Intermittent connection dramas: "Cannot open user default database..."

Hi,
I've been experiencing some very strange, intermittent failures connecting
to an MS SQL database... basically at seemingly random times the server
decides that it can't open the requested database (reporting error 4062:
"Cannot open user default database. Using master database instead"). I've
so far been unable to track down any useful background to this error
message; has anyone on this group come across similar problems? Any clues
as to what might be triggering this sort of fault? More specific details
follow:
* In the majority of cases, connection is established correctly (albeit
sometimes a little slowly).
* Connections are being made to the local machine, using straightforward,
static code. The problem isn't something trivial like a mis-typed
database name, incorrect password etc. Re-running the SAME CODE will
eventually succeed.
* The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and I can perceive no
pattern to the fault (it seems no more prevalent when the
server's busy, nor after any particular events).
* Nothing relevant is documented in the Event Viewer, nor the server logs.
Am I looking in the right place?
* We're running SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, latest service pack...
are there any connection rate limitations on this software? All
documentation I've seen indicates that there are not, but this behaviour
almost suggests that there may be...
* Connecting (from local machine) using PHP mssql module (latest stable
version).
* Although possibly symptomatic of a DoS, there's no other evidence to
suggest that this is the case (TCP to the service is firewalled).
Would be grateful for any advice on this issue.
Cheers,
Alex.
Alex Craven wrote:
> Hi,
> I've been experiencing some very strange, intermittent failures connecting
> to an MS SQL database... basically at seemingly random times the server
> decides that it can't open the requested database (reporting error 4062:
> "Cannot open user default database. Using master database instead"). I've
> so far been unable to track down any useful background to this error
> message; has anyone on this group come across similar problems? Any clues
> as to what might be triggering this sort of fault? More specific details
> follow:
> * In the majority of cases, connection is established correctly (albeit
> sometimes a little slowly).
> * Connections are being made to the local machine, using straightforward,
> static code. The problem isn't something trivial like a mis-typed
> database name, incorrect password etc. Re-running the SAME CODE will
> eventually succeed.
> * The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and I can perceive no
> pattern to the fault (it seems no more prevalent when the
> server's busy, nor after any particular events).
> * Nothing relevant is documented in the Event Viewer, nor the server logs.
> Am I looking in the right place?
> * We're running SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, latest service pack...
> are there any connection rate limitations on this software? All
> documentation I've seen indicates that there are not, but this behaviour
> almost suggests that there may be...
> * Connecting (from local machine) using PHP mssql module (latest stable
> version).
> * Although possibly symptomatic of a DoS, there's no other evidence to
> suggest that this is the case (TCP to the service is firewalled).
>
> Would be grateful for any advice on this issue.
> Cheers,
> Alex.
>
>
Make sure the "problem" database isn't configured for auto-close, also
make sure it's not the target for log-shipping, or some other process
that might take it offline to do a restore, etc.
Tracy McKibben
MCDBA
http://www.realsqlguy.com
|||Do you periodically rename, remove, or detach the database?
Do you have any jobs that put the database into single-user mode or
otherwise alter the availability of the database?
|||On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 08:14:30 -0500, Tracy McKibben uttered:
[...]
> Make sure the "problem" database isn't configured for auto-close, also
> make sure it's not the target for log-shipping, or some other process
> that might take it offline to do a restore, etc.
Hi Tracy et al,
Thanks for all your advice; so far it looks like the auto-close 'feature'
was most likely the root of my problems (or at least a major factor...);
the system seems to be performing rather more reliably with that disabled.
Cheers,
Alex.
|||Alex Craven wrote:
> On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 08:14:30 -0500, Tracy McKibben uttered:
> [...]
>
> Hi Tracy et al,
> Thanks for all your advice; so far it looks like the auto-close 'feature'
> was most likely the root of my problems (or at least a major factor...);
> the system seems to be performing rather more reliably with that disabled.
> Cheers,
> Alex.
>
That auto-close option should NEVER be enabled for a production
database. Another one to watch out for is auto-shrink.
Tracy McKibben
MCDBA
http://www.realsqlguy.com
sql

Intermittent "SQL Server does not exist or access denied."

