When importing large MySQL database dumps, especially when transferring between Linux and Windows systems, two common issues emerge:

1. Character encoding problems with special characters
2. The infamous "MySQL server has gone away" error

The initial SOURCE command approach failed due to character set mismatches. Here's a more robust method:

mysql -u username -p --default-character-set=utf8mb4 database_name < dump.sql

For problematic files with smart quotes:

iconv -f WINDOWS-1252 -t UTF-8 dump.sql > dump_utf8.sql
mysql -u username -p database_name < dump_utf8.sql

While max_allowed_packet is the usual suspect, there are actually four key parameters to check:

-- Set these in your my.cnf/my.ini or as command-line parameters
SET GLOBAL max_allowed_packet=1024M;
SET GLOBAL wait_timeout=28800;
SET GLOBAL interactive_timeout=28800;
SET GLOBAL net_read_timeout=3600;

For very large files, consider these approaches:

1. Split the file:

split -l 50000 dump.sql split_dump_
for file in split_dump_*; do mysql -u user -p db < "$file"; done

2. Use mysqldump with compression:

# On source machine:
mysqldump -u user -p db | gzip > dump.sql.gz

# On target machine:
gunzip < dump.sql.gz | mysql -u user -p db

On Windows systems, pay special attention to:

• Path separators (use forward slashes or double backslashes)
• Command processor limitations (use PowerShell for better handling)
• File system caching (disable unnecessary services during import)

Example PowerShell command:

Get-Content .\dump.sql -Encoding UTF8 | mysql -u username -p database

When troubleshooting:

# Monitor the import process:
mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW PROCESSLIST;"

# Check error logs:
tail -f /var/log/mysql/error.log

Remember that line 149351 mentioned in your error is likely where MySQL hit a packet size limit or timeout.

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When importing large MySQL dump files (especially cross-platform between Linux and Windows), two primary issues commonly occur:

• Character encoding conflicts (smart quotes, special characters)
• Packet size limitations causing connection termination

The first warning sign appears when using SOURCE command:

mysql> SOURCE c:/dump.sql
ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax near '...'

This typically indicates character set mismatches. The solution involves specifying the correct encoding during import:

mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4 -u username -p database_name < dump.sql

For Windows systems specifically, add the console codepage adjustment:

chcp 65001
mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4 -u username -p database_name < dump.sql

The infamous "MySQL server has gone away" (Error 2006) appears when:

ERROR 2006 (HY000) at line 149351: MySQL server has gone away

Three key solutions exist:

1. Server-side Configuration

Edit my.cnf/my.ini:

[mysqld]
max_allowed_packet=256M
wait_timeout=600
interactive_timeout=600

Restart MySQL after changes.

2. Client-side Workaround

For one-time imports:

mysql --max_allowed_packet=512M -u username -p database_name < huge_dump.sql

3. Chunking Large Files

For massive files (>1GB), split them first:

# Linux:
split -l 50000 dump.sql chunk_

# Windows PowerShell:
Get-Content huge_dump.sql -ReadCount 50000 | %{$i=0}{Out-File "chunk_$i.sql" -InputObject $_;$i++}

For stubborn character issues, force binary mode:

mysql --binary-mode=1 -u username -p database_name < dump.sql

Always verify import success:

mysql -u username -p -e "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM important_table;" database_name