MySQL/Linux question

I am trying to no avail to enable a TCP connection to my MySQL server I have running on a Linux PC. I have Googled and found alot of infomation about modifying the /etc/my.cnf file. I added the server ip into the “bind-address” line and restarted the server but I still cannot connect. The my.cnf file wasn’t there by default I had to copy it as directed from the support-files directory. Is there somewhere I have to tell Linux to look for this file?
It seems to me that I can’t just put a file in a directory and expect it to work but then what do I know. 😉