Confused about phpMyAdmin and MySQL password settings

[Dave M G]

Ubuntu Users,

	I realize this may be more strictly a MySQL issue than an Ubuntu
environment issue. But as this is about the set up, and not use, of
MySQL on Ubuntu, I hope I can be forgiven for seeking advice here.

	I installed MySQL and phpMyAdmin visa Symantic. My MySQL service does
start when my computer boots.

	I would like to be able to administer MySQL from within phpMyAdmin, but
I can not gain access to the phpMyAdmin interface because I have no
properly set a password.

	However, setting a password is proving to be a little confusing. By
going to the phpmyadmin.net site, it seemed I could simply set a user
name and password in the config.inc.php file in my phpMyAdmin directory.
I opened the file, and there was text at the top saying to not edit this
file, but instead that for Debian systems one should
edit /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php instead. I did that and can still
not get access.

	Inside /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php, there is a note that says the
password should be the same as the MySQL password.

	So now I'm confused. Is the password used to enter the phpMyAdmin
interface the same as my MySQL password? 

	In any case, I thought I should set my MySQL password, but it seems I
can't do that either. I tried the following, as described on a web site:
dave at ubuntu1:$ sudo mysql -u root mysql
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using
password: NO)

	I don't understand the "using password: NO" part. I thought I didn't
have a password yet. How can I set it if I need a password to set it?

	Can someone help me disentangle this situation?

	Any advice much appreciated.

--
Dave M G