First, download the DMG package and the tar file (both) from MySQL download site. DO NOT INSTALL THE DMG INSTALL PACKAGE. Unpack the tarball and move to /usr/local/yourMySQLVersionFolder (<-substitute with your MySQL unpacked folder name.). Create a symbolic link to MySQL in /usr/local —> sudo ln -s yourMySQLVersionFolder mysql.
A mysql user account is in OS X by default, so move into the mysql folder
–> sudo chown mysql . 
–> sudo chgrp mysql .
Move into the scripts folder and look for a script called mysql_install_db and open in vi, emacs, or your favorite editor and change the line,
localhostname=’/bin/hostname’ to localhostname=’localhost’.
If you do not perform the procedures above, or just go ahead and use the install package provided by MySQL, then all will work just fine after installation. You will develop and program your heart out, feel like the master of your destiny, then once you reboot, MySQL will not let you login to change anything. The error you will most likely see is:
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user ‘root’@'localhost’ (using password: NO)
Over and over again, no matter what you do…..
That’s not all…. if you have completed the steps above, you may still get an error that says mysql cannot access /tmp, or something like that. At this point, do the following:
–> cd /usr/local/mysql
–> sudo mkdir tmp
–> sudo chown _mysql:wheel tmp
–> sudo chmod 755 tmp
Then pull up the editor of your choice to edit (or create in my case) /etc/my.cnf to include the following:
[mysqld]
tmpdir=/usr/local/mysql/tmp

At this point, all shoud work. Now go to the DMG package file and double click on the preferences pane icon, and when prompted if you want to include that in system preferences, press the yes button. Then unmount the DMG package and trash it. You’re done.
The frustrating thing about this little adventure were the plethora of install instruction blog sites, but every one of the comments areas were filled with requests about the error above, and everybody had a different solution FOR THE SAME OS!! Hope this saves some time for somebody out there in internet land. If so, please comment. Also, for more morsels of wisdom, please refer to this site and this site, which is where I managed to gather the proper procedures.

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 In 2005 I purchased a 15″ MacBook Pro. One of the first, but not the very first…. learned long ago to stay away from the too bleeding edge. That first MBP found it’s way back into the Apple Store four times during the two years that I owned it. First, the battery recall, then the bending on the case that covers the monitor, then the hooking system that locks the cover shut when the laptop is closed, which ended in another trip to change out the whole top and bottom aluminum casing/cover.

 I replaced that with a nice 17″ MBP with the high resolution LED screen about one year ago. I took the computer into the Apple Store about six months ago due to some bending on the bottom casing. Apple replaced the bottom (keyboard side) aluminum casing.

 Today I will be taking this into the Apple Store due to a problem with the power supply. I do not know if this is another mass recall, but I do see one trend – I am getting very poor uptime performance from a computer system. It certainly is not the nine nines performance that would be expected. All this means is that my system is down for one to three days every six months!

 There is another thing to be inferred from this experience. The quality system that monitored systems before delivery when Apple used PowerPC processors was far better than whatever quality system they put in place when adopting Intel chips. I was one of the people that got excited when Apple implemented Intel chips, despite having invested in PowerPC systems, however, I can see a clear change in quality.

 One last word…. recent trips to the Genius Bar at Apple Stores also reveal this further. In Tokyo, Japan, where there are two Apple Stores to choose from, the average wait for service is from three hours to one day! We know the number of Apple users have increased, but not quite at the rate that the so-called genius’ are being engaged by users with broken systems.

I know some fanboys are going to bash me for this one, but facts are facts. I too am a fanboy – OS X rocks, the development framework is awesome, but while the hardware is cool, it offers less than mediocre performance.

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