diff -urpN drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/bootstrap.inc prepatch/includes/bootstrap.inc
--- drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/bootstrap.inc	2007-08-07 16:41:24.000000000 +0800
+++ prepatch/includes/bootstrap.inc	2007-08-10 03:19:52.000000000 +0800
@@ -331,6 +331,10 @@ function conf_init() {
     ini_set('session.cookie_domain', $cookie_domain);
   }
   session_name('SESS'. md5($session_name));
+
+  if (!function_exists('variable_get')) {
+    require_once './includes/variable.inc';
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -430,61 +434,6 @@ function variable_init($conf = array()) 
 }
 
 /**
- * Return a persistent variable.
- *
- * @param $name
- *   The name of the variable to return.
- * @param $default
- *   The default value to use if this variable has never been set.
- * @return
- *   The value of the variable.
- */
-function variable_get($name, $default) {
-  global $conf;
-
-  return isset($conf[$name]) ? $conf[$name] : $default;
-}
-
-/**
- * Set a persistent variable.
- *
- * @param $name
- *   The name of the variable to set.
- * @param $value
- *   The value to set. This can be any PHP data type; these functions take care
- *   of serialization as necessary.
- */
-function variable_set($name, $value) {
-  global $conf;
-
-  $serialized_value = serialize($value);
-  db_query("UPDATE {variable} SET value = '%s' WHERE name = '%s'", $serialized_value, $name);
-  if (!db_affected_rows()) {
-    @db_query("INSERT INTO {variable} (name, value) VALUES ('%s', '%s')", $name, $serialized_value);
-  }
-
-  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
-
-  $conf[$name] = $value;
-}
-
-/**
- * Unset a persistent variable.
- *
- * @param $name
- *   The name of the variable to undefine.
- */
-function variable_del($name) {
-  global $conf;
-
-  db_query("DELETE FROM {variable} WHERE name = '%s'", $name);
-  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
-
-  unset($conf[$name]);
-}
-
-
-/**
  * Retrieve the current page from the cache.
  *
  * Note: we do not serve cached pages when status messages are waiting (from
diff -urpN drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/variable.inc prepatch/includes/variable.inc
--- drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/variable.inc	1970-01-01 08:00:00.000000000 +0800
+++ prepatch/includes/variable.inc	2007-08-10 02:03:59.000000000 +0800
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/**
+ * Return a persistent variable.
+ *
+ * @param $name
+ *   The name of the variable to return.
+ * @param $default
+ *   The default value to use if this variable has never been set.
+ * @return
+ *   The value of the variable.
+ */
+function variable_get($name, $default) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  return isset($conf[$name]) ? $conf[$name] : $default;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Set a persistent variable.
+ *
+ * @param $name
+ *   The name of the variable to set.
+ * @param $value
+ *   The value to set. This can be any PHP data type; these functions take care
+ *   of serialization as necessary.
+ */
+function variable_set($name, $value) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  $serialized_value = serialize($value);
+  db_query("UPDATE {variable} SET value = '%s' WHERE name = '%s'", $serialized_value, $name);
+  if (!db_affected_rows()) {
+    @db_query("INSERT INTO {variable} (name, value) VALUES ('%s', '%s')", $name, $serialized_value);
+  }
+
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+
+  $conf[$name] = $value;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Unset a persistent variable.
+ *
+ * @param $name
+ *   The name of the variable to undefine.
+ */
+function variable_del($name) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  db_query("DELETE FROM {variable} WHERE name = '%s'", $name);
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+
+  unset($conf[$name]);
+}
diff -urpN drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/variable-install.inc prepatch/includes/variable-install.inc
--- drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/includes/variable-install.inc	1970-01-01 08:00:00.000000000 +0800
+++ prepatch/includes/variable-install.inc	2007-08-10 11:54:30.000000000 +0800
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/**
+ * A stub variable implementation to be used during the installation
+ * process when database access is not yet available. Because Drupal's
+ * variable system never requires that saved data be present, these
+ * stub functions cache those informaton before table exists. Obviously,
+ * using this variable implementation during normal operations would have
+ * a negative impact on performance.
+ */
+
+function variable_get($name, $default) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  return isset($conf[$name]) ? $conf[$name] : $default;
+}
+
+function variable_set($name, $value) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  $conf[$name] = $value;
+}
+
+function variable_del($name) {
+  global $conf;
+
+  unset($conf[$name]);
+}
+
+function _variable_install_shutdown() {
+  global $conf;
+
+  if (function_exists('db_table_exists') && db_table_exists('variable')) {
+    foreach ($conf as $name => $value) {
+      $serialized_value = serialize($value);
+      db_query("UPDATE {variable} SET value = '%s' WHERE name = '%s'", $serialized_value, $name);
+      if (!db_affected_rows()) {
+        @db_query("INSERT INTO {variable} (name, value) VALUES ('%s', '%s')", $name, $serialized_value);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+}
+register_shutdown_function('_variable_install_shutdown');
diff -urpN drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/install.php prepatch/install.php
--- drupal-6.x-dev-200708091623/install.php	2007-07-26 01:35:47.000000000 +0800
+++ prepatch/install.php	2007-08-10 03:19:43.000000000 +0800
@@ -16,6 +16,13 @@ require_once './includes/install.inc';
  */
 function install_main() {
   global $profile, $install_locale, $conf;
+
+  // Since maybe no persistent storage is available yet, and functions that
+  // check for variables will fail, we temporarily replace the normal
+  // variable system with a stubbed-out version that cache variables until
+  // storage exists.
+  require_once './includes/variable-install.inc';
+
   require_once './includes/bootstrap.inc';
   drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_CONFIGURATION);