You could try updating the conf/_config.php file manually, setting the db information, your email address and setting config done to 1.

what are you using for the "host" param?

I tried host = localhost and the real hostname, neither worked.

I also tried change it the config file manually, when I click login or some other button, it shows nothing.

I suspect there is something wrong with mysql, but don't know what is wrong and how to fix it.

my _config.php file( manully changed)

<?php
/**
* This is b2evolution's config file
* Version of this file: 0.9
*
* You need to edit this file to your settings before attempting to install the database!
*
* Reminder: everything that starts with #, /* or // is a comment
*
* IMPORTANT: Take special care not to erase quotes (') around text parameters
* and semicolums (;) at the end of the lines. Otherwise you'll get some
* "unexpected T_STRING" parse errors!
*
* Contributors: you should override this file by creating a file named _config_TEST.php
* (see end of this file)
*/

# MySQL settings. Fill in your database details (check carefully or nothing will work!)
define( 'DB_USER', 'gshi' ); // your MySQL username
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', '***' ); // I did not put the real one
define( 'DB_NAME', 'b2evolution' ); // the name of the database
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' ); // mySQL Server (typically 'localhost')

# If you want to be able to reset your existing b2evolution tables and start anew
# you must set $allow_evodb_reset to 1.
# NEVER LEAVE THIS SETTING ON ANYTHING ELSE THAN 0 (ZERO) ON A PRODUCTION SERVER.
# IF THIS IS ON (1) AND YOU FORGET TO DELETE THE INSTALL FOLDER, ANYONE WOULD BE ABLE TO
# ERASE YOUR B2EVOLUTION TABLES AND DATA BY A SINGLE CLICK!
$allow_evodb_reset = 1; // Set to 1 to enable. Do not leave this on 1 on production servers

# $baseurl is where your blogs reside by default. CHECK THIS CAREFULLY or nothing will work.
# It should be set to the URL where you can find the blog templates and/or the blog stub files,
# that means index.php, blog_b.php, etc.
# Note: Blogs can be in subdirectories of the baseurl. However, no blog should be outside
# of there, or some tricky things may fail (e-g: pingback)
# IMPORTANT: If you want to test b2evolution on your local machine, do NOT use that machine's
# name in the $baseurl!
# For example, if you machine is called HOMER, do not use http://homer/b2evolution/blogs !
# Use http://localhost/b2evolution/blogs instead. And log in on localhost too, not homer!
# If you don't, login cookies will not hold.
$baseurl = 'http://probe03/b2evolution/blogs'; // IMPORTANT: NO ENDING SLASH !!!

# Your email. Will be used in severe error messages so that users can contact you.
# You will also receive notifications for new user registrations.
$admin_email = 'gshi_1000@hotmail.com';

# Once you have edited this file to your settings, set the following to 1 (one):
$config_is_done = 1;

# IMPORTANT: you will find more parameters in the other files of the /conf folder
# IT IS RECOMMENDED YOU DO NOT TOUCH THOSE SETTINGS
# UNTIL YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE DEFAULT INSTALLATION
# It is however strongly recommended you browse through these files as soon as you've
# got your basic installation working. They'll let you customize a lot of things!

# DO NOT EDIT THE FOLLOWING!
@include_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_config_TEST.php'; // Put testing conf in there
// For testing, you can also set $install_password
require_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_advanced.php';
require_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_locales.php';
require_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_formatting.php';
require_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_admin.php';
require_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_stats.php';
@include_once dirname(__FILE__).'/_overrides_TEST.php'; // Override for testing in there
?>

gshi wrote:

Adding some printf in /install/index.php shows it hangs in

$DB = new DB( $conf_db_user, $conf_db_password, $conf_db_name, $conf_db_host, false );

Could you please add some printf() to _class_db.php. This might help a lot to find the very bad line..

are you using a personal firewall or something like that?

It seems I have the same problem. Do you find any solution ?

I can't figure ou why, but rebooting my computer made everything to work. Quite strange because before reboot, all the servers (apache, mySQL) seems to work correctly and I changed nothing after reboot...

PS : Using Mandrake 9.2.