Bug #38371 MySQL does not start after installation due to unknown parameter in my.ini file
Submitted: 25 Jul 2008 11:54 Modified: 7 Aug 2008 20:28
Reporter: Vladislav Vaintroub Email Updates:
Status: Closed Impact on me:
None 
Category:MySQL Server: Installing Severity:S2 (Serious)
Version:6.0.6 OS:Windows
Assigned to: Iggy Galarza CPU Architecture:Any

[25 Jul 2008 11:54] Vladislav Vaintroub 
Description:
After the installlation of server package on Windows, server does not start.
Error log complains about unknown parameter myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size.

080725 12:18:48 [ERROR] C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 6.0\bin\mysqld: unknown variable 'myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size=100G'

This can be 
Modifying this .ini on Vista+  is not trivial as it has been put under Program Files folder and thus requires that editor runs elevated

How to repeat:
install 6.0.6 with MSI installer
[25 Jul 2008 11:59] Daniel Fischer 
See bug#34324. Apparently it was deprecated early in 5.0, but the other bug doesn't actually have a fix, just a workaround.
[26 Jul 2008 18:03] MySQL Verification Team 
Thank you for the bug report. Work-around: comment on my.ini the mentioned variable.
[31 Jul 2008 14:39] Manyi Lu 
Ignacio Galarza wrote:

 The parameter 'myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size' is defined in the generic Windows template (mysql-sever-setup/resources/my-template.ini) which has not changed since April 6, 2006.  According to the comments/links in the bug report the parameter has been deprecated since version 5.0.6.  IMHO, this makes the fix simple, just remove the parameter from the template.  This change will require deleting 6 lines from each of two files (my-classic-template.ini also). The impact is fairly widespread since all versions of MySQL share this template. I believe leaving in symptom that causes a simple install to error for a Windows user has the potential to generate enough negative publicity that the potential impact is worth the risk and is a showstopper.  I can have a fix pushed in 10-20 minutes as there is no functionality/code change needed for my suggestion.
[7 Aug 2008 19:49] Timothy Smith 
The 6.0.6 Windows packages include this fix.
[7 Aug 2008 20:28] Paul DuBois 
Noted in 6.0.6 changelog.

The Windows my-template.ini template file contained a reference to
the myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size system variable, which no longer
exists, causing the installed server to fail upon startup.