I've seen this topic posted several times, but it seems my situation is
unique for every other case I've seen.
I have a web site that has been running for over 3 years. Recently, we've
hit a major spike in activity. Now, after a few days (sometimes less), the
site will start returning the following error:
SQL Server does not exist or access denied.
Here are my server specs:
WEB SERVER (Shuttle SK41G)
- Windows 2000 Server SP4 (IIS 5.0)
- Athlon XP 2100+
- 1GB RAM
- 80GB SATA HD (7200 RPM)
- All pages in ASP (traditional, not .NET)
- Realtek RTL8139 on-board NIC (*not* 1Gb) - used for external connection
- Zonet Gb PCI NIC - used for crossover connection to DB server
DATABASE SERVER (Dell PowerEdge SC420)
- Windows 2000 Server SP4
- MS SQL Server 2000 SP4
- Pentium 4 2.8 GHz
- 1GB RAM
- 2x 80GB SATA HD (7200 RPM), Raid 1
- Broadcom NetXtreme 5751 Gb on-board NIC
- Zonet Gb PCI NIC - used for crossover connection to web server
The two additional dedicated NICs were installed recently.
Here is a rough cycle of the problem. About a day or two after I installed
the two NICs, I started getting this error. But it wasn't intermittent in
that it would fix itself after a while -- once it started throwing the
error, it would fairly consistently throw it, only allowing a connection on
rare occasions. The only fix was to reboot the server. After rebooting,
everything seems find for a day or two, then it starts back up, another
reboot... repeat.
I have tested for connection issues between the two NICs, and pinging is
always successful. I have even completely ruled that out by disabling the
new NICs, and going back to the original shared connection, and even on that
connection it will start throwing the errors. I have an alias configured
using TCP/IP, but I have tried both using the alias and not using it (having
the IP configured directly in my connection string), and the results are the
same. I have tried using the machine name (which is different than the
alias), same results.
I read about disabling connection pooling causing this, but to my knowledge,
connection pooling is enabled.
I'm at a loss. I don't know why this is happening all of the sudden. I
thought it may be related to the new NICs, but after disabling them and
still getting the problems, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Please, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Jerad
Hi
You may want to look at other things such as DNS problems, incorrect routing
or firewall problems. Check out the logs for all of these to see if anything
corresponds to the time of your failure.
It is not clear from your post if you reboot the database server or the web
server, if the former then try restarting IIS or rebooting the web server
and see if that also cures it!
John
"Jerad Rose" <no@.spam.com> wrote in message
news:OuW4AM$AGHA.1216@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> I've seen this topic posted several times, but it seems my situation is
> unique for every other case I've seen.
> I have a web site that has been running for over 3 years. Recently, we've
> hit a major spike in activity. Now, after a few days (sometimes less),
> the site will start returning the following error:
> SQL Server does not exist or access denied.
> Here are my server specs:
> WEB SERVER (Shuttle SK41G)
> - Windows 2000 Server SP4 (IIS 5.0)
> - Athlon XP 2100+
> - 1GB RAM
> - 80GB SATA HD (7200 RPM)
> - All pages in ASP (traditional, not .NET)
> - Realtek RTL8139 on-board NIC (*not* 1Gb) - used for external connection
> - Zonet Gb PCI NIC - used for crossover connection to DB server
> DATABASE SERVER (Dell PowerEdge SC420)
> - Windows 2000 Server SP4
> - MS SQL Server 2000 SP4
> - Pentium 4 2.8 GHz
> - 1GB RAM
> - 2x 80GB SATA HD (7200 RPM), Raid 1
> - Broadcom NetXtreme 5751 Gb on-board NIC
> - Zonet Gb PCI NIC - used for crossover connection to web server
> The two additional dedicated NICs were installed recently.
> Here is a rough cycle of the problem. About a day or two after I
> installed the two NICs, I started getting this error. But it wasn't
> intermittent in that it would fix itself after a while -- once it started
> throwing the error, it would fairly consistently throw it, only allowing a
> connection on rare occasions. The only fix was to reboot the server.
> After rebooting, everything seems find for a day or two, then it starts
> back up, another reboot... repeat.
> I have tested for connection issues between the two NICs, and pinging is
> always successful. I have even completely ruled that out by disabling the
> new NICs, and going back to the original shared connection, and even on
> that connection it will start throwing the errors. I have an alias
> configured using TCP/IP, but I have tried both using the alias and not
> using it (having the IP configured directly in my connection string), and
> the results are the same. I have tried using the machine name (which is
> different than the alias), same results.
> I read about disabling connection pooling causing this, but to my
> knowledge, connection pooling is enabled.
