Arty:
Do you have any install.{timestamp} files located in the core/cache/ or core/cache/logs/ directories with the timestamp lining up with your attempts?
Also, additional platform/webserver/PHP/MySQL version information would be helpful.
Can you post samples of the first few errors? Anything? Have you read the information at http://svn.modxcms.com/docs/display/revolution/Development+and+Testing+Notes ? If you built from SVN, which revision are you testing and which branch? Which mysql 5? What php 5? We need more information or it’s going to be difficult for us to help you.
I do have those files but I have no clue what to look for?
mysql 5, debian os, php5.