Uninstall Attempts Failing

[eclecticism]

I installed VM to try-out but decided to go with a less complicated extension for our simple needs (PhocaCart).  Ages ago I tried to uninstall VM through the control panel but it didn't uninstall everything.  I didn't have time to look into further so I left things as is.  Now that I am trying to migrate to J4 it has become a problem as it is flagged as needing an update.  When I try to download the latest version I see that a membership is required, which clearly I do not need.  So I began the long, arduous, adventure of the VirtueMart uninstall process.  Haven't found any detailed instructions on the VM Wiki page, so I searched Google.  I read several posts and articles and have tried all of their suggestions to no avail (FYI the main article has had almost 12,000 views so I am not alone!!).  I have now spent the better part of my day on this issue and am no further ahead.

Joomla! 3.10.11, Linux Apache, PHP 8.2.5

Joomla Control Panel Uninstall:
1. VirtueMart Package 4.0.12; Package Uninstall: Missing manifest file.
2. VM - Custom Virtuemart Simple Download Plugin; Failed opening required '/home/*/public_html/administrator/components/com_virtuemart/helpers/config.php' (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php82/root/usr/share/pear')

Manual Uninstall Using an FTP:
I deleted all the VM folders I could find:
Administrator>Components>com_*
Modules>mod_virtuemart* (there were many)
Plugins>vm* (there were many)
Administrator>Manifests>Packages>virtuemart_pkg
Administrator>Modules>mod_vmmenu
Images>virtuemart

Using PhpMyAdmin:
I emptied, then dropped the following tables:
*_virtuemart* (230 entries)

Back to the Joomla Control Panel, the same two issues remain:
1. Package I can't unistall: VirtueMart Package 4.0.12; Package Uninstall: Missing manifest file.
2. Plugin I can't uninstall: VM - Custom Virtuemart Simple Download Plugin; Failed opening required '/home/*/public_html/administrator/components/com_virtuemart/helpers/config.php' (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php82/root/usr/share/pear')

Following another articles suggestion, I installed VM again in the hopes that it would uninstall normally, it did not.  I redid the above steps on manually deleting and am now back to square one.

It is critical that I be able to Migrate to J4, please help!

[GJC Web Design]

just delete the references to any VM extensions in the table #_extensions by phpmyadmin

then your good to go

example below

SELECT * FROM `pmgls_extensions` WHERE `name` LIKE '%virt%'

[eclecticism]

Well you truly are a Super Hero, bless your wee heart.  An abundance of gratitude for taking the time to reply and leading me in the right direction. 

For anyone else looking for a solution and - like me - doesn't know phpMyAdmin very well (photos attached):

1. Click on your database on the left to open it up
2. Scroll down to _extensions
3. Next to _extensions, click on Search
4. On the line 'name' in the box 'value' type %vir% then scroll to the bottom and click the GO button
5. Check all of the Virtuemart entries, then Delete and YES to confirm

Repeat the above steps using the name value %vm%