Critical Error on installation attempt

[xekral]

Greetings.

I have read through the other posts on this section of the forums in an attempt to gather rectification prior to conducting a post on here, but alas my frustration has simply grown leaps and bounds instead.

I have installed the latest version of Joomla! with a separate database listed for that, so that does not have an impact on this.

Upon attempting installation of the latest version of Simple Forums, I have received the following error:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
!!Critical Error!
Cannot connect to the database server with the supplied data.

If you are not sure about what to type in, please contact your host.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The problem with this is that the database password I am required to enter is indeed the correct password.  I have gone into the backside of the hosting cPanel and verified this, and have utilized a test script which resolves that the database password is correct for the listed database user linked to the database I am attempting to proceed with.  Additionally, it has already created the initial associated tables in the database, but it will not continue past this point.

If I simply close it out and access the forum through the URL, then it gives me the option to create a standard account, which I am able to do successfully, so the forum is indeed created and the initial pre-requisites are there, but as I stated before, it refuses to continue past the page where I have to enter the information for an admin account, which means I cannot create an admin account nor does it create whatever additional files/database entries are required.

I have extensive experience with PHP and MySQL, and I am certain that something more is going on here than simply a bloody password.

To rehash, I have done the following:

• Created a separate database for the forum I am attempting to create;
• Utilized the database-username that exists;
• Verified the database-username's associated password is indeed correct and valid, and it able to be utilized elsewhere;
• Verified that the permission associated with the database-username are such that all permissions are granted to the database-username;
• Conducted mutiple installation attempts, Google searches and forum searches in an attempt to rectify the issue.

...However, nothing seems to work.  The rest of my website works like a charm, so clearly the alleged password issue is not the issue, the database exists, the username exists, but I cannot install the forum no matter what I try.

Please assist me in getting to the bottom of this so I can have a bloody forum that I believe will more than suit my needs.  I don't want to use any of the other forums that exist out there, as I have already tried them (and installed each one successfully mind you) and they clearly do not fulfill the needs of my website nor the layout of same.

Thank you in advance.

Kevin

[Kindred]

well, based on the error message, I think that it is fairly obvious...

No matter what you insist is set "correctly" - SMF can not connect to the database with those settings.


Seeing as how ALL other sites can install SMF when the correct information has been entered, there is either an issue with your server or with your data...

Sorry I can't be of more help - but those are really the only two choices.

[xekral]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Administrators, this might be helpful for other persons conducting install so please add a small note to the documentation or indicate it somewhere.


After sleeping on it, I browsed through the file where the password was stored, and noted one small discrepancy - the password I had entered was not the same as the one that showed due to one small, likely PHP-based error.

If you use the backslash "\" character, the system automatically adds one in front of that to clean the data and thus permit the usage.  However, this will break the system, because it creates a second backslash character (ex. "\\") where your first was located.  I am notorious for utilizing complex alpha-numeric-symbol based passwords to ensure security.  When I entered a password that did not utilize the "\" character, it worked like a charm.

Thank you in advance, and I hope this helps someone else installing the forum in the future!


Kevin