Can't select database error in WordPress localhost on WAMP Server

Question

I’m following this Lynda.com tutorial (WordPress – Building Themes from Scratch Using Underscores (2017)) and haven’t gotten very far. I’ve installed a blank WordPress install on localhost using WAMP Server and I downloaded and installed the underscores theme. But for some reason when I am trying to launch the website I am getting this error:

Can’t select database

We were able to connect to the database server (which means your username and password is okay) but not able to select the lynda_under17_040518 database.

Are you sure it exists?

Does the user root have permission to use the lynda_under17_040518 database? On some systems the name of your database is prefixed with your username, so it would be like username_lynda_under17_040518. Could that be the problem?

If you don’t know how to set up a database you should contact your host. If all else fails you may find help at the WordPress Support Forums.

Here is what i know

The database exists and I can run SQL commands on it in phpMyAdmin.
My user is root
Host is localhost
Database is lynda_under17_040518
root has all privileges to database (as verified in phpMyAdmin)
Other local websites on the same WAMPServer work just fine

This Stack Overflow post says to put define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); in wp-config.php which I’ve done. It also says:

“the debug.log file will be in wp-content.”

I don't see any debug log even though I’ve restarted all services in WAMP and refreshed the browser.

Other Links I Consulted

I reviewed the info on these pages, but they didn't really help for my situation.

Where is my debug log and how can i get my local website running?

Some apps have difficulty with database names over 16 characters (yours is). If you shorten the database name, do you still get the same error? — Michael W., Nov 21 '18 at 00:53
@MichaelW. It worked! I shortened renamed the db to "hume" and updated wp-config and after restarted my server I could finally see my database! If you put your comment as an answer I will accept it as the the solution. — Eric Hepperle - CodeSlayer2010, Nov 24 '18 at 11:41

Michael W. · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-26T18:56:44.180

4

Even though SQL and its ilk will allow database names that are very long, a lot of applications (such as cPanel) will only recognize database names that are 16 characters or less. I suspect that your database name (lynda_under17_040518) is simply too long for WAMP and/or WordPress to recognize and will work correctly if the database name is shortened.

edited Nov 26 '18 at 18:56

answered Nov 26 '18 at 03:12

Michael W.

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '19 at 17:14

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In my case, I was using an alternate port (something other than 3306), so I had to follow these instructions: https://codex.wordpress.org/sk:Editing_wp-config.php#MySQL_Alternate_Port

answered Jan 24 '19 at 17:14

kales33

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Can't select database error in WordPress localhost on WAMP Server

Here is what i know

Other Links I Consulted

2 Answers2