Admin log in (and storefront) in constant loop

Have trawlled the forums for an answer but no joy

my admin log in page wont let me log in
i type my correct user name and password and it just represents the log in page, with no error message..... i have tried deleting and re-installing the whole zencart thing but no joy. I have cleared my cache and cookies and restarted but all the thing does is present the log in page again. im on a linux hosting.

if i type the wrong user name it pops the right error, if i type the wrong password it pops the right error. If i ask for the password to be re-set it does it but i still can log in.

any ideas anyone? its driving me nuts! :unsure:

thanks

andy

Could you post, from the server, without your username and password, the file:
/admin/includes/configure.php

Are you able to login to the Catalog?

If so, could you post, from the server, without the username and password, the file:
/includes/configure.php

Hi

Thanks for your reply. I am not sure what you mean by can i log into the catalog, do you mean as a shopper? Sorry to sound thick!

here is a copy of the two files you mention anyway (in one file)

many thanks again for any help.

Andy

Hi - a quick update..

No i cannot log in as a customer. It let me create the customer but i cant then log in as that customer later.

thanks

andy

It means you have a problem with PHP sessions not working.
What version of PHP?
What version of Zen Cart?
Who's your host?
When did it last work properly?
Is your /cache folder writable?
Posted via Mobile Device

Hiya info below

my hosts are looking at it but have now ***** up my live actinic installation and left it over nite... sooooper!!! they may not be my hosts much longer!

[QUOTE=DrByte;605549]It means you have a problem with PHP sessions not working.
What version of PHP? 4.3.2
What version of Zen Cart? 1.3.8
Who's your host? netsecrets.co.uk
When did it last work properly? on this installtion, never
Is your /cache folder writable? yes

is there anything i can say to these people to get them looking in the right place as they seem beyond hopeless!

thanks
andy

Is this a new install of Zen Cart or an upgrade? From which version?

When you did your install of Zen Cart, did you use the Zen Cart installer? Or some other method?
If you used the Zen Cart installer (zc_install folder), it would have done some System Inspection work and showed you the status of several factors, including PHP sessions issues. Were there any red warning symbols on any of the entries?

Given that PHP 4 is essentially obsolete and in a couple months will no longer be supported by the people who wrote it, maybe it's worth asking your host to put you on a server running PHP 5?

Have you installed any mods? Which ones?

Have you created/added a .htaccess file to your Zen Cart folder? If so, what and why? What happens if you rename it to htaccess_OFF temporarily?

I am having the same problem. In my case, it was working yesterday (on a different install), but I didn't install the demo data on my first install, so I deleted my database (nothing in it anyway) and reinstalled. After my re-install, I clicked to go to Admin and encountered this problem. (At first, I thought I had the wrong username or password, but when I changed these, I got the correct error message.) So on this installation, this problem popped up on my first attempt to log in as admin.

I'm wondering if it's because I clicked on secure connection for admin in setup. (I don't think I did when I installed the first time a couple days ago.)

PHP version: 5.2.6
ZenCart version: 1.3.8
host: pair.com
Is your /cache folder writable? yes

including the two config files and answering questions I didn't see before:

I used zc_install; no concerns noted with php sessions.

I've installed no mods.

I've installed no .htaccess file and there is none in the store's root directory. I notice there are a few of these around: in the includes directory, cache directory, download directory, etc., but I didn't (intentionally) put them there. Do you want me to rename these?

If you choose not to use SSL, does the problem continue?

chopbox:

I've installed no .htaccess file and there is none in the store's root directory. I notice there are a few of these around: in the includes directory, cache directory, download directory, etc., but I didn't (intentionally) put them there. Do you want me to rename these?
No

If by choosing not to use SSL, you mean trying to log in with http://www.mydomain.com/catalog/admin/login.php instead of https://www.annschleck.com/catalog/admin/login.php, I've tried that, and get redirected to https.

If you mean something else, I don't know what you are talking about. Do you want me to reinstall and NOT click the option to use SSL?

I think what drByte means is that in your admin/includes/configure.php make sure

  
  define('ENABLE_SSL_ADMIN', 'false');

I think what drByte means is that in your admin/includes/configure.php make sure

PHP Code:
define('ENABLE_SSL_ADMIN', 'false');

Thanks, Wilt. I gave it a try. At least it did SOMETHING which after so long of doing nothing was a relief. Still, now I have an error message "There was a security error when trying to login."

I think we're on the right track here though. I did the same thing for the config.php file in the includes directory, so that both of these config files had disabled SSL ADMIN and (drum roll please) ... well, ok, not much really. The error message went away, but now I'm sort of back to the original symptoms. Not quite, though. Originally, the Admin Username and the Password stayed there while nothing happened. Now with both these lines changed to disable SSL ADMIN, both the username and password go away. (To appreciate the difference, originally my role in the loop was just to hit the log in button. Now I have to re-enter the username and password before I hit the log in button. In both cases, we loop.)

Hmmmm...
the It's similar to what was happening originally, except that or

From your last post I'm really not clear what exactly is happening now.

Here are some FAQ articles related to the kinds of symptoms you've mentioned:
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=84
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=312
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=281

Thanks, Doc, for trying.

Just for the record, I did work through article 84 but to no avail.

I've deleted the database and reinstalled, made sure NOT to enable SSL on Admin, and now I'm ok.

Still, it would be nice to know what went wrong (I'm sure you would like to know as well).

Well, at some point you're likely going to be enabling SSL again ... and one of the possible causes for problems is the use of a bad SSL URL (esp if it's pointing to a URL that's not got a real SSL working on it yet ... not saying that's your case or not ... but it's a common cause).

I would suggest that you might want to confirm whether it's going to be an issue or not before you get too far along. Maybe your hosting has something misconfigured? ie: turn on the SSL in your configure.php files and test

Or maybe your hosting company's SSL setup treats the "/admin/" part of the URL as something "special" and wants to handle it via some other system, thereby breaking the expected behavior. You could try renaming your admin as per the documentation in your /docs/ folder and/or the FAQ area.

thanks for the posts re my problems.

it seems actinic and zen cannot run on the same server... at least this is the excuse it feels like they are trying to fob me off with. they have set up another host location and asked me to install onto that.. so far not going well as am back to the cant connect to db problems.

if anyone in the uk is thinking of using netsecrets as a host.. dont.. their understanding of customer service is truly woeful!

will let you know how this saga plays out

thanks

andy

well my hosts have moved me to a temp location to install and will then point my hosting at that temp place when i want to switch over.

There excuse was zen and actinic cant run on the same host... they use php in a different way? I suspect BS anyone care to comment?

Thanks for everyones help.

cheers

goose