title: MySQL: "Found option without preceding group in config file"
body: <p>I have a Windows machine on which I've moved the WAMP www and MySQL data directories to Dropbox.</p>
  
  <p>Those Dropbox folders have downloaded to my Ubuntu laptop.</p>
  
  <p>I'd like to run the websites in /home/me/Dropbox/WAMP/WWW on my Ubuntu laptop using the MySQL data in /home/me/Dropbox/WAMP/SQL/Data.</p>
  
  <p>I've edited <code>/etc/mysql/my.cnf</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>datadir=/home/me/Dropbox/WAMP/SQL/Data
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I've edited <code>/etc/apache2/sites-available/default.conf</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;VirtualHost *:80&gt;
      DocumentRoot "\home\me\Dropbox\WAMP\WWW\site"
      ServerName www.site.dev
      ServerAlias www.site.dev
      &lt;Directory "\home\me\Dropbox\WAMP\WWW\site"&gt;
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
      &lt;/Directory&gt;
  &lt;/VirtualHost&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I've edited <code>/etc/hosts</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>127.0.0.1 www.site.dev
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I've restarted apache2, and when I run <code>www.site.dev</code> in my browser, I am taken to the default apache2 index.html.</p>
  
  <p>When I run >mysql start, I receive:</p>
  
  <pre><code>mysql: [ERROR] Found option without preceding group in config file /etc/mysql/my.cnf at line 23!
  mysql: [ERROR] Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted!
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Line 23 of <code>/etc/mysql/my.cnf</code> is:</p>
  
  <pre><code>datadir=/home/me/Dropbox/WAMP/SQL/Data
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Help appreciated.</p>
  
  <p>From <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/8020319/667903">this answer</a>, I've opened <code>/etc/mysql/my.cnf</code> in Sublime Text editor, and saved it as UT-8 (without BOM), and the issue remains.</p>