To test whether a connection can even be made, execute the command STATUS. : Introduction « Introduction « MySQL Tutorial

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mysql>
mysql>
mysql> STATUS;
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mysql  Ver 14.12 Distrib 5.0.41, for Win32 (ia32)

Connection id:          55
Current database:       test
Current user:           root@localhost
SSL:                    Not in use
Using delimiter:        ;
Server version:         5.0.41-community-nt MySQL Community Edition (GPL)
Protocol version:       10
Connection:             localhost via TCP/IP
Server characterset:    latin1
Db     characterset:    latin1
Client characterset:    latin1
Conn.  characterset:    latin1
TCP port:               3306
Uptime:                 10 days 23 hours 17 min 22 sec

Threads: 1  Questions: 34588  Slow queries: 0  Opens: 4294  Flush tables: 1  Open tables: 18  Queries per second avg: 0.036
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mysql>