importing db phpMyAdmin - Error Incorrect format parameter

I was facing the same issue and tried many things especially increasing the time limits in php.ini but nothing really worked. Finally I did the job my importing the sql file via command line:

mysql -u username -p databasename < /path/to/file.sql

In most cases the username would be just root. If you have same tables in both the old database and new database backup file, then you may get an error like this:

ERROR 1050 (42S01) at line 31: Table 'wp_commentmeta' already exists

In that case, drop (delete) existing database and then import the new file via the command stated above.

I had the same error on MAMP i resolve by changing the parameters in php.ini

I followed the instruction by Timmy @enter link description here

; Maximum size of POST data that PHP will accept.
post_max_size = 256M



; Maximum allowed size for uploaded files.
upload_max_filesize = 256M

; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
max_execution_time = 600     

; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data
max_input_time = 600

; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)
memory_limit = 512M

NOTE1: you can replace values by your own e.g. one can write 5000 in place of 600

NOTE2: restart your Xampp or MAMP.