can't install on mac book pro running el Capitan

Could you specify how are you trying to install it and where?

Many thanks for coming back to me;

1) installed on localhost (mac book pro) in the directory where i create local web sites

~/sites/wordpress.

so i am running https://localhost/~/wordpress/wp-admin/index.php

in my browser – this invokes and starts running but when I enter the db detail it fails.
At this state i suspect it is todo with the fact that i am running php 5.5 and the latest release of mysql. It looks as if wp is NOT using

require_once(‘../config/config.php’);
$connection = mysql_connect ($config[‘hostname’], $config[‘username’], $config[‘password’], $config[‘database’]);

I presume it could be different reasons. I am not such an expert in this topic.

I would start checking that the database is created properly with an user, and check you entered that information correctly during the installation.

What is showing when the error occurs?

(Maybe you find useful this article from wpbeginner )

Yes, the database is properly configured and from another script i can create tables and insert data etc.

Only from wp that I’m getting a 2002! haven’t worked out what that is yet?

I’m new at this. Been trying for two days to install on my macbook pro running el capitan — without success. Comes as quite a shock after hearing people rave about how great wordpress is, 5-minute setup time, etc.

Are you using MAMP to run WordPress? IMO this is the easiest way to set up local sites on a Mac. I’ve been using it for years, and it’s great. It’s a free download.

Many thanks for the response;

No I’m not using MAMP installed each component on its own. I am doing some other dev without wordpress.

As I stay its looks like a problem with the libraries to connect to mysql.

Have you tried a dedicated tutorial? Here’s one I found with a quick Google search: https://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/get-apache-mysql-php-and-phpmyadmin-working-on-osx-10-11-el-capitan/

I have to second what MBWD has mentioned. MAMP is probably the easiest way to set up your MAC for development. MAMP pretty much takes your different elements that were installed using terminal and gives you a GUI interface. I have the more experience working with Linux but the overall install is similar. One of the things with installing it manually, is one component may not be on the right version or one element is not communicating with the other. I would say that it would be easier, if you do not want to use MAMP, to uninstall all of your localhost items and follow a tutorial dedicated to installing the item such as the one provided by Keith Driscoll above. Hope this helps.