Have you followed all the steps mentioned at http://docs.elgg.org/wiki/Installation ?

I did my installation by consulting it.

Yes, thank you.  I'm trying to enter the site details from /install.php, and as I wrote above, the form is not submitting correctly.  I can't find anything regarding this problem in the wiki.

have a look at your tables in mysql Phpmyadmin

Site entity should point to your elgg site domain installation

I think it is elgg data config table should point to your correct paths line 6 & 7 or around  there (document path  route, and your data folder path) check these and make sure they are correct this is probably where your problem is

I see elggconfig and elggdatalists (both of which hold no records) but no elgg data config.

tables in my elgg db:

  elggaccess_collections
  elggaccess_collection_membership
  elggannotations
  elggapi_users
  elggconfig
  elggdatalists
  elggentities
  elggentity_relationships
  elggentity_subtypes
  elgggeocode_cache
  elgggroups_entity
  elgghmac_cache
  elggmetadata
  elggmetastrings
  elggobjects_entity
  elggprivate_settings
  elggriver
  elggsites_entity
  elggsystem_log
  elggusers_apisessions
  elggusers_entity
  elggusers_sessions

Elgg v1.5 install is usually 1 5 - 10 minute task

Why not just

(1) kill the install

(2) empty the databse and

(3) re-install ?

That will take much less time and effort...

( I do this all the time when I break my test elgg site ).

NB:

Watch for parms for your MySql database and site URL, home path, data path !

If still problems.. you might be missing some prequisites.. then post the exact steps of your reinstall., to make it easier to answer your questions.

well, I was hoping there was a simpler solution than reinstalling and hoping the same thing didn't happen again.  At this point, there isn't anything to lose, but I tend to think of a re-boot as a "last option."  I'll go ahead and try it, though.  Thanks!

i think i ran into the same problem once when i installed. make sure you have the .htaccess file setup correctly.. (ie, copy the default htaccess into your .htaccess)

5 - 10 minutes ;-)

I ran into this problem before... hence, the stitch marks on my wrists!!!

I'm afraid whatever solution you apply, it aint gonna be a very simple one.

well, I tried just removing engine/settings.php and emptying the db, but I ran into the same problems.  I am now deleting *everything* and emptying the db again, after which I will start over from scratch.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Thanks, everyone.