Hi,
I have had the same problem. Upgrade from 1.1D to 1.2.1 is something not working. On my "testpage" where I've upgrade from 1.1D to 1.2.0rc2 and than to rc4 to rc5 all tables would be installed.
ALTER TABLE cpg_categories CHANGE `namee` `catname` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL;
ALTER TABLE cpg_comments add msg_raw_ip tinytext;
ALTER TABLE cpg_comments add msg_hdr_ip tinytext;
ALTER TABLE cpg_pictures add pic_raw_ip tinytext;
ALTER TABLE cpg_pictures add pic_hdr_ip tinytext;
UPDATE cpg_config SET value= '1' WHERE name='debug_mode';
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('thumb_use', 'any');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('show_private', '0');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('first_level', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('display_film_strip', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('max_film_strip_items', '5');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('comment_email_notification', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('nice_titles', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('advanced_debug_mode', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('read_iptc_data', '0');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_filename', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_album_name', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_file_size', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_dimensions', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_count_displayed', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_URL', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_URL_bookmark', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('picinfo_display_favorites', '1');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('seo_alts', '0');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('reg_notify_admin_email', '0');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('disable_flood_protection', '0');
INSERT INTO cpg_config VALUES ('allow_anon_fullsize', '1');
UPDATE cpg_config SET value = 'breadcrumb/catlist/alblist/lastalb,1/lastup,1/lastcom,1/topn,1/toprated,1/random,1/anycontent' WHERE name = 'main_page_layout';
UPDATE cpg_config SET value = 'default' WHERE name = 'theme';
that must be the sql codes
copy and paste it in your mysqladmin
regards
Ivo