Hi All I've managed to install the java mysql driver and it seems to be working correctly. The problem is that the java applet I have written, when it tries to connect, depending upon whether localhost was used or the hostname was used, the connection will either be established or not. Working the problem through I think it is something to do with tcpd wrappers, as mentioned in /usr/shared/packages/mysql/readme.suse (I think!). In desparation I have added the following line to my hosts.allow file ALL : ALL However still no joy. It would have been nice in the documentation if there was an example of how to enable remote clients to connect to mysqld through the tcpd wrappers. Running SuSE 8.1 and the user table in the mysql database has been set up to accept connections from other hosts. Regards Bill