thanks, sinisa. in case anyone else wants it, here is the shell fragment i wrote to test for this condition. there is no timeout.
#!/bin/sh echo -n "waiting for MySQL: " until [ -n "`mysqladmin ping 2>/dev/null`" ] do echo -n "." sleep 1 done echo " MySQL started." aaron. ________________________________________________ / \ | Aaron Brick (415) 206 - 4685 | | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Room 3501C, SFGH | Programmer Analyst, Functional Genomics Core Sandler Center for Basic Research in Asthma Lung Biology Center, Department of Medicine San Francisco General Hospital University of California, San Francisco --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php