MySQL Server Won’t Start on MAMP (RED LIGHT!) Mac OSX

By Jeremy Blake on July 14, 2011 239 Comments

If you can’t figure out why the MySQL Server won’t turn on if you’re using MAMP to do local development work, it could be because there are conflicting instances of a process called “mysqld” running on your system.

Here’s the really simple solution to this problem, as can be found in this forum here.

However, instead of making you search for it . . .

HERE IS THE SOLUTION

Open up the program called Activity Monitor on your Mac. Just search for it, or it’s under Utilities I think.
Search for a process called “mysqld“.
Click on that process and “Quit Process” that bastard.

Now open MAMP back up and start the MySQL Server. Should turn green. Hopefully that helped.

About Jeremy Blake

Jeremy is a self-proclaimed socially-awkward penguin living in Utah. He makes money online. As he sleeps.

Connect with Jeremy on Google+.

Donal

Worked perfectly! Thanks!
- http://www.wgoptimizacija.com Tino Vegh
  
  Great – thx, would never find it on my own
Jeff

Worked perfect! So easy, thank you so much!!!
Evan

Thank you! This worked!
Jenn

Thanks so much, easy and worked liked a charm!
ems

I had to do Force Quit, and that finally did it.
http://elevatedesign.net Tim

Thank you! I have been looking for this solution. It worked beautifully!
zoleka

thank you so much!!!!!!
daniel.dizzy

worked perfect thanks mehn
chyada

Thanks a million!
http://www.sharinghousing.com Annamarie

Worked! Thanks!
j

Thank you so much for sharing this! I was going INSANE trying to figure out what was wrong.
josie

thank you!
Yulia

Thank you so much!! I couldnt wrap my head around it!!!
Finsalala

Thank you so much!
Superb_beautiful

I am just learning about web dev now and was installing joomla and the mysql just stopped saw quite a few solutions but they were too technical. I hope you become as Warren Buffet
Magalie Chetrit

well, this is just what i was looking for. thank you, sir
Matt

Like a charm. Thanks!
Gembong Y. Pranolo

superb, i like the way you wrote

“Quit Process” that bastard.
LUVITACOM

LIKE A CHARM!!!! THANX
php newbie

Sweet! Thanks!
Michelle

Thanks!
Haitham Bouammar71

THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKSSS ! Freaking MAC
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sonal-Shandilya/1321497788 Sonal Shandilya

Thanks a ton buddy… “that bastard” really bothered me a lot!!
Maddison86

I’m new to this and this saved me! Thank you.
Max Rubenacker

Thank you. Saved me a restart.
Jk

you are a lifesaver mate. Thanks very much. Seems like a common porblem.
http://twitter.com/perk Perk

Worked. Thanks!
http://twitter.com/erocko erocko

Perfect!!
Stephen Gashler

Thanks, man!
Benjamin The Destroyer

wish i knew this 6 hours ago!!!! but I guess you saved me another 6 hours… and a brick through my monitor!
Noemail

Awesome! Worked perfectly!
Rafmon

Perfect!
Phil

This worked. Simple. Thanks!
Phil

This worked. Simple. Thanks!
Martha

WOO! Thanks!
G V 9

i love you!!!!!!
G V 9

i love you!!!!!!
Margrete

Thank you very much! It was so good help!
http://twitter.com/mattritter M. Ritter

THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Chandler Hoisington

Nice. That works… thanks a lot
Kcie

THX. a quick solution in 3 sec, instead of 3 hours
AJ

I have tried both methods above – through Activity monitor force quitting mysqld and via terminal typing the killall command, but the MYSQL server won’t start. Apache starts fine. Any other suggestions? Thanks
Hassanin Ahmed

You’re awesome
http://twitter.com/tzvetanka цветанка

hey, thank so much ! it did work for me, so helpful
davidguy

Thank you it worked you are awsome
Nina

Ah ha! thanks a lot!
Rahul

worked for me !! And loved your documentation ! Bastard !! lol
http://twitter.com/CARMENCARDOZA Carmen Cardoza

Thank you!!!

http://carmencardoza.com
Marshall

Rock on. That helps a ton.
Jon

Thanks, worked perfectly.
Nathan Gassman

Perfect! It worked..(Got rid of Red Lite..MySQL Server) THANKS!!

also…I found out a solution for this error…
Solution For Error =

You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ‘TYPE=MyISAM’ at line 9 on line: 1471

YES..Thanks theaussiepea!

