Main directory: mydomain.com > has ZP 1585 install

In order to figure out the slideshow problem, I created a folder off that domain /myphotos and uploaded full ZP 1585 using same mysql and only 1 database.

All worked well (not slideshow).

Today I went into Admin (main directory install) to find something mentioned in the forums. Clicked on View Gallery. WAS PROMPTED TO DO SETUP! Only one database showed Themes. Only one database zp_ shows in setup.

WHAT IS HAPPENING???? HOW DO I RECOVER??????????????? <can you tell I'm panicing>

(Dreamhost does have hourly, daily and weekend backup files that I can access if need be.)

Sounds like you did not give the second install a different database prefix. So, that merged the two sets of information. Since there is a little know law of physics that says no two objects can be in the same place at the same time, your gallery option for the zenphoto release was set to the one for the new installation.

Since {remember from a different thread} zenphoto always checks the built in release level against the level stored in the database and, if they differ, insists on running setup.php, you got setup run as it should.

If you just run setup, that will restore the release level to the one from your base gallery. If you uploaded any images/albums to the new gallery, they may have got loaded into the database. If there were no conflicts, a refresh database should clean things up. If there were conflicts, go for the backup.

The two installs - main directory and sub are the same release. I will keep my fingers crossed for setup.php to fix. Or, I am assuming a 100% overwrite from my 26-May backup will fix???

NOTE: The other thread is in a whole new subDOMAIN with it's own database. Ironically, it was to avoid anything happening. As it will only be to get slideshow working, the version can be updated w/o anything being changed by me (css, php etc)..

UDATE:
deleted subdirectory mydomain.com/photos/ that I created and did the 'dummy' install. Restored build 158x from backup.

Updated to 1603svn. But, lost all metadata (descriptions etc) and themes/styles attached to Albums and associated themes/styles for each. View album -- no Gallery or Sized Image descriptions.

I did NOT restore the Albums or Cache folders. Will this give me back my stuff (descriptions)? Otherwise I might as well start over and do the install into a subdirectory. Then I could have the contact/intro pages I want as well. (Putting that off so I can take in the other posts about extra pages, not ready yet.)

(Aside - slideshow same problem)

If you don't use EXIF informaton to attach your titles and descriptions to your images directly, they of course are lost since they are stored in the database. We said that numerous times, I think.

Sorry to say, but it seems that you really messed something up. I would recommend cleaning the database completly and doing a fresh install.

Used wrong terminology "metadata", but your next stament tells me all I DID NOT want to know. It's all gone. I will do a backup. I will do a backup. I will do a backup. (Above and beyond my host.)

Out of curiosity: If the Dreamhost backup is a 100% snapshot, why wouldn't it restore everything? Setting prefs, images, descriptions, the whole thing.''

I"m doing download now of 1612 svn. I'll try that on my second setup of ZP to see if installs clean (per that strange file error I got).

And, if the slideshow works. Which will be on hold until I get all things together again....

[i]Out of curiosity: If the Dreamhost backup is a 100% snapshot, why wouldn't it restore everything? Setting prefs, images, descriptions, the whole thing.''[/i]
I guess you should ask Dreamhost about that, I don't know that ISP.

As I said, I didn't copy over albums & cache. Is that where my info is? I'm going to try again as I wonder that too. Maybe I missed something.

Dreamhost is one of Zenphoto's webhost's that offers ZP as a one-click install. No files on user domain, automatic updates of releases (not nightly builds). I used that initially to get the MySQL stuff setup then added in your ZP so I could play.

[i]As I said, I didn't copy over albums & cache. Is that where my info is? I'm going to try again as I wonder that too. Maybe I missed something.[/i]
You didn't read what I wrote, do you? So I cite myself:
[i]If you don't use EXIF informaton to attach your titles and descriptions to your images directly, they of course are lost since they are stored in the database. We said that numerous times, I think.[/i]