6
letting the installer fill in the url and path information

did you do a total fresh install with 1.3.6?<<

Yes, I did. Wiped the whole thing - erased all files and dropped the database completely. Then I thought maybe it was a corrupted file in the download, so I re-downloaded it, wiped everything clean again, and started over. Same thing.

letting the installer fill in the url and path information<<

Did that too. Twice.

you seem to have a define missing
look in the admin/includes/configure.php
looks like the define for
DIR_WS_INCLUDES
is missing

Nope - it's there...line 50:

define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/');

...

(edit) interestingly enough, when I add a slash to that line:

define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', '/includes/');

Apache doesn't shut down. Instead, I just get a PHP error.

Um...oops. Error messages:

Warning: main(/includes/auto_loaders/config.core.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in c:\websites\zencart\admin\includes\application_top.php on line 127

Warning: main(): Failed opening '/includes/auto_loaders/config.core.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;c:\php\includes;c:\php\PEAR') in c:\websites\zencart\admin\includes\application_top.php on line 127

Warning: dir(/includes/auto_loaders): failed to open dir: Invalid argument in c:\websites\zencart\admin\includes\application_top.php on line 128

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: zen_get_languages() in c:\websites\zencart\admin\index.php on line 25

Well, I got rid of the MySQL database error, at least (turns out it had nothing to do with the ZenCart installation - a look at my error logs show that I've had that problem for a loooong time - it was an easy fix, though.)

Now, I took the slash back out to see what would happen, and Apache now shuts down again when I try to open the /admin directory. But now nothing is being recorded in the error logs at all. Interesting. But it's still making Apache shut down.

I wonder what this issue could possibly be?

A new update - I deleted everything again (all files and directories, dropped the database again) and started over, this time with 1.3.0 - an older version. The sucker works just fine. My thinking was, I'd install the old version and try to upgrade instead.

Before I attempted the upgrade though, I decided to check out my Apache logs to see if anything weird was there. Wouldn't you know it, the same errors are showing up - but the older version is just overlooking it and continuing on, rather than completely shutting down Apache.

So, I've decided not to upgrade as of yet - I've been spending the entire day working on this to no avail. I now - apparently - have a working version, and I need to get started on this client's site. So it looks like - unless I cna get it figured out - I'm just going to have to hack the core files again to get rid of all the tables. Yuk. My work is cut out for me, I guess.

If I ever get this figured out, I'll post back. But hopefully someone else has some alternate suggestions before I start digging into the core stuff again!

This really sounds like a server issue of some sort. What are you using to set up your server?

Well, like I said in the forst post, I'm running Windows XP Home Edition, with Apache 1.3.34, PHP 4.4.2 and My SQL 5. It's a setup I've been using for a couple of years now, with no problems. (The MySQL 5 is an upgrade, as well as the PHP, from older versions - I did those upgrades least year)

I'm running other databases on this setup - I've got Wordpress, Joomla, Expression Engine, Mambo and a few other programs running with no problems. So if it's a server issue, I have no idea what it could be. This is the only program I've ever installed that's had a problem like this.

During installation, on the "Admin Setup" page, what happens if you uncheck the "check for updates" box?

What happens if you rename the various .htaccess files under /admin and /admin/includes etc?

Hey Dr Byte :)

Uncheck the "check for updates" box didn't do anything - checked or not, it was screwed up. Renaming the .htaccess files (I mentioned I'd tried that before) only made the problem worse.

However, I have good news. I did figure it out - and I rechecked the documentation that came with the installation. Nothing is mentioned about this (not that I could find), so maybe it should be.

The two configure.core.php files needed to have the "read-only" status changed - the box needed to be unchecked so full access was given to those two files. (These files are located in "includes/autoloader/" and in "admin/includes/autoloader"). Someone mentioned to me that I should try to make the folders be fully accessible, but it turns out Windows will not allow you to change the read-only status on folders - only files. When I changed the status on those two files - holy crap it went slicker than snot on a doorknob.

So, for future reference (anyone who needs this!) when you're putting your installation on a localhost server, be sure those two files are NOT marked "read only". (Seriously, it turned out to be that simple!)

I'm going to to take some painkillers now. My head hurts from staring at the screen all day, my forehead hurts from banging it on the desk, and my back hurts from slouched-over sleuthing poses.

And by the way - thank God you all removed the tabled layouts! I could cry it makes my life so much easier! :)

Thanks for all the help :)

That will certainly be a quandry when running Apache on Windows ... permissions options are very different in windows vs linux. (but you knew that :) )

Glad you got it sorted out !

Dont the instructions say to rename the dist_config.php files and set the permissions to 777 read write execute

Dont the instructions say to rename the dist_config.php files and set the permissions to 777 read write execute<<

Yes, they do. but the files I had to change the permissions on weren't the "dist_config.php" files. The files I needed to change were "config.core.php". Now, if the "dist_config.php" file is the same thing, that wasn't made very clear in the instructions - it didn't say that they were the same file. So if they were the same file, I had no idea because nothing in the installation instructions alluded to that.

But it's cool - all sorted and now I can actually begin working. And I'm still psyched that the tables are gone! Woo-hoo!