First, knowing where the data directory was for me was the key. /usr/local/var/mysql
In here, there was at least one file with extension .err preceded with my local machine name. It had all info i needed to diagnose.
I think i screwed up by installing mysql 8 first. My app isn't compatible with it so i had to downgrade back to 5.7
My solution that worked for me was going to
/usr/local/etc/my.cnf
Find this line if its there. I think its mysql 8 related:
mysqlx-bind-address = 127.0.0.1
Remove it because in the mysql 5.7 says it doesnt like it in the error log
Also add this line in there if its not there under the bind-address.
socket=/tmp/mysql.sock
Go to the /tmp
directory and delete any mysql.sock files in there. On server start, it will recreate the sock files
Trash out the data directory with mySQL in the stopped state. Mine was /usr/local/var/mysql
. This is the same place where the logs are at
From there i ran
>mysqld --initialize
Then everything started working...this command will give you a random password at the end. Save that password for the next step
Running this to assign my own password.
>mysql_secure_installation
Both
>brew services stop [email protected]
and
>mysql.server start
are now working. Hope this helps. It's about 3 hours of trial and error.