> I'm at a loss. I don't know why this is happening all of the sudden. I
> thought it may be related to the new NICs, but after disabling them and
> still getting the problems, that doesn't seem to be the case.
> Please, any suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thanks in advance.
> Jerad
>
|||Thanks for your response, John.
A few clarifcations. The database and webserver are connected to each other
directly via crossover cable, so there is no dns/firewall/routing in the
equasion. I have checked event logs on both web and database server, and
cannot see *anything* that would indicate new problems. I only see the
ongoing events that are normally there, such as SMTP routing problems
(nothing new). Also, I should have specified which server I reboot -- it is
the web server that is rebooted.
So I beleive I have ruled out most of the obvious problems. If there's any
other info you need that may help, let me know.
Thanks again.
Jerad
"John Bell" <jbellnewsposts@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23wekqiABGHA.976@.TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi
> You may want to look at other things such as DNS problems, incorrect
> routing or firewall problems. Check out the logs for all of these to see
> if anything corresponds to the time of your failure.
> It is not clear from your post if you reboot the database server or the
> web server, if the former then try restarting IIS or rebooting the web
> server and see if that also cures it!
> John
>
> "Jerad Rose" <no@.spam.com> wrote in message
> news:OuW4AM$AGHA.1216@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
|||Hi
Can one assume that you have not installed any new software, updated
existing software or reconfigured any settings on either machine e.g
anti-virus
John
"Jerad Rose" <no@.spam.com> wrote in message
news:euHnTQBBGHA.4092@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Thanks for your response, John.
> A few clarifcations. The database and webserver are connected to each
> other directly via crossover cable, so there is no dns/firewall/routing in
> the equasion. I have checked event logs on both web and database server,
> and cannot see *anything* that would indicate new problems. I only see
> the ongoing events that are normally there, such as SMTP routing problems
> (nothing new). Also, I should have specified which server I reboot -- it
> is the web server that is rebooted.
> So I beleive I have ruled out most of the obvious problems. If there's
> any other info you need that may help, let me know.
> Thanks again.
> Jerad
> "John Bell" <jbellnewsposts@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:%23wekqiABGHA.976@.TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>
|||I have Windows auto-updates turned on, and it updates once a week, so
whatever has been installed there recently. Also, to do some network
monitoring, I have intalled two different monitoring apps (DUMeter and
Bandwidth Monitor Pro) -- maybe those are causing the disruption? I can try
turning those off once I start seeing problem again, but I wouldn't think
those would be my culprit. I haven't done anything else though -- no
configuration changes (at least, outside of potential changes from the
mentioned software) and no antivirus software has been installed.
Thanks again.
Jerad
"John Bell" <jbellnewsposts@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uUazFVBBGHA.1584@.TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Hi
> Can one assume that you have not installed any new software, updated
> existing software or reconfigured any settings on either machine e.g
> anti-virus
> John
> "Jerad Rose" <no@.spam.com> wrote in message
> news:euHnTQBBGHA.4092@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>
|||Hi
This is not necessarily a problem with the web server and SQL Server it
could be that access is denied because of authentication problems. Try using
profiler to monitor logon attempts.
Check out:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;328306
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;827422
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;821498
John
"Jerad Rose" <no@.spam.com> wrote in message
news:%233gceCCBGHA.1032@.TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>I have Windows auto-updates turned on, and it updates once a week, so
>whatever has been installed there recently. Also, to do some network
>monitoring, I have intalled two different monitoring apps (DUMeter and
>Bandwidth Monitor Pro) -- maybe those are causing the disruption? I can
>try turning those off once I start seeing problem again, but I wouldn't
>think those would be my culprit. I haven't done anything else though -- no
>configuration changes (at least, outside of potential changes from the
>mentioned software) and no antivirus software has been installed.
> Thanks again.
> Jerad
> "John Bell" <jbellnewsposts@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:uUazFVBBGHA.1584@.TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
sql

