Can anyone tell me why I can't seem to set up the Blog module (I've done this countless number of times before with no problems) on a stock standard fresh install of Silverstripe 2.3.4

With the latest trunk build (blog-trunk-r94680.tar.gz) it seems to install fine but when I view the blogholder page on the frontend I get this error:

[User Error] Couldn't run query: SELECT `SiteTree_Live`.*, `BlogEntry_Live`.*, `SiteTree_Live`.ID, if(`SiteTree_Live`.ClassName,`SiteTree_Live`.ClassName,'SiteTree') AS RecordClassName FROM `SiteTree_Live` LEFT JOIN `BlogEntry_Live` ON `BlogEntry_Live`.ID = `SiteTree_Live`.ID WHERE ("ParentID" IN (5) ) AND (`SiteTree_Live`.ClassName IN ('BlogEntry')) ORDER BY "BlogEntry"."Date" DESC You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '."Date" DESC' at line 1

So I tried using the blog-v0.2.1.tar.gz release and after running /dev/build I get:

Creating database tables
# TrackBackPing
# Table TrackBackPing: created
# Field TrackBackPing.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field TrackBackPing.ClassName: created as enum('TrackBackPing') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'TrackBackPing'
# Field TrackBackPing.Created: created as datetime
# Field TrackBackPing.LastEdited: created as datetime
# Field TrackBackPing.Title: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field TrackBackPing.Excerpt: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field TrackBackPing.Url: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field TrackBackPing.BlogName: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field TrackBackPing.PageID: created as int(11) not null default '0'
# Index TrackBackPing.PageID: created as (PageID)
# Index TrackBackPing.ClassName: created as (ClassName)
# PageComment
# SiteTree
# Field SiteTree.ClassName: changed to enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','BlogEntry','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree' (from enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree')
# Field SiteTree_Live.ClassName: changed to enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','BlogEntry','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree' (from enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree')
# Field SiteTree_versions.ClassName: changed to enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','BlogEntry','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree' (from enum('SiteTree','Page','GhostPage','ErrorPage','RedirectorPage','VirtualPage') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'SiteTree')
# Email_BounceRecord
# QueuedEmail
# File
# Group
# LoginAttempt
# Member
# MemberPassword
# Permission
# Widget
# Field Widget.ClassName: changed to enum('Widget','ArchiveWidget','BlogManagementWidget','RSSWidget','SubscribeRSSWidget','TagCloudWidget') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'Widget' (from enum('Widget') character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci default 'Widget')
# WidgetArea
# Page
# GhostPage
# BlogEntry
# Table BlogEntry: created
# Field BlogEntry.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field BlogEntry.Date: created as datetime
# Field BlogEntry.Author: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field BlogEntry.Tags: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Table BlogEntry_Live: created
# Field BlogEntry_Live.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field BlogEntry_Live.Date: created as datetime
# Field BlogEntry_Live.Author: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field BlogEntry_Live.Tags: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Table BlogEntry_versions: created
# Field BlogEntry_versions.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field BlogEntry_versions.RecordID: created as int(11) not null default '0'
# Field BlogEntry_versions.Version: created as int(11) not null default '0'
# Field BlogEntry_versions.Date: created as datetime
# Field BlogEntry_versions.Author: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field BlogEntry_versions.Tags: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Index BlogEntry_versions.RecordID_Version: created as (RecordID,Version)
# Index BlogEntry_versions.RecordID: created as (RecordID)
# Index BlogEntry_versions.Version: created as (Version)
# ErrorPage
# RedirectorPage
# VirtualPage
# Image
# Folder
# Image_Cached
# ArchiveWidget
# Table ArchiveWidget: created
# Field ArchiveWidget.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field ArchiveWidget.DisplayMode: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# BlogManagementWidget
# RSSWidget
# Table RSSWidget: created
# Field RSSWidget.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field RSSWidget.RSSTitle: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field RSSWidget.RssUrl: created as mediumtext character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field RSSWidget.NumberToShow: created as int(11) not null default '0'
# SubscribeRSSWidget
# TagCloudWidget
# Table TagCloudWidget: created
# Field TagCloudWidget.ID: created as int(11) not null auto_increment
# Field TagCloudWidget.Title: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci
# Field TagCloudWidget.Limit: created as int(11) not null default '0'
# Field TagCloudWidget.Sortby: created as varchar(50) character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci

this version also seems to install ok, however it does not add the BlogHolder pagetype - I'm only able add BlogEntry pages via the CMS

Are you trying to install a daily build / trunk of the blog module?. If so then these are built for SS 2.4 only. If you want to download a version of the blog module for 2.3.4 download a copy off the 2.3 Compatibility branch http://open.silverstripe.com/changeset/latest/modules/blog/branches/2.3_compat?old_path=/&filename=/modules/blog/branches/2.3_compat&format=zip

I also tried to install the regular 0.2.1 version which appears to be lacking BlogHolders.

where is the best place to download SS 2.4, I'm a little confused since the release candidate is 2.3.4-rc1 and the stable version is newer at 2.3.4, and no 2.4 anywhere in the download area? That link you pasted too doesn't seem to work.

sorry I probably confused things with all these versions, ideally I'd just like SS 2.3.4 / Blog 0.2.1 working

Sorry Ingo just renamed that branch - its http://open.silverstripe.com/changeset/latest/modules/blog/branches/0.3?old_path=/&filename=/modules/blog/branches/0.3&format=zip