Symptom:

You are on step 3 of install.php, and the system wants your database name and password. You enter it, you are sure it's right and that the database exists etc.
But on submission the page just refreshes. No Error, no progress. Please enter your database information.

Possible Cause 1:

You mis-read the instructions for creating settings.php.
Do not rename default.settings.php into settings.php
Copy it.
The original sites/default/default.settings.php must still be present alongside your new one.

INSTALL.txt

You must create a file named settings.php. You may do so
by making a copy of default.settings.php (or create an empty file with
this name in the same directory). For example, (from the installation
directory) make a copy of the default.settings.php file with the command:

cp sites/default/default.settings.php sites/default/settings.php

This is an acknowledged User Interface problem with this version of Drupal, and will be fixed (at least with a better warning) in a later release.

Possible Cause 2

Check if settings.php is really writable (especially on Windows)

There are two possible reasons for this problem.

a) As described, default.settings.php was deleted or renamed

b) settings.php is not writable.

Settings.php is not writable might happen on Windows if advanced security is activated. Drupal reports that the file is writable but this is not true. If this is the case, read http://www.ekhoury.com/2007/01/15/permission-denied-php-on-iis/ or if you cant change this yourself, contact your hosting provider.

Possible Cause 3

If opcode caching is enabled, ensure it checks for newer files. For example with apc, if apc.stat=0 it will cause this problem, since it would still be using the original file.

If you are experiencing this issue, consider testing patches in #779482: Installation failure when opcode cache is enabled so that we might fix it for future users.

Search hints

To assist users who are still encountering this issue regularly, Here are some search phrases that might guide you to this page. Maybe if they search first they may find themselves here.

  • Can't get past database configuration
  • Unable to get past database configuration
  • Stuck at database configuration
  • Won't set up database
  • installation stalled entering database information.
  • Cannot get past database configuration
  • "Set up database" screen, nothing happens
  • Install Problems - Stuck on DB page

Comments

Andrey Zakharov’s picture

Stuck on this step under LAMP.
Desperately, decided to solve annoying drupal warning message about lack of mbstring on server.
And voila, Drupal start to install database!

So, another reason:
lack of php-mbstring and DB with UTF-8 collation.

Anonymous’s picture

I managed to solve this problem by replacing "localhost" with 127.0.0.1
under the "Advanced settings" while configuring the DB setup.

It might also be an idea to see if the DB is actually available at the specified
location and check the port.

Good luck!

rt_davies’s picture

I also had to change the default server from 'localhost' to '127.0.0.1', despite the fact that the mysql user.host value is 'localhost'. I think the fact that I'm running on the Zend Framework has something to do with it.

lee20’s picture

I have encountered this issue a few times on test and development sites. I wound up deleting the entire code base and redownloading fresh files from d.o. or from rechecking out from version control.

Typically, this isn't too hard if you are just installing but if you are seeing this issue on a production site, I wouldn't advise deleting everything unless you are using version control or have the files backed up.

Somehow the fresh source code works so I am not sure if it's a permissions thing or something else.

7GF’s picture

A simple solution if your running local is to disable opcache:

Goto the the "etc/php5/apache" directory and edit "php.ini" with your favorite editor.
You'll find " ;opcache.enable=0 " simply remove the comment " ; " to set the enable to zero

Do the same with " ;opcache.enable_cli=0", save the file and restart apache:
sudo service apache2 restart

Now empty your database in mysql ( or delete and make a new one )
and delete and create a new "settings.php" file.

Now you should be able to install drupal.

Maybe not a good solution for a production server but if your in a hurry
or if you're just building sites local and you need a quick fix this might do.