Can't start phpmyadmin. Keep getting the #2002 socket error

Question

I've been trying to set mysql and phpMyAdmin for the last 12 hours, without any success. I've tried everything - from changing the
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port']
in the config.inc.php file to 3306, 127.0.0.1....
typing the socket path in the config.inc.php file - both  "tmp/mysql.php" and the "/var/mysql/mysql.sock".
I've tried changing the socket path in the my.cnf file and the php.ini....but I keep getting the same error #2002 - No such file or directory
The server is not responding (or the local server's socket is not correctly configured).
I'm using MySQL 5.1.65
PhpMyAdmin 3.5.2.2.
PHP 5.3.8
PLEASE, anybody tell me what am I doing wrong here? I'm stuck and frustrated....
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Because I was using MAMP and now trying to use OS X Server only and postgreSQL thought after having lost an hour on the matter to explain the configuration I have to cross link OS X Server PHP to MAMP's mySQL :
To avoid conflict you need to set MAMP's apache port to something else OS X Server websites.
Thus by doing so you must allow remote access to mySQL.
Default parameters would then be :
host : localhost
port : 3306 or other if specified
socket : /Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock
connection type : socket
Which worked absolutely fine using :
<?php
var_dump(new mysqli('localhost','user','password','database',3306,'/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock'));
?>
With phpMyAdmin consider installing another instance else where and be aware of cookies issues test with a dummy.php file that it works thus if you get a #2002 error delete the cookie...
When I get rid of MAMP I'll go straight to the MySQL Community Server and fetch the latest DMG Archive.