Trying to reset root password on mysql

Question

Okay, so right after installing mysql, the root password given to me in the installation doesn't work. I tried uninstalling and installing again. Same thing. So I said, "let's try and reset the password". So I followed this guide:

1. Stop the mysqld server. Typically this can be done by from System Prefrences > MySQL > Stop MySQL Server

2. Start the server in safe mode with privilege bypass

   From a terminal:

   sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables
   

3. In a new terminal window:

   $ sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root
   > UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('NewPassword') WHERE User='root';
   > FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   > \q
   

4. Stop the mysqld server again and restart it in normal mode.

In step 3, I get the following error message when running:

> UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('NewPassword') WHERE User='root';
ERROR 1054 (42S22): Unknown column 'Password' in 'field list'

So I tried this:

> use mysql
> show tables

nothing was shown.

What can I do about this?

Answer 1

What you quoted should be UPDATE mysql.user SET password=PASSWORD('NewPassword') WHERE User='root'; . Remember that it's case-sensitive, and the error message is trying to tell you exactly that.