Edit metafdata Error processing this form

[keir]

When trying to edit a meta data item
The title and abstract appears blank and I want to put something in them. if I try to enter something into the title and abstract, then click save
The title and Abstract are erased and
i get an error Error processing this form
Please enter the title of your article. (English)
Please enter the abstract of your article. (English)

The web log shows no errors.

if i put it in debug mode the web page elicits a number of SQL select statements on to the web page that all seem innocuous.
Although display_errors is off debug on mode send stack output to the web pages
( Not desirable to do this for long since this is production )
The web log fills with errors about "headers already sent" complains about adodb.inc.php which other PKP blogs suggests is because the output is already being put on the web page and is a "cosmetic error".
This problem isn't apparent for all submissions and is only a problem for older submissions.

How do you get all debug sent to the web log only, not the screen (display_errors is off) and
what can I do about getting the metadata edit to work.