Sorry if this is a simple thing but I have had problems running MySQL. (I am still learning about it with tutorials but would like to use SQL with PHP)

When I try to run it to create a database it says that it can't access the local server through the socket:

/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock. The file is there but is empty (should it be empty?)
I installed from RPMs on Mandrake 9.1 since I have only been running Linux for about 2 months now.
Maybe I should just learn about sockets and if so could you maybe point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.

Are you sure the server's running? The error simply means that client (mysql) can't connect to the server (socket is a method of connection - like when you're using network). The file is not a 'real' file. It just represents the connection.

The file to run the server should be 'safe_mysqld'. In Mandrake, you can use GUI utility or just type from the console
service mysql start

Is mysql running?
ps -ef | grep mysql

MySQL seems to start OK with service mysql start, but ps doesn't show it. It fails to stop when the machine is shut down, suggesting it never really started properly. I will try out a few other things as well.

Thanks anyway for now.