Question kunena 1.5.12 install problem (DB fail : error 2006)

To say the least I have been trying for 2 hours to get this installed and have had zero luck. I know this error has come up before for other users (googled it), but so far I havn't found a solution that works to getting this thing installed.

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Error Message:

Component Install: DB function failed with error number 2006
MySQL server has gone away SQL=INSERT INTO jos_components VALUES( 0, 'Kunena Forum', 'option=com_kunena', 0, 0, 'option=com_kunena', 'Kunena Forum', 'com_kunena', 0, 'js/ThemeOffice/component.png', 0, '', 1 )
SQL =
INSERT INTO jos_components VALUES( 0, 'Kunena Forum', 'option=com_kunena', 0, 0, 'option=com_kunena', 'Kunena Forum', 'com_kunena', 0, 'js/ThemeOffice/component.png', 0, '', 1 )Error Loading ModulesMySQL server has gone away SQL=SELECT id, title, module, position, content, showtitle, control, params FROM jos_modules AS m LEFT JOIN jos_modules_menu AS mm ON mm.moduleid = m.id WHERE m.published = 1 AND m.access <= 2 AND m.client_id = 1 ORDER BY position, ordering

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Steps taken:

1) Tried normal install using Joomla "Upload Package File" installer = Failed
2) Disabled FTP in global config, re-tried uploader = Failed
3) uploaded extracted files to tmp directory and used "Install from Dir" = Failed
4) uploaded zip file to server and used "Install from URL" = Failed
5) uploaded extracted files outside of tmp directory w/ "Install From Dir" = Failed
6) uploaded files directly to tmp directory and tried to install = Failed
7) Said a prayer to the great linux penguin "tux" and tried all above again = Failed

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Its almost 3am (3 hours of trying to install this now)...not sure if Im just really tired and over-looking simple, or if there is something else going on that I am not aware of. My site & server meet all the required specs after reading the read-me files, so not really sure where to go from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Xillibit - I have not tried to manually add the entries to the database more or less for concerns of unknown errors showing up later down the road (I have never used / installed Kunena before.)

Matias - The only reason I stayed away from 1.6 is because the site I am needing Kunena on is going to he be heavily used. Was concerned with the fact that there may be some bugs in the 1.6 since its not the finalized release. If 1.6 is stable and the bugs are easy to work with, im all for trying it out.

Thank you for the information, I will attempt to install 1.6 and see if the installation goes a little smoother. Would you happen to know if when the final version is released, how complicated it will be to update from this particular version to the final release version?

Thank you.