[R] RMySQL crashing R

[David James]

Hi,

There have been a number of reports of RMySQL crashing R when
attempting to connect to a MySQL server using dbConnect().
The problem appears to be in some binary versions of the MySQL
client library.  Known instances include
  (1) Red Hat MySQL binary RPM client library 3.23.32, but 
      updating to 3.23.56 solved the problem.
  (2) Debian MySQL binary client library 3.23.49, but updating 
      to 3.23.56 solved the problem.
Moreover, the change logs in Appendix D of the MySQL manual
(www.mysql.com) indicate that two bugs consistent with the crashes
we've seen were fixed in 3.23.50, namely, a "buffer overflow problem
when reading startup parameters" and a "memory allocation bug in
the glibc library used to build Linux binaries".

If you experience this problem, could you let me know the version
information (R, MySQL, and the operating system)?  Also, I'd like to
know if updating the MySQL client library and re-installing RMySQL
fix your problem.

Thanks,

-- 
David 

PS Thanks to Deepayan Sarkar, John Heuer, and Matthew Kelly for helping
   me track this problem.