[mythtv-users] Database problems since update (0.24)

[Douglas Peale]

Since an update yesterday I have been having problems with the database.
MythTV and mythbackend report after a reboot that they can not login to the database

If I run "sudo dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database", it asks for a username with the username already filled in with a name I've
never seen before. The comments suggest if I don't need to have external front ends that I set the username to root. So I set
the username to root and click continue this fails and it asks again, the subsequent times it also asks for a password that I
leave blank, this also fails I go through this loop about 5 times and then it asks if I am using external mythtv front ends, I
select "no" and it exits with the following in the console:

Rather than invoking init scripts through /etc/init.d, use the service(8)
utility, e.g. service mysql start

Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an
Upstart job, you may also use the start(8) utility, e.g. start mysql
mysql start/running, process 7588
ERROR 2005 (HY000): Unknown MySQL server host '"localhost"' (1)
ERROR 2005 (HY000): Unknown MySQL server host '"localhost"' (1)
ERROR 2005 (HY000): Unknown MySQL server host '"localhost"' (1)
ERROR 2005 (HY000): Unknown MySQL server host '"localhost"' (1)
ERROR 2005 (HY000): Unknown MySQL server host '"localhost"' (1)
Failed to create or modify database (incorrect admin username/password?)
Try:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure mythtv-database

If I run the exact same command a second time, it only asks the last question. I say "no" again and then I can use the frontend
& backend until I reboot again.

What has gone wrong, and what do I need to do to fix it?