Yes sir, the error happens on the installation page where the database credentials are specified.
I've tried using an alphanumeric password and it didn't work, neither did not having a password at all, weirdly.
Works fine through SSH, MariaDB connects and selects the database just fine.
I've put phpmyadmin on the server, and it's able to alter database settings also, meaning it's not an apache, mysql nor php problem, I'm guessing; link