This is a problem with your database configuration - the timeout settings must be set to very strict values that cause the database connection to be dropped before the install can complete. As of the next version of nBill, there will be a manual install method available for times like this. In the meantime, please raise a support ticket as I will need super admin access to your site to install it manually for you.

OK ... I have 'connect timeout' 20, wait timeout 20, net write timeout 60, net read timeout 30, long query time 10. In Godaddy these are set by the master profile with individual sites unable to modify as far as I can see (unless I get a dedicated server). Is this anywhere close to what we need or are we talking a different hosting company?

I thought - having made assumptions - I should show you the error message:

<snip>

        * JInstaller::install: SQL Error. DB function failed with error number 2013
          Lost connection to MySQL server during query SQL=CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` ( `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0', `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0', PRIMARY KEY (`id`) ) TYPE=MyISAM;
          SQL =

          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` (
            `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
            `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
            `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
            `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0',
            PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
          ) TYPE=MyISAM;

        * Component Install: SQL Error. DB function failed with error number 2013
          Lost connection to MySQL server during query SQL=CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` ( `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0', `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0', PRIMARY KEY (`id`) ) TYPE=MyISAM;
          SQL =

          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` (
            `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
            `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
            `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
            `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0',
            PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
          ) TYPE=MyISAM;

</snip>

As you can tell from my frequency of update I've been using Twitter too much - sorry about that.

Using Joomla 1.5 in 1.0 legacy mode for install

Thanks for that. It seems like the right thing to do. However, it has raised new questions (and I am well aware that debugging is like peeling an onion - lots of layers and definitely tears before bedtime). Firstly: the error message seems the same (just the JInstaller copy - lets not repeat ourselves).

<snip>
JInstaller::install: SQL Error. DB function failed with error number 2013
Lost connection to MySQL server during query SQL=CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` ( `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0', `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '', `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0', PRIMARY KEY (`id`) ) TYPE=MyISAM;
SQL =

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `jos_inv_version` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
  `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
  `database_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
  `db_upgrade_attempted` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0',
  PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

</snip>

same thing from component installer

But wait! How does that little piece of SQL reconcile with the install.new.sql file? It says:

<snip>
##########
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `jos_inv_version`;
##########
CREATE TABLE `jos_inv_version` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
  `software_version` varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
  `service_pack` INT DEFAULT '0' NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;
</snip>

Which is a different structure. Anyway the table exists so why is anything going wrong? we should not be on this path.

Here is the current table

<snip>

   Field    Type    Collation    Attributes    Null    Default    Extra    Action
   id    int(11)          No    0       
   software_version    varchar(20)    utf8_general_ci       No          
   service_pack    int(11)          No    0       
   database_version    varchar(20)    utf8_general_ci       
   db_upgrade_attempted    tinyint(4)          No    0       
</snip>

because I manually edited it after the script creation to match the SQL in the error message. (Yes the table was created, and created by the script in the install.new.sql script format) I thought since the first format failed, the error message sql would fix it. clever idea. Why isn't it working?

Could the SQL in the install script for the table prior or following also have a mismatch in format description that is making this time out? Because I have edited the table to match the failing code error message I don't think the problem is actually this table- just that this is the spot here it falls over (possibly with exhaustion).

Regards.

The jos_inv_version table is handled slightly differently to the rest. It is the only table that is created directly as part of the Joomla install process - all the other tables are created in the nBill install script (which is the one you ran manually).  I think the easiest thing for you to do now is to unzip the component locally on your PC, edit the netinvoice.xml file, and delete the SQL query from that file (about half way down). Make sure the jos_inv_version table exists in your database (ie. by creating it manually if necessary, which I think you have already done, from what you said), then try installing again.