cannot access mysql database

[Hans Halvorson]

Reviving this bug ...

(Basic system info: running gutsy development repositories, on x86 machine)

First I clean up everything I had done before: I remove and purge all mythtv and mysql components. Then I install mythtv-backend-master from synaptic. I go through the dialogs -- it asks me if I want to create a mysql-server root password (which I do), and then it seems to finish. But then an error message pops up:

The mythtv-database package was upgraded or installed, but was unable to contact a MySQL server.
If you were in the process of dist-upgrading, this is normal as mysql-server is stopped for a portion of the upgrade.
If this is a fresh package installation, verify that mysql-server is installed and running. Once you have verified the server is running, you can reconfigure the package by running 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database'.
If your root password or location of the MySQL server are non standard, you can also update them via 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database'.

I then verify that mysql is running, and the root password is set correctly:

# mysql -u root -p
Enter password: *****
mysql>

Then I do

# sudo dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database

 and go through the dialogs (entering mysql root password, etc.) But I get the same error message again.

[Hans Halvorson (hans.halvorson)]

update: the success of 'dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database' seems to depend on what name one uses for the backend server.

1. it fails if I use the local network IP address '192.168.1.3'
2. it fails if I use the local network hostname 'dell.local'
3. it succeeds if I use 'localhost'

[Mario Limonciello (superm1)]

Snah Nosrovlah wrote:
> update: the success of 'dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database' seems to
> depend on what name one uses for the backend server.
>
> 1. it fails if I use the local network IP address '192.168.1.3'
> 2. it fails if I use the local network hostname 'dell.local'
> 3. it succeeds if I use 'localhost'
>
This new behavior for mysql server to ask for a root password is both an
annoyance and a blessing. It will help to improve the security of a box
immensely, while at the same time the gutsy packaging should be updated
to reflect the behavior.

The reason it doesn't work by IP address or name is because MySQL
doesn't bind to all addresses by default. It only binds to localhost.

The most logical way to work around this problem would be to use the
debian-sys-maintainer account, but unfortunately it doesn't have the
appropriate permissions necessary to get the database initialized.