The solution is simple but strange, if you copy your /var/lib/mysql directory to another server and think it will work, be sure to check if you have /var/log/mysql and binary log files. If you do, the server will not work and will give you errors like below and crash without the proper log files.
UPDATE user SET password=password("newpass") WHERE user='root';
flush privileges;
ERROR 2013 (HY000): Lost connection to MySQL server durin........