> We are not even getting to the dependancy hell this will involve.
>
> So how do I fix this problem? I'd rather not pave the system and
> start from scratch, but honestly if I'd done that the moment that
> this problem manifested, I'd probably be up and running again by now.
This sounds like you have both the i386 package and the x86_64 package
installed.
create a .rpmmacros file in root's home directory with the contents ->
%_query_all_fmt %%{name}-%%{version}-%%{release}.%%{arch}
then you can run your queries again. This should show that you have:
mysql-4.1.20-1.RHEL4.1.i386
mysql-4.1.20-1.RHEL4.1.x86_64
You may also have the same thing for the server. I doubt very much
it's a permissions file on the socket, as that's created when the app
runs, although improper selinux permissions may cause problems. If the
db doesn't contain any data, nuke all the mysql-* packages, and delete
the /var/lib/mysql dir. Then install mysql-4.1.20-1.RHEL4.1.x86_64 and
mysql-server-4.1.20-RHEL4.1.x86_64
--
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell