--- sitebar.postinst_orig	2009-05-02 20:36:16.000000000 -0400
+++ sitebar.postinst	2012-01-31 16:43:45.000000000 -0500
@@ -76,10 +76,11 @@
 		# setup the db
 
         if [ -f /usr/sbin/mysqld ] ; then
-            pidfile=`mysqld_get_param pid-file`
             ps_alive=0
-            if [ -f "$pidfile" ] && ps `cat $pidfile` >/dev/null 2>&1; then ps_alive=1; fi
-            if [ $ps_alive = 1 ]; then 
+            if service mysql status | grep -q "/running" ; then ps_alive=1; fi
+            if [ $ps_alive = 0 ]; then 
+                echo "Error: local MySQL server not running, skipping database initialization...."
+            else
                 db_get "sitebar/db_initialized"
                 dbinitialized="$RET" || true
                 db_get "sitebar/skipdb"