ubun2

Installed a brand new instance of mysql server on ubuntu 10.04. After installation tried to secure the installation using
 
sudo /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation
 
when asked for root password for mysql, i entered the correct password. but it says access denied for root@localhost after asking for Enter current root password. I checked and verified my password is correct by connecting through mysql -u root -p command. What could be the reason?