Your application may be exceeding the wait_timeout server setting, as
described in the manual:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/instance-manager-command-options.html

If that's the case, then useServerPrepStmts=false isn't going to help
you, but you *can* set the wait_timeout server variable to a larger
value for all clients in the server config file, or on a per-connection
basis by executing this command on your connection:

   set session wait_timeout = <value>

where <value> is the desired timeout value in seconds.  I use this
method in my code:

public void setWaitTimeout(Connection conn, int timeout)
     throws SQLException {
        String sql = "set session wait_timeout = " + timeout;
        Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
        stmt.execute(sql);
        stmt.close();
}

However, I'm tempted to ask whether you *really* need to retrieve all 9
million rows?  Surely there must be a better way to aproach your problem?

David Harper
Cambridge, England