MySQL pre-installed, cannot get phpMyAdmin running

[thunderware]

I already had MySQL Server 5.7 installed on my system as a back-end for a PC based application, so when I installed XAMPP I did not include the install of MySQL. Due to my clients requirements, I was using MySQL Workbench to administer the database. However, I much prefer phpMyAdmin and want to use it for this new web-based application I am developing. However, I do not seem to be able to get phpMyAdmin working. From my past experiences with XAMPP, which was installed onto a different laptop - a full install including MySQL at that time - I remember the MySQL Admin button in the XAMPP control panel would open phpMyAdmin.

When I try to run phpMyAdmin from the browser, the browser responds:

MySQL said: Cannot connect: invalid settings.
mysqli::real_connect(): (HY000/1045): Access denied for user 'pma'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
Connection for controluser as defined in your configuration failed.
mysqli::real_connect(): (HY000/1045): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
phpMyAdmin tried to connect to the MySQL server, and the server rejected the connection. You should check the host, username and password in your configuration and make sure that they correspond to the information given by the administrator of the MySQL server.

I tried modifying the settings in config.inc.php but got the exact same results.

[Altrea]

If you want to use phpmyadmin the way it is working in XAMPP, you need to import or create the phpmyadmin database and create the pma user.

[thunderware]

Easiest fix - just went ahead and installed MySQL with XAMPP. All works fine with both instances of MySQL. Thanks.