[Jacqueline]

This is great info! Thanks for posting it.

I don't know about aborted clients, but I found this information for you at http://www.hupo.org.cn/docs/mysql/manual_Problems.html

Starting with MySQL 3.23.40 you only get the Aborted connection error of you start mysqld with --warnings.

If you find errors like the following in your error log.

010301 14:38:23 Aborted connection 854 to db: 'users' user: 'josh'

See section 5.7.1 The Error Log.

This means that something of the following has happened:

The client program did not call mysql_close() before exit.
The client had been sleeping more than wait_timeout or interactive_timeout without doing any requests. See section 13.5.3.4 SHOW VARIABLES. See section 13.5.3.4 SHOW VARIABLES.
The client program ended abruptly in the middle of the transfer.
When the above happens, the server variable Aborted_clients is incremented.

The server variable Aborted_connects is incremented when:

When a connection packet doesn't contain the right information.
When the user didn't have privileges to connect to a database.
When a user uses a wrong password.
When it takes more than connect_timeout seconds to get a connect package. See section 13.5.3.4 SHOW VARIABLES.
Note that the above could indicate that someone is trying to break into your database!

Other reasons for problems with Aborted clients / Aborted connections.

Usage of Ethernet protocol with Linux, both half and full duplex. Many Linux Ethernet drivers have this bug. You should test for this bug by transferring a huge file via ftp between these two machines. If a transfer goes in burst-pause-burst-pause ... mode then you are experiencing a Linux duplex syndrome. The only solution is switching duplex mode for both your network card and Hub/Switch to either full duplex or to half duplex and testing the results to decide on the best setting.
Some problem with the thread library that causes interrupts on reads.
Badly configured TCP/IP.
Faulty Ethernets or hubs or switches, cables ... This can be diagnosed properly only by replacing hardware.
max_allowed_packet is too small or queries require more memory than you have allocated for mysqld. See section A.2.9 Packet too large Error.