Magento

Ok, so I’ve gone through the process of installing the theme. When I go to the CMS page to add the code I get this error on the home page:
Warning: Mage_Core_Block_Template::include(/home/marinewo/public_html/app/design/frontend/default/default/template/sample/home.phtml) [mage-core-block-template.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/marinewo/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Block/Template.php on line 131
Trace:

As I go through FTP I see theres no folder called ‘sample’ much less a home.phtml file in it.  Did something not load with the modern theme on install? Should I create a directory in the default/templates directory? 

Better yet, how come I’m the only one on the forums with this problem ?:)

UPDATE:
Ok i went through the install of the theme again and got this:

Did not download optional dependencies: pear/XML_RPC, use --alldeps to download automatically
Magento Downloader
Exception caught:

Warning: popen() has been disabled for security reasons in /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/OS/Guess.php on line 247

Backtrace:

#0 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/OS/Guess.php(247): mageCoreErrorHandler(2, ‘popen() has bee...’, ‘/home/marinewo/...’, 247, Array)
#1 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/OS/Guess.php(159): OS_Guess->_detectGlibcVersion(’/usr/bin/cpp /t...’, ‘r’)
#2 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/OS/Guess.php(114): OS_Guess->parseSignature()
#3 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Dependency2.php(105): OS_Guess->OS_Guess(NULL)
#4 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Downloader.php(259): PEAR_Dependency2->PEAR_Dependency2()
#5 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Downloader.php(501): PEAR_Downloader->getDependency2Object(Object(PEAR_Config), Array, Array, 4)
#6 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Downloader.php(409): PEAR_Downloader->analyzeDependencies(Object(PEAR_Config), Array, Array, 4)
#7 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Command/Install.php(629): PEAR_Downloader->download(Array)
#8 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/PEAR/Command/Common.php(285): PEAR_Command_Install->doInstall(Array)
#9 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Pear.php(228): PEAR_Command_Common->run(’install’, Array, Array)
#10 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Pear.php(283): Maged_Pear->run(’install’, Array, Array)
#11 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Model/Pear.php(210): Maged_Pear->runHtmlConsole(’install’, Array, Array)
#12 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Controller.php(122): Maged_Model_Pear->installPackage(Array)
#13 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Controller.php(327): Maged_Controller->pearInstallPackagePostAction(’magento-core/In...’)
#14 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/Maged/Controller.php(147): Maged_Controller->dispatch()
#15 /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/index.php(29): Maged_Controller::run()
#16 {main}

and it stops from there. I go to navigate away and it warns me its still running.  Is this not the end? How lond does it run for if not?

Can anyone shed some light on this?
There seems to be over a half a dozen instances of people not being able to run the magento connect manager on the theme.
http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/10722/

A popen error always shows up on all of the post I’ve seen.  Is this a hosting problem???

Warning: popen() has been disabled for security reasons in /home/marinewo/public_html/downloader/pearlib/php/OS/Guess.php on line 247

This is the reply I got from my hosting provider about popen and shell:

shell_exec() and popen() are dangerous PHP functions commonly used by hacker to gain access to your site, they are disabled on the server for security reasons. If you need those functions enabled you’ll have to move to VPS or a dedicated server.

Again, can someone tell me why this works for some and not others. Is this is dangerous then why is everyone elses enabled??

It’s a shared hosting problem - they have disabled some php functions for security. The reason other people don’t have the same exact issue would be:

1. They have a hosting provider who allows those php functions
2. They have a dedicated server or Virtual Private Server and have full control over their php configuration

You’ll need to find a new host if you plan to use Magento or pretty much any other decent eCommerce package. Most shared hosting providers offer only a couple of eCommerce programs built in, all of which are lame, in my opinion. I may have to add Magento ready hosting to my hosting business. If you were a good customer I’d be more than willing to work with you on your requirements providing you acknowledge any risks your required settings might entail, (which in this case are minimal). They obviously aren’t running an updated system nor keeping php patched. I see this a lot in automated hosting where they take your money and let a script assign you a shared directory and then hope you never email or call them again.

The security issues your host is complaining about are really not that bad, especially if they are capable server administrators with a secure system and actually pay attention to their hardware and monitor for signs of intrusion. My servers are so secure even if a hacker exploits a php vulnerability they won’t be able to do anything except vandalize the page they intruded on. I’ll know within 2 minutes they’ve hacked your cart and will lock them out before they can do any damage or gain access to customer data.

Unfortunately, anyone can open a hosting business but very few know what they are doing when it comes to the hardware and systems they offer. This is very, very crappy as people hosting a business have a lot more to lose and will usually suffer bad performance and downtime with such hosts.

They could assign you an individual php.ini, configure your user account for jailshell and you’d be good to go.