Install to localhost

Yes, I can run http://localhost:122/phpmyadmin without issue, or most any page I make unless it is the CI or another DB type page.  All of my other websites are using IIS and why I need to keep that running for their development (I have other php sites running under IIS, but no db activity for testing), and needed to put this on another port, 122.  (and, of course, the client would like this sooner than later, as always!)

I'm pretty stumped. A fresh installation of CodeIgniter, the welcome page, doesn't access the database, so you'd expect it to run fine. What doesn't make sense is that http://localhost:122/phpmyadmin worked fine but your non-Codeigniter test script that tried to connect to the database didn't work. I mean, what is phpmyadmin doing that your script isn't.

Also, we've been talking about checking logs, so just to leave no stone unturned, did you also check the SQL logs?

Hey, don't work without a PHP debugger. Several free IDEs have this features built in. Two are NetBeans and CodeLobster. Without a debugger, it's like you're driving with a blindfold on -- you are going to crash!