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  • 1 min read

The specified password for user account ‘root’ is not valid, or failed to connect to the database server.

While installing WordPress 3.4 via Web Platform Installer 4.0 on IIS 7, at some point the Web Platform Installer asks for MySQL ‘root’ user password. There you might get this error: “The specified password for user account ‘root’ is not valid, or failed to connect to the database server”. That happens even if you enter the correct password.

Here is how to fix it:

  • In the Windows registry, delete the mysql_pwd reg key under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WebPlatformInstaller
  • Download and install the latest MySql .NET Connector (32 bit). At the time of writing, the latest version of MySql .NET Connector was 6.6.4.
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Super Agile: Replace email with a shared blog

At Primo Software, we have switched from email to using shared internal blogs. That has improved communication in several ways:

  • Instead of emailing multiple people, you now write a post on the blog and all people who are subscribed to it are notified
  • Discussions are visible to everybody including future employees
  • As a side effect, posts have become more substantial. You post when you really have something valuable to share
  • People who prefer email can still choose to receive email notifications, daily digest, weekly digest and so on…
  • Posts are searchable
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Convert an existing Google Apps account to a Google Apps Reseller account

This one was giving me a headache.

I was trying to enroll Swift Software Group in the Google Apps Reseller program, but the standard application form did not want to accept our domain name “swiftsoftwaregroup.com”. It kept coming back saying “This domain has already been registered with Google Apps.”

I just found a way around this:

Basically, you first have to sign in to your existing Google Apps account and then navigate (in the same browser window) to http://new.googlepartnerconnect.com/Home/enrollment.You should to complete the reseller enrollment from there.

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Super Agile: A note about software requirements

Write your requirements as user stories, following this simple template:

As a , I want  so that .

In other words:

As a product owner, I want to describe features as user stories, so that I encourage myself to think about the added value for my customers.
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Android 5: If you make it, they won’t push the update

Android 4 was released in October 2011. Three months later we have just few devices running it. Today Android 5 is rumored to be launching in Q2 2012. We all know how this will end up: wireless carriers and device manufacturers will be late or will simply refuse to push the software update to existing hardware. It seems they do not care about sold inventory, but sure enough they will offer you new devices with the new Android OS.

The first problem is your Android device is destined to become an unsupported brick 6 months after you buy it, and to be fair I have to say that a lot of people are actually fine with that.

The second problem, the bigger problem is that software developers cannot keep up with this mess of hardware vendor customization, carrier customization, multiple versions, and just about everybody doing what they want and when the want it with Android. Android used to be a decent and promising iOS alternative. Recently it has become the nightmare of mobile development.

… but …

There is a light in the tunnel. Google is buying Motorola. Hopefully they are doing it, so they can make better hardware + software integrated devices, just like Apple does. However, it will take time to swallow Motorola, so in the meantime Google should take a page from Microsoft’s book and implement a more controlled Android licensing. Google should start demanding minimum hardware specs and swift software updates from device manufacturers and wireless carriers. That is what Microsoft has done with Windows Phone 7 and is doing with Windows 8.