Help!

I have gone thru all the installation procedures, creating MySQL database (host, user name, password,etc) and I am getting to this error.

Installation In Progress...

0 Install Error: Could not connect to the Database
in:
[DROP TABLE IF EXISTS upgrade_exceptions;]


Please find below some details from my server and MySQL:

System:Linux ws-9 2.6.57.282lustre.1.4.8 #1 SMP Tue Jan 16 14:40:10 EST 2007 i686

MySQL Version: 5.0.30-Debian_1~bpo.1


Thanks in advance,
Chris