Correction: It is connected to the WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plug-in

As soon as I Deactivate this plug-in, the problem (for me, as I described it) disappears. All plug-ins deactivate and activate normally..Wordpress 3.3 Upgrade
Anon

You need a Flattr or a PayPal button so people you can buy you a coffee/beer!
- http://eliteeternity.com/ eliteeternity
  
  Thanks. Never heard of Flattr before. Just added it to my site.
fiddlegrrl

good lord, thank you.
Annamarie

Thank you, thank you. As always “the answer is a keystroke away”.
Sanjin Celeski

t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u
Justin Ayres

amazingly simple fix. thank you
http://twitter.com/feanare Frida Borse

Thank you! Totally saved my day!
Al

Thanks!
Anonymous

You Rock!
Anonymous

You Rock!
Freddy Hidalgo-Monchez

Great! if I had money, I would paypal you some for sure. Life saver…
Freddy Hidalgo-Monchez

Great! if I had money, I would paypal you some for sure. Life saver…
Bennybas

Thanx man !!
Bennybas

Thanx man !!
Matt Quirk

Ahhhhhhh. Awesome!
http://profile.yahoo.com/BPD37QMJGSWBZZGHJMLKYAXK3I Megan

Spent HOURS on this…..I’d buy you a case of beer !
Nittanyscooper

Howdy, Thanks for curing my headache. After several months of periodic futzing trying to get this going, SUCCESS!

re Ron Paul, I’m a die hard Dem, but Ron Paul is definitely my favorite Republican of the bunch.
- http://eliteeternity.com/ eliteeternity
  
  Glad to help. Now vote for Ron Paul.
Karim Naufal

Thanks, worked perfectly !! Great blog man… Love the title !! I’m the same Lol.. Take care bro and God bless you in your pursuit of happiness.
Anonymous

Super helpful. Thanks!
http://www.facebook.com/mack.stump Mack Stump

Thank you so much
Tbellows58

Bless you!
Dave

Oh my F’ing god I am so thankful for you! I passed over this multiple times thinking it was much too simple to actually work… Shame on me. THANK YOU!
Les

you are a star……..5 hours and i’ve sorted in 2 minutes…….cheers bud
http://www.pixelsparks.co.uk/ webdeveloper

Thank you – such a simple solution for a potentially hair pulling problem.
http://www.pixelsparks.co.uk/ webdeveloper

Thank you – such a simple solution for a potentially hair pulling problem.
http://www.facebook.com/winston.baccus Winston Baccus

Thanks for posting this. Just had this issue and coincidentally, I DID donate to Ron Paul earlier today.
- Guest
  
  woohoo!
- http://eliteeternity.com/ eliteeternity
  
  Woohoo!
alletsefinn

Works like a charm!! Thanks!!!
Apm

Thank You!!!!
Emelia

Thank you!
Daniel Roane

fantastic – thanks much. Dan
Mohamed A Hassan

thank you
MikeL

The simplest solution is always the best one. Thanks!
Azabeti

Thanks. I like Ron Paul. He tells it like it is.
Rob

Thank you!
BGc

You rock dude.
katherine champagne

Bless your heart. This works like a charm!
Ddoperalski

You are so awesome. Gosh thanks.
me

ha haaaa! you’re a flippin genius.
Ravindra Patel

Thanks !!!
googleguy

You are awesome. MySQL Genius!
http://twitter.com/sanketsawant Sanket Sawant

Worked like Charm..Thanks for sharing trick
Aintzane

Thanks for your help
Jo

You legend – I was getting so frustrated!!
Diana Cristea

Saved me! Thanks!
Dev Kandhola

Hit the nail on the head.. Cheers Man…..
Tim Woods

Super helpful!! You the man.
http://twitter.com/shinful Shin J

THanksss
Benneton pierre

+1 for the coffe PayPal button, you saved me a lot of time and stress
- http://eliteeternity.com/ eliteeternity
  
  Glad I could help.
Jenn

You are amazing! Thank you so much! RON PAUL 2012!!!
Jittima.P

the light not turn in green i so confuse
Philip Klauzinski

So am I breaking something on the mac by killing this process?
- http://eliteeternity.com/ eliteeternity
  
  I really doubt it. I have never noticed any adverse affects.
Somdow

LMFAO @ “Click on that process and “Quit Process” that bastard.” ….sure enough it works lol. THANK YOU. now, wheres the PP button?
Jamie Patterson

YES! This totally fixed an annoying problem for me. Thanks.
Gros123

Very nice !
http://twitter.com/mel_gardner Mel Gardner

Thanks so much….it so great when something is fixed easily
http://twitter.com/mel_gardner Mel Gardner

Thanks so much….it so great when something is fixed easily
http://twitter.com/mel_gardner Mel Gardner

Thanks so much….it so great when something is fixed easily
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Isn’t it though? Glad it worked for you.
Martin

Sorry, but your tip don’t work for me…
DReyes

Wonderful!!!! Thanks
1983eerr

thanks
brad mairin

Am i the only person for which this didn’t work? I tried this many times, both using Activity Monitor and the sudo killall command, but MAMP still refuses to start the MySQL engine
- http://twitter.com/metaNick Nick Beranek
  
  It doesn’t work for me either, considering that there are no `mysqld` processes to kill. I haven’t been able to figure this out.
  - Paul
    
    Hi guys
    
    been tearing my hair out with frustration as most people (on all the many many searches I’ve done) on trying to get MySQL working with MAMP post back “thanks yay working”.
    
