mysql -- Anybody want to guess at this one?

any mysql commands to connect or get status (i.e. mysqladmin version)
produce the following two lines:

ERROR 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket
'/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)


chkconfig shows mysqld is on
ps -el shows safe_mysqld and mysqld are running


perhaps mysql.sock did not get opened ??
or, vmware interferes ??
or...

i'm at a loss...what do you think I should check? it used to work.

Roderick