Really weird errors

I set mysql to start up with the system on a linux-mandrake 7.1 system.
Whatever I do, it doesn't start, and usually doesn't give any error, it just says "mysqld ended"
I got it to spit out some info: it says it needs a file, host.ISM
I also got another error.
here's the whole input and reply:


# service mysql start
# Starting mysqld daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
/usr/binsafe_mysqld: line 156: 1593 Segmentation fault nohup $ledir/mysqld --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --datadir=%$DATADIR --skip-locking "$@" >>$err_log 2>&1
mysqld daemon ended

Any ideas?

Pete