    I tried killing: killall -9 mysqld
    
    blah blah blah, no luck.
    
    Guess what, check that MAMP has actually installed all the files. This was the case for me, in that my install of MAMP had failed to write the MAMP/db folder, yeah kinda critical.
    
    No matter how much you tweak passwords & kill phantom processes etc, if there’s no db to kill you’re gonna have trouble.
    
    Simply delete the install of MAMP and do a new install, making sure all the files /MAMP/db are installed
    
    Good luck, hope this helps at least one other person like me.
  - RS
    
    Restart your system/ re-install mamp
Johngeirs

Thanks for the Tip! Really Cool Font on this site BTW
Emre Can Yılmaz

thank you. that’s realy useful solition.
Anal

You Smell
Bess

You are GOD.

Thank you.

You just saved one more person from pulling her hair out

Bess
Bess

You are GOD.

Thank you.

You just saved one more person from pulling her hair out

Bess
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  I’ve never been called God before, but I’ll take it. Glad I could save your hair. That was really my only objective.
Ali Dinani

I love you… there were 4 of these I had to quit!
Thank you.
Pingback: MAMP MySQL won’t start. Why is it Red? | King Luddite
Givingbacksmiles

This helped me! Thanks so much. Lets not hope I have to do this every time I launch MAMP. Fingers crossed. Thanks a bunch I like Ron Paul as well.
Sally200539

Wow, it did works! thank you so much!
http://www.mickykieboom.com/ Micky Kieboom

Worked for me!! Thanks a lot!
Sunny

Thanks! Where’s that buy me coffee/donate via paypal button?
Sunny

Thanks! Where’s that buy me coffee/donate via paypal button?
- http://Keysle.com/ Keysle
  
  Right here
Sam Anderson

Worked like a charm.
Thanks!
http://twitter.com/greaterlight Alissa J

Awesome. Worked great! You saved me alot of time
http://twitter.com/graufitti A G

Thanks.
Arashhhh

THANKS, it worked, can you tell why it happens? and what’s that BASTARD?
Vrbvgbrfg

thank you !!! that helped me
E-money

Worked great. Thank you!
Biaminogiulia

Thank you dude, this was very useful
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Glad it helped
Koz

… like a charm
Paul Verhulst

sudo killall -9 mysqld
worked for me! Thanks
Rowena Morris-March

Amazing, it worked!
Fito

Thank you! This is very useful
Wolf

Thanks worked like a charm
Wolf

Thanks worked like a charm
http://twitter.com/eriksigbladh Erik Sigbladh

Works! Thanks.
http://www.facebook.com/hepu13 Hans Gamarra De Lima

Out of many solutions there are searching in the web, this one was the definitive…Thanks!
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Happy it worked for you.
Nicola

THANKS!
kmmaclaren

Life saver!
Agoodwin727

Thanks so much! Exactly what I needed.
Ghislaine

Indeed life saver!
http://Keysle.com/ Keysle

inch by inch with this web development stuff… I call myself learning CakePHP over the weekend. Never hosted locally.
Mike

perfect. now, is there a way to automate this process each time we quit MAMP?
Pingback: MySQL Server Won’t Start on MAMP RED LIGHT! Mac OSX – Elite Eternity | Avant Mobile
anegg0

You saved my day, thanks
natone

Thank you! I like Ron Paul too. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, but, more importantly, he is at least talking about things in a way that few politicians are willing to do. I appreciate his willingness to say unpopular things.
Guest

Worked a treat! Thanks so much!
nectar

Works for about two minutes and then the MySQL server goes down again. Go back to the activity window but is not running anymore… what to do?
Joss234

Thanx a bunch dude. I’ll “Quit Process” Ron Paul as well.
morktron

Thanks! I also owe you a beer or 2
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Cheers
clairenco

Thanks you ever so much! The only advice I found online that actually works!
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Glad it worked for ya
Jason

Legend. Thanks!
Mario1969

It worked perfectly. Thank you
guest

Worked perfectly!
Angietepetl

Alright! I love secure, straight forward posts like this.

