Q:

Cannot connect to remote mysql from Mac lion

I'm a mac novice and trying to get a developer setup to develop php sites locally.   The sites he develops have a mysql backend and that is on a remote box.   We got xampp installed and working, he can connect from the website to the local mysql box but he cannot connect to the remote box.   He is using the exact same connection info I am using from my windows system.   I do not have any issues.  Also the mysql server is setup to accept all users (we are currently using root) regardless of hostname. 
I searched his system and I could not find a mysql.sock file.   I do not know what this does, but googled some articles that mentioned.   
Please help if you can. 

A:

Try Telnetting to the server from your host and see if you get a response. 
telnet host 3306

If that doesn't work, you probably have some local firewall on your mac that is blocking the connection.   Also, one thing you don't mention is that you can connect from a windows computer and not a mac... are they on the same network?   If they're on different networks or in different places, that could indicate a local network issue. 
This is definitely not an issue with mysql, but with something on the Mac itself.