Not sure how to figure out this error, I've been googling for a week and I can't seem to find a solution. Any ideas?
2013-06-10T04:04:28+00:00 ERR (3):
exception 'Mage_Core_Exception' with message 'Invalid block type: ' in /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/Mage.php:594
Stack trace:
#0 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(495): Mage::throwException('Invalid block t...')
#1 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(437): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->_getBlockInstance('', Array)
#2 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(472): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->createBlock('', 'checkout.cart')
#3 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(239): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->addBlock('', 'checkout.cart')
#4 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(205): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->_generateBlock(Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Element), Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Element))
#5 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(210): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->generateBlocks(Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Element))
#6 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(344): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->generateBlocks()
#7 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(269): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->generateLayoutBlocks()
#8 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Checkout/controllers/CartController.php(159): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->loadLayout()
#9 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(419): Mage_Checkout_CartController->indexAction()
#10 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Router/Standard.php(250): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->dispatch('index')
#11 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Front.php(176): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Router_Standard->match(Object(Mage_Core_Controller_Request_Http))
#12 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/App.php(354): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Front->dispatch()
#13 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/app/Mage.php(683): Mage_Core_Model_App->run(Array)
#14 /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/index.php(89): Mage::run('', 'store')
#15 {main}
Best Answer
Based on the stack trace you posted, it looks like this is happening when Magento is loading the layout update xml files, and using them to create the blocks which will render the HTML for the page.
These lines appear to be the problem
The
addBlock
,createBlock
, and_getBlockInstance
methods all expect the first parameter to be a class alias string for the block. Something likecheckout/cart
. However, in your system, this string is missing.Because Magento's so extendable, there's myriad reasons this might happen. The most common reason is somehow your
catalog.xml
file has been changed such that thisIs missing it's
type
attribute. That might look like thisOr it could be a typo
Hope that helps. If the problem ends up being something else be sure to come back and post the correct answer.