found the buglet in /admin/domodmanage.php
query:
// Grab all uids that are already moderators or administrators
$query = "
SELECT USER_ID,USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL
FROM {$config['TABLE_PREFIX']}USERS
WHERE USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL='Moderator' OR USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL='Administrator'
";
It checks for existing mods/admins, but it does not check for global mods.
Replace it with:
// Grab all uids that are already moderators or administrators
$query = "
SELECT USER_ID,USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL
FROM {$config['TABLE_PREFIX']}USERS
WHERE USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL LIKE '%Moderator' OR USER_MEMBERSHIP_LEVEL='Administrator'
";
And it should fix things up.