Might help for some: Utilities > Activity Monitor (from there is all said)
guest

Thank you very much.
Nadja

Yes!! Thanks!
Ashyzan

thankssss!! very much!!!! it’s work!
Ramise

Thank you for saving me from going around in an indefinite loop! Am sending you a hug!
Ramise
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Received.
Thericcio

thank you!!
Liquiq8

Life Saver !! Thanks alot
disqus_xkAk0uym6I

Great! This works!!! But, can you explain why is that process giving a problem? Will be interesting to know!
designer

this did nothing for me, tried everything listed, sudo, monitor both styles. Since purchasing a mac for my business i have run into this problem with mac software more than i`d like to.
designer

Tried everything else and got nothing, Found this and “SUCCESS”
Go into Application/ (click into) –> System Preferences/” go down to SQL (bottom of page) click into it and click to “STOP” MySqlServer(also make sure that the automatic start on start up option is not checked) after this I opened MAMP and it turned on instantly. Thank you all
SD

Excellent, MacBook ran out of battery then MySQL server wouldn’t star when it came back on. Found 2 instances of mysqld running.
tidi

Thanks so much! It works!
Jason

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
steve

Thank you!!!
neoniny

It works! Thank you so much.
http://www.facebook.com/luislibres Luis Libres

Great post. It worked. Thank you.
mmcverry

Wow did the trick! Probably would have saved me from re-installing MAMP had I found this first…
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Yeah, I think I did that a time or two before figuring it out. Glad it worked for you.
Markymark

Cheers!
madmax

I just had to do this and it worked great thanks
Jim

Great, thanks. This worked and I am back up and running.
Andrew

Thanks for your help on this! Using the Activity Monitor worked for me.
FM

amazing….it worked. THANKS!!
AJ

thanks!
DOMOMO

THANKKKKKKKKKK YOUUUUUUU!!!! WORKED FOR ME DUDE!!!!! ;D
http://www.facebook.com/amanda.cavallaro Amanda Cavallaro

Omg this worked! Magic!!! Thank you so much!
whoo

legend. to-the-point greatness
http://www.facebook.com/Archiblog Norman Fellows

Thank you! This works for me.
princessfiona

Thank you!!!!!
princessfiona

PS Love your the profile you’ve given yourself.
Chris

Thank you so much! Worked like a charm.
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http://www.facebook.com/BrianHunterNYC Brian Hunter

Thank you Jeremy – just learning joomla for nonprofit with one lowly site: got hacked using admin/admin, etc., etc., and trying to rebuild on MAMP, this was almost another nail in the coffin, but I “Quit Processed” that bastard, thank you very much.
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Happy this post could help Brian. Best of luck to you
kharm

nice.. the ‘sudo killall -9 mysqld’ works thanks..
Bob

It worked for me, thank you
Ciro

Wow, GREAT SOLUTION, thanks a lot.
Cris

ohh mennnn…..gods bless internet and people like you!!! I was about to cry!!!….ahhaha THANKssSs!!!!!!!
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Glad to help
Allison Sheridan

w00t! thanks for getting me back to work!
Kristov

Nailed it. Thanks, Jeremy.
- http://eliteeternity.com/ Jeremy Blake
  
  Happy it helped
artecle

I agree with Anon. Badabing badaboom. Fixed!
http://twitter.com/TopBeatMaking Make Beats

Thanks man, it work for me!
Antonella Porfido

grazie!!!
Waleed Ahmed

Thank you
Miguel Parraud

Oh, thank you very much!!!
Kassandra

THANK YOU! Exactly what I needed.
Laura

Thank you!!
noadek

Thanks…did the trick for me. Although stil don’t know why it does that.
random googler

Cheers, mate. Yours was the first hit on Google, and it solved the problem.
http://twitter.com/ATONYV Antonio Vigliotti

I second that last comment IOU a BEER !! Thanks for the post!!
Ope

Thanks for this!
RS

You are AWESOME
selcukcura

Amazing, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/helga.novelli Helga Novelli

Brilliant! Thank you so much.
Kimble Vardaman

Yay! Thank you so much!
http://www.facebook.com/samuel.narrainen Sam Narrainen

I don’t get, the process mySQL starts every time you turn on MAMP anyways. killing mySQL in activity monitor will just turn the green light to red in MAMP. The issue is still same, can’t execute a create table command in PHP running in localhost with MAMP, maybe I didn’t get smth ?
- http://www.facebook.com/samuel.narrainen Sam Narrainen
  
  ok will uninstall MAMP, reboot mac os and get back to you guys
  - http://www.facebook.com/samuel.narrainen Sam Narrainen
    
    doesn’t work can’t execute create tables in PHP
yuki

OMG! thank you!!!!
tritton001

thank you…..
Mark

awesome !! thanks heaps … worked a treat
http://www.facebook.com/joeanderson79 Joe Anderson

You just saved me a bunch of time and headache. Thank you!
Maksim Kupfer

Wow, thanks for the quick solution!
M

Anon from a year ago has a great idea – I would love to buy you a beer! Thank you