404 Error and empty result set in Browsers *except FF* for Collections only

Almost done with this theme upgrade. Started cross-browser testing. I’m getting an empty result set for

foreach(loop('collections') as $collection
and $total_results is zero

On collections/browse/

For /collections/show/ I receive 404 errors, and a zend message saying the ID doesn’t exist.

Both are for browsers (Chrome, Edge, IE 11, Safari [yes, I know, it’s 2012], and Opera on Windows 10) other than FF. It’s very very strange.
I have done the following:

  • checked the htaccess
  • have all debugging / error logging set to true in the config.ini
  • checked folder / file permissions
  • checked the DB - there are 48 collections present (which display correctly in FF).

The weird bit is that NO other page (items, exhibits, etc.) have this issue.

What I have been able to track down is that for the loop(‘collections’) there’s a difference in the result. In FF
print_r(loop('collections'));
outputs:

Omeka_Record_Iterator Object ( [_records:protected] => Array ( [0] => Collection Object ( [public] => 0 [featured] => 0 [added] => 2013-03-10 15:46:28 [modified] => 2015-04-14 09:19:27 [owner_id] => 1

whereas in all the other browsers I’m testing the Omeka_Record_Iterator [_records:protected] array is empty:

Omeka_Record_Iterator Object ( [_records:protected] => Array ( ) [_view:protected] => Omeka_View Object ( [_asset_paths:protected] => Array ( [0] =>

I suspect this has to do with the view set by the controller, but I’m not sure as this would imply that there’s something determinate about the front end and browser, which seems odd for PHP, but not sure.

Gah, browsers, private / public collections, long days = fried brain.