Interbase to SQL Server 2000 Question

I've posted this question on a few InterBase/Firebird newsgroups but with no
response.
About 7 years ago, I created an InterBase application for a client using
InterBase 4.x. I haven't worked with InterBase since. They now want to
convert this to SQL Server. Actually, all we want to do is to convert the
tables and the data in the tables to SQL Server 2000. The other schema
objects won't get converted. I downloaded the latest version of InterBase
from Borland (V6.x or V7.0, don't recall which). When I attempted to open
the InterBase database, I get an error saying the on-disk structure is
unsupported. Could anyone offer a suggestion on what I can do?
Thanks very much.
Hi
Looks like they changed the format between these versions! If you don't have
a working system, then I guess that you may have to resort to somewhere like
ebay to get one! If you do have a working system, then you might be able to
connect from SQL Server via ODBC and use DTS to get the tables/data.
John
"Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@.y_a_hoo.com> wrote in message
news:HYudnYvUxYfBgUXd4p2dnA@.buckeye-express.com...
> I've posted this question on a few InterBase/Firebird newsgroups but with
no
> response.
> About 7 years ago, I created an InterBase application for a client using
> InterBase 4.x. I haven't worked with InterBase since. They now want to
> convert this to SQL Server. Actually, all we want to do is to convert the
> tables and the data in the tables to SQL Server 2000. The other schema
> objects won't get converted. I downloaded the latest version of InterBase
> from Borland (V6.x or V7.0, don't recall which). When I attempted to open
> the InterBase database, I get an error saying the on-disk structure is
> unsupported. Could anyone offer a suggestion on what I can do?
> Thanks very much.
>
|||Amos,
I have had to do exactly this for a client. It's not too hard, but it is a
bit fiddly.
The on-disk formats are different, for 4.x and 7.x, so you can't just open
the files. What you have to do is to backup the Interbase 4.x database using
the utility in the 4.x installation, then restore it using the same utility
in the 7.x installation. The backed up file contains all the metadata so 7.x
can re-create it. The utility is called something like gbak, and all the
details are in the Interbase documentation.
Once you've got the data into Interbase you need a 3rd party ODBC driver to
get the data out. I used one of the free ones, forget which. I had to
REMOVE all the triggers from the tables before I could connect with the ODBC
driver though, whch was a pain as there were a lot of them. I eventually
figured out how to automate it, but it is OK to do manually.
If you want to contact me directly take the 'nospam' out of my e-mail
address.
Regards,
Richard
"Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@.y_a_hoo.com> wrote in message
news:HYudnYvUxYfBgUXd4p2dnA@.buckeye-express.com...
> I've posted this question on a few InterBase/Firebird newsgroups but with
no
> response.
> About 7 years ago, I created an InterBase application for a client using
> InterBase 4.x. I haven't worked with InterBase since. They now want to
> convert this to SQL Server. Actually, all we want to do is to convert the
> tables and the data in the tables to SQL Server 2000. The other schema
> objects won't get converted. I downloaded the latest version of InterBase
> from Borland (V6.x or V7.0, don't recall which). When I attempted to open
> the InterBase database, I get an error saying the on-disk structure is
> unsupported. Could anyone offer a suggestion on what I can do?
> Thanks very much.
>

Integrity Server Connecting to SQL Server

Installing Integrity Server on MS Server 2003 but having problems when Specifing the Database, prior to this install i've already installed JDBC driver on this server version 3.
At this stage of install of the Integrity Server its trying to connect to the SQL Server (SQL Enterprise Manager V8 with SP3 on MS Server 2003)which is sitting in the same Domain. An Error appears
" A problem was encountered when trying to connect to the database JDBC.
[Microsoft][SQL Server 2000 driver for JDBC][SQL Server]Login failled
for user SA, Reason: Not associated with a trusted SQL Server
connection"
Can please help
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The error message indicates you are trying to connect to SQL
Server using SQL authentication and a SQL Server login.
However, your SQL Server is configured for Windows
Authentication only. It's not a good idea to use sa but if
that's what is required you need to change SQL Server to use
both Windows and SQL Server authentication.
-Sue
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:14:23 GMT, "jaimoon patel via
SQLMonster.com" <forum@.SQLMonster.com> wrote:

>Installing Integrity Server on MS Server 2003 but having problems when Specifing the Database, prior to this install i've already installed JDBC driver on this server version 3.
>At this stage of install of the Integrity Server its trying to connect to the SQL Server (SQL Enterprise Manager V8 with SP3 on MS Server 2003)which is sitting in the same Domain. An Error appears
>" A problem was encountered when trying to connect to the database JDBC.
> [Microsoft][SQL Server 2000 driver for JDBC][SQL Server]Login failled
> for user SA, Reason: Not associated with a trusted SQL Server
> connection"
>Can please help
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>* Report spam or abuse by clicking the following URL:
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