Install page is black after entering in initial information

Ok, So I set up a LAMP server using Ubuntu, installed Apache, mysql, and php 7, etc.

Installed phpmyadmin and set up the initial database and DB user.

OK, then I move the server files into the /var/www/html folder, I restart the machine. goto the IP Address of the VM and I get the initial "Configuration File Setup"

I enter in the db name, and it auto populates the user and password, so it IS seeing the database. I click "Submit" and I get a black screen and nothing else.

Since I am new but not completely unfamiliar to linux, I looked up some tutorials, these are the ones I followed:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-apache-mysql-php-lamp-stack-on-ubuntu-16-04

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-secure-phpmyadmin-on-ubuntu-12-04

any assistance would be much appreciated.