Comment 14 for bug 613032

Zash, on reading your 'output of apt-get install and ls" text attachment, it contradicts what you stated in comment #10, which was

>> chown mysql.mysql /var/lib/mysql/mysql/*
>> chmod 660 /var/lib/mysql/mysql/*
>Those files are owned by root:root and chmod 660 after a fresh (purge,
>no /var/lib/mysql, and) install.

The ls command output clearly shows the files owned as expected, by mysql/root or myslq/mysql.

Given the fact that those permissions should allow the mysql user to access and read those directories fully, I'm wondering if there aren't some fundamental problems with your system. Can you share the output of these commands:

ls -d /var/lib
ls -d /var
getent passwd | grep mysql

Also is it possible you have a locally customized file in /etc/init/mysql.conf or /etc/init.d/mysqld ?

Thanks!