Hi,
in AuthenticationCookie.class.php we verify whether $_COOKIE is empty, because at this point we have sent some cookies. The goal is to warn users about their browser not accepting cookies.
However, it's too early to do this verification, because "Once the cookies have been set, they can be accessed on the next page load with the $_COOKIE" (PHP manual).
We are not yet at the next page load. The result is that all browsers, correctly set to accept cookies, when running phpMyAdmin for the first time, show the "Cookies must be enabled past this point" message, alerting users for nothing.
Maybe we could force a page reload after the initial cookies sending, but I'm not sure it's a good solution.
I suggest to - remove this verification - in the "Cannot start session without errors" message (which can be caused by a browser not accepting cookies), add a hint that not accepting cookies is a possible cause
Comments?