Nothing new that I wanted to say here but I had to say it anyway. Tech support is really, REALLY bad at ResellerMatrix's side. It is true, there are a whole lot of happy customers, but I'm sure that many of them did not have to go the help desk or even give them a call. I also have been trying to receive some help from resellermatrix but no luck. Today after 2 weeks of unsuccessfull help from RM I decided to change web hosting service, I guess that paying $5 more per month is worth the chance of having my questions answered in a timely fashion. Lets hear my question now... and please correct me if I'm wrong. I specifically asked RM to provide me with host name of the MySql database so that I could use the MySql client program to access and manage my database, they replied, "your host name is the same as your domain name," I thought to myself.. that sounds wrong, but let me try it anyway. Well it did not work and I could not login, they did not explain me why and were reluctant to spend some time with my problem from the 9 requests I've placed 8 of them has responsed of just with a simple sentence, and I still cannot use access the database. And when I told them I was going to use a ODBC driver to connect to the database, let me paste the responses....

We use MySQL, which does not use ODBC. In other words, it's not possible.
admin 21-Feb-2001 01:31:43

To clarify, we do not offer ODBC for mySQL.
We suggest that you explore client side tools.
Sales1 21-Feb-2001 16:57:44

Your hostname would be your domain name or IP. Not sure how to make it more specific than that.
admin 23-Feb-2001 06:25:25

Use kwmc for the hostname remotely. localhost when connecting locally (on the server).
admin 27-Feb-2001 21:47:02

We were able to connect with Admin and no password.
Sales1 28-Feb-2001 07:48:02

User: "Admin"
Password: ""
Has been confirmed to work.

Also the original User and Password sent with your welcome letter will work.
We have re-sent the KWMC.COM Welcome Letter to
Sales1 28-Feb-2001 11:19:34

What is s/he meaning when saying "We use MySQL, which does not use ODBC." What does one thing have to do with the other? I CAN connect using a ODBC driver to the database, which I've done before, and I only needed some information, hostname, username, databasename, and password... look what happens when I try doing that...

bash-2.03$ mysql --host www.kwmc.com --user kwmc --database kwmc_com -p
Enter password:
ERROR 1045: Access denied for user: 'kwmc@europa.your-site.com' (Using password:
YES)
bash-2.03$ mysql --host www.kwmc.com --user Admin --database kwmc_com -p
Enter password:
ERROR 1045: Access denied for user: 'Admin@europa.your-site.com' (Using password
: NO)

What do you know... it doesn't work... does ResellerMatrix care? So I rate the tech support for this site 0, while it still provides a good package, so if you want to go on your own... good luck...

Well I went to their site and didn't see any references to ODBC, so I figure they wouldn't support it??

Asking a company if they support such a tool/program is one thing, but trying to use it when they clearly dont support it is another.

Well, thanks for the reply... Well, it could be that they are not supporting ODBC, but reason with me... I'm not asking for information not commonly used, meaning, they should of told me, "We do not give out that kind of information. If you are not pleased with our services please seek services elsewhere" (actually they do write resposes similar to this one) and dont say that ODBC is not supported by MySQL, which it is, so, my point is, not wanting to provide information is one thing while ODBC not being supported by MySQL is another.... If you want more info about this goto www.mysql.com and look for MyODBC.

Hosts are responsible for the servers - they can't be responsible for the client you choose to use... Not all configurations support ODBC... It may work and it may not, but either way they've clearly told you they don't support it.

Mysql doesn't support ODBC nor does it talk to it. Myodbc can connect odbc based applications to mysql. This is done without having to do anything on the mysql server.

All myodbc does is translate calls from your odbc application on your workstation to mysql calls. It then connects to the mysql server and talks like any normal mysql client would (such as perl DBI, C API, etc...).

Actually, this host doesn't seem to know anything about ODBC or myodbc and how it works with mysql. I think mentioning ODBC to them throw them off.

You can use myodbc with mysql on their server as long as you can connect to the mysql port from your computer. To be able to do this, they must have added a wildcard host entry in the host field of the user table in the mysql db. If they didn't, only their local server will be able to make connections to that mysql server.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot for the insightfull information Vizi and Woofcat. Today I've learned that MyODBC is another layer then... But you know, I'm still mad at ResellerMatrix, at times when hosting services could be offered by anyone having enough money to buy a computer and a reseller package from e.g. Alabanza, it hurt us, the end users when we are the ones trying to do something serious. Well, I've learned my lesson, and I'll be paying the extra $5 / month to have the assurance that I'll be having at least level 1 or 2 support. Thanks again

I'm not asking for information not commonly used...

Is remote access to MySql a feature commonly supported? I don't think so.

Originally posted by astra4
Is remote access to MySql a feature commonly supported? I don't think so.

Actually, by default, there is no default. The system admin needs to implement the permisions. If the person does a text book setup and follows the instructions on mysql.com, it specifically states that you need to create 3 sets of user entries. Each user table in the mysql admin db has a host field. According to mysql.com, you need to put the following three sets per user:

1. localhost
2. hostname
3. wild card

localhost is the word localhost. Hostname is the actual hostname of the machine. For example, if you call your machine thor, you would have a user entry with thor as the host. And wild card is the % sign.

Normally, you can limit each entry seperatly. It depends on the administrator. If they aren't sure how to work mysql, they may just leave the wild card open.

We leave the wildcard open and allow clients to access their mysql databases from outside. We have allot of clients using myodbc and the mysql access module.