You have some adserving software? Hmm, interesting. Normal ppl try to get rid of and block ads. You downloaded a software dedicated to serving you ads. You're a strange fella.
Just for future reference in case anyone else has the same problem, the ad 'management' software had this line in it's configuration file: protocol=unix This assumed that the site files and database server were on the same server and as in my case they are on two separate servers caused the apparent conflict.
Removing "unix" leaving protocol= resolved the issue