MAMP, multiple wordpress installs and @'%'

Hi more experienced wordpress persons,

I tried searching the forum for this question, but there is no search for forum only, just for all of WordPress and that’s a bit daunting.

I have three separate blogs I am installing on MAMP. I had one blog installed and running several weeks ago. But I need three separate wordpress folders, so I trashed everything and started over, renaming one of the new databases the same as the old one I trashed. the user “root” has global privileges for all three.
The paths are MAMP/htdocs/hunandelaware/wordpress
MAMP/htdocs/thoughtfulaboutrubbish/wordpress
and MAMP/htdocs/dumbluck/wordpress

So, when I try to point the browser to run the install script at
http://localhost:8888/hunandelaware/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
http://localhost:8888/thoughtfulaboutrubbish/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
or
http://localhost:8888/dumbluck/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

It can’t find the respective databases, even though the wp-config files have been set up exactly as directed. I get this

__________
“This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host’s database server is down.

Are you sure you have the correct username and password?
Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?
Are you sure that the database server is running?

If you’re unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your host. If you still need help you can always visit the WordPress Support Forums.”
________

HOWEVER, I notice that my users are @”%’ not localhost:8888. What do I do to fix this? Am I on the right track?