Usually when someone identifies the platform they're running I act real casual as I walk away since I don't understand none of that stuff, but I'll take a shot here.

Have you hacked the installation files at all? Just asking. If yes then look to your hacks especially as it relates to users. If no then I'd suggest starting the installation all over. Weird stuff has been seen several times, and especially with fresh installations. Dumping the guts and replacing with fresh stuff usually fixes it.

Drop the tables in the database - re-installing will build them anew. Download the conf/_config file from your server if you haven't already. It has your database connection info and you'll need it. Wipe out the admin and b2evocore and conf and install folders from your server - something must be corrupt so shotgunning the corruption is a lot easier than troubleshooting it. Now grab a fresh copy of the download (and the patch), unzip it and upload those 4 folders again. Oh wait - first connection and base domain and email addy from the old conf/_config and put it in your new conf/_config. THEN upload the 4 folders. Run basedomain/install again and keep your fingers crossed.

BTW I think some people upload the zip and unzip it on their server. It never occured to me to do it that way so I unzip on my desktop. I'm not sure if it'll make a difference.

Thanks for your help Edb ,but problem persists...followed your directions faithfully....something wrong with the installation sequence...the full error reads:-

MySQL error!

Column 'user_grp_ID' cannot be null(Errno=1048)

Your query:
INSERT INTO evo_users (user_login, user_pass, user_nickname, user_email, user_ip, user_domain, user_level, user_locale, dateYMDhour, user_grp_ID) VALUES ('admin', '313cc2e94d7aef7d4cf145d9f80819ad', 'admin', 'postmaster@localhost', '127.0.0.1', 'localhost', 10, 'en-US', '2005-08-22 13:17:21', NULL)

any other ideas anyone???
thanks in advance

See! I should have just acted real casual... Sorry, but the only trick I know is "blow it all up and start over". HOPEFULLY one of the smart people will come along and help you out.

Well... Can you access your MySQL tables and see if there is anything in the evo_groups table? There should be 4 entries - one for each default group. The installer builds groups, then uses the group ID when adding the two default bloggers. Looks like you're installation is failing when it is trying to create the admin user because the user group for admins (should be 1) is NULL.

Plus I just noticed that you are running php5.0.2. There were some threads about issues with php5 so maybe that's part of the problem? I don't understand what they were talking about and didn't try to learn because, well, it didn't affect me.

You might want to search the forums for info about php5 installation problems, and hope someone smart comes along!