Module, Patch, commenting out @mysql_close($connection);, and the development module won't work for me.

I can activate the module and enter the db settings, but these links then bring up Site off-line message:

/admin/settings/drupalvb
/admin/settings/drupalvb/variables

And if I activate one of the Blocks, the whole site goes offline.

Drupal 6.24.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.. thank you!!