MySQL problem with path?

[MySQL-Wannabe]

Hello all.

Experiencing a major hassle. I compiled MySQL 4.2 from source on a SuSE 6.4 Linux box. I have never done this before, but it worked. I went according to a tutorial from this site.

I installed it in /usr/local/mysql . First I tried to uninstall any previous versions by doing rpm -e mysql. It said mysql not installed on this system. I then went ahead with the compile. Now, the problem;

When I try to use

$ mysql -h localhost -u mysqlusr -p

I get;

ERROR 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (111)

It seems like it is looking for the sock file in the wrong place. How can this be fixed so that it points right? Maybe there was a version of MySQL on the server already that it did not uninstall and now it is looking for that version for part of it's program?

What do I do to get MySql to start when the system boots?

Which directory should you recommend MySQL to be installed to make it work first time?

Any advice PLEASE.

[Alertware]

service mysqld stop
(this will likely fail meaning it wasnt running)

then

service mysqld start