According to Rudy Lippan on comp.db.mysql.perl, the error is caused by case-folding causing table file problems. He isn't that diplomatic, saying:
"IIRC, this is because OS X has a broken file system that does not know the
difference between 'File' and 'file', and since mysql just stores the table
names as files on disk, the caps in the test are screwing with the test results
(I think this might be fixed in CVS, but I'd have to check)."
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.db.mysql.perl/1483
A conversation last March on another forum was more detailed, but it appear that Lippan may be right:
http://www.mysqlmonster.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/mysql-modules/245/Install- DBD-mysql-on-Mac-10-3-2
I think the case insensitivity problem shows up quite regularly in the archives, particularly with respect to HEAD getting overwritten.
BTW, I noticed somewhere recently, maybe on macosxhints, that there is a way to mke HFS+ volumes case-sensitive when you partition. That might be an option.
I myself put as many of my additional unix tools as I can on UFS partitions. It seems more secure that way to me.
