title: Django mysql error
body: <p>I'm using <code>mysql-python</code>. Here's my settings.py</p>
  
  <pre><code>import os, sys
  
  abspath = lambda *p: os.path.abspath(os.path.join(*p))
  
  PROJECT_ROOT = abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
  USERENA_MODULE_PATH = abspath(PROJECT_ROOT, '..')
  sys.path.insert(0, USERENA_MODULE_PATH)
  
  DEBUG = True
  TEMPLATE_DEBUG = DEBUG
  
  ADMINS = (
      ('me', 'myemail@gmail.com'),
  )
  
  MANAGERS = ADMINS
  
  DATABASES = {
      'default': {
          'ENGINE': 'mysql',
          'NAME': 'test',
          'DATABASE_USER': 'root',
          'DATABASE_PASSWORD': 'pass',
      }
  }
  
  if DEBUG:
      # Use the Python SMTP debugging server. You can run it with:
      # ``python -m smtpd -n -c DebuggingServer localhost:1025``.
      EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
      EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.gmail.com'
      EMAIL_HOST_USER = 'mygmail@gmail.com'
      EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = '12345'
      EMAIL_PORT = 587
  
  
  TIME_ZONE = 'America/Chicago'
  LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
  
  ugettext = lambda s: s
  LANGUAGES = (
      ('en', ugettext('English')),
      ('nl', ugettext('Dutch')),
      ('fr', ugettext('French')),
      ('pl', ugettext('Polish')),
      ('pt', ugettext('Portugese')),
      ('es', ugettext('Spanish')),
  )
  
  SITE_ID = 1
  
  USE_I18N = True
  USE_L10N = True
  
  MEDIA_ROOT = abspath(PROJECT_ROOT, 'media')
  DOCUMENT_ROOT = abspath(PROJECT_ROOT, 'docs')
  
  MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
  
  ADMIN_MEDIA_PREFIX = '/media/admin/'
  
  SECRET_KEY = 'sx405#tc)5m@s#^jh5l7$k#cl3ekg)jtbo2ds(n(kw@gp0t7x@'
  
  TEMPLATE_LOADERS = (
      'django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader',
      'django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader',
  )
  
  MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
      'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
      'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
      'django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware',
      'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
      'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
      'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
      'userena.middleware.UserenaLocaleMiddleware',
  )
  TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
      "django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth",
      "django.core.context_processors.debug",
      "django.core.context_processors.i18n",
      "django.core.context_processors.media",
      "django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages",
      "django.core.context_processors.request",
  )
  
  AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
      'userena.backends.UserenaAuthenticationBackend',
      'guardian.backends.ObjectPermissionBackend',
      'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
  )
  
  ROOT_URLCONF = 'demo_project.urls'
  
  TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
      abspath(PROJECT_ROOT, 'templates')
  )
  
  INSTALLED_APPS = (
      'django.contrib.auth',
      'django.contrib.contenttypes',
      'django.contrib.sessions',
      'django.contrib.sites',
      'django.contrib.messages',
      'django.contrib.admin',
      'easy_thumbnails',
      'guardian',
      'south',
      'userena',
      'userena.contrib.umessages',
      'demo_project.profiles',
  )
  
  # Userena settings
  LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = '/accounts/%(username)s/'
  LOGIN_URL = '/accounts/signin/'
  LOGOUT_URL = '/accounts/signout/'
  AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE = 'profiles.Profile'
  
  USERENA_DISABLE_PROFILE_LIST = True
  USERENA_MUGSHOT_SIZE = 140
  
  # Test settings
  TEST_RUNNER = 'django.test.simple.DjangoTestSuiteRunner'
  SOUTH_TESTS_MIGRATE = False
  
  # Guardian
  ANONYMOUS_USER_ID = -1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>when i run <code>syncdb</code> i see this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "manage.py", line 15, in &lt;module&gt;
      execute_manager(settings)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 459, in execute_manager
      utility.execute()
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 382, in execute
      self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 261, in fetch_command
      klass = load_command_class(app_name, subcommand)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 69, in load_command_class
      module = import_module('%s.management.commands.%s' % (app_name, name))
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/utils/importlib.py", line 35, in import_module
      __import__(name)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/management/commands/__init__.py", line 10, in &lt;module&gt;
      import django.template.loaders.app_directories
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/loaders/app_directories.py", line 21, in &lt;module&gt;
      mod = import_module(app)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/utils/importlib.py", line 35, in import_module
      __import__(name)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/__init__.py", line 3, in &lt;module&gt;
      from django.contrib.admin.helpers import ACTION_CHECKBOX_NAME
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/helpers.py", line 2, in &lt;module&gt;
      from django.contrib.admin.util import (flatten_fieldsets, lookup_field,
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/util.py", line 1, in &lt;module&gt;
      from django.db import models
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/__init__.py", line 40, in &lt;module&gt;
      backend = load_backend(connection.settings_dict['ENGINE'])
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/__init__.py", line 34, in __getattr__
      return getattr(connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS], item)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 92, in __getitem__
      backend = load_backend(db['ENGINE'])
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 51, in load_backend
      raise ImproperlyConfigured(error_msg)
  django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: 'mysql' isn't an available database backend.
  Try using django.db.backends.mysql instead.
  Error was: No module named mysql.base
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>if i replace <code>'ENGINE': 'mysql' with</code>django.db.backends.mysql` i see this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "manage.py", line 15, in &lt;module&gt;
      execute_manager(settings)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 459, in execute_manager
      utility.execute()
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 382, in execute
      self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 196, in run_from_argv
      self.execute(*args, **options.__dict__)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 231, in execute
      self.validate()
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 266, in validate
      num_errors = get_validation_errors(s, app)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/validation.py", line 103, in get_validation_errors
      connection.validation.validate_field(e, opts, f)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/backends/mysql/validation.py", line 14, in validate_field
      db_version = self.connection.get_server_version()
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py", line 411, in get_server_version
      self.cursor()
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/backends/__init__.py", line 306, in cursor
      cursor = self.make_debug_cursor(self._cursor())
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py", line 387, in _cursor
      self.connection = Database.connect(**kwargs)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/MySQLdb/__init__.py", line 81, in Connect
      return Connection(*args, **kwargs)
    File "/home/myname/.django-projects/userena/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/MySQLdb/connections.py", line 187, in __init__
      super(Connection, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs2)
  _mysql_exceptions.OperationalError: (1045, "Access denied for user 'myname'@'localhost' (using password: NO)")
  </code></pre>