[dba-VB] Further to "can's see SQL Server database...

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Sat Jan 8 10:49:13 CST 2011


Thanks for the response Mark.

The server is called DiscoSvr and is a Windows 2000 x32 server, with 4G ram.  It has Office (and 
Access) 2000 installed.  It resides on a network at my client where they have between 40 and 50 
workstations on the network, about 25 of which use the Access database.  The network consists of two 
segments physically located in two immediately adjacent wings of a small office building  They have 
a switch in one building and everyone in that building (two floors) ties into that switch, with a 
single gb line running over to the second wing and into the server room.  The second wing has it's 
own switch and a wire that ties into the same switch as the gb line from the first building, from 
there into the server.

*Probably* none of that is relevant but that is the layout.

The client runs about 25 workstations scattered throughout the two wings of the building into 
DiscoSvr which acts as the file server for the DISCO database.  Everyone (including my workstation) 
is able to get into DISCO running on DiscoSvr so physical access is not the issue, and physical file 
access rights are not the issue.  I have a handful of FEs linked to about 5 different Access BEs.

One of these BEs is the one of interest here and has a single tblClaimContact with a memo field to 
hold details of any kind of contact, mostly phone.  The user types into this memo field paragraphs 
or even pages of details of phone conversations with every single person they have a phone 
conversation with.  This table has just under 800K records and the Access BE that holds this table 
is about 700Megs after a compact.  It is this one table that I am trying to create a SQL Server 
Express 2005 database for and a table in that database.

SQL Server 2008 will not install on a Windows 2000 OS so I installed SQL Server 2005 Express on the 
system, using the Admin user of DISCO Server.  As that Admin user and SSMS Express 2005 I can see 
the server, and create databases etc.

Once I was able to do all of this with the Admin directly on the server I switched to my workstation 
and started trying from there.  I installed SMSS 2005 Express on my workstation and could then see 
the database.

Originally I could not even see the new server.  I had to go back to DiscoSvr as an admin, run the 
surface config wizard and allow remote access using named pipes (not sure if I even need that) and 
TCP.  I did stop and restart the SQLServer Express service, though I did not reboot the server.

Back at my workstation I can now see the new server and browse the databases and can see and 
physically open the admin databases, see the tables etc, all from my workstation.

I tried but I was unable to use the Access upsize wizard because it did not want to see the SQL 
Server 2005 express instance, from Access 2000 running right on DiscoSvr.  I assumed that the issue 
was Access 2000 not understanding SQL Server 2005 or something.  Given that the upsize wizard was 
giving me the ever helpful one word error message, I stopped that avenue.

So I went into SSMS Express and I created a database locally basically using the import data tool 
from inside of sql server, telling it the source was an Access database.  It created the table but 
failed to import the data.

Since both of those failed, I then zipped the BE and moved it to my office server where I happened 
to have SQL Server Express 2005 installed as well as Office (and Access) 2003.  Once I did that I 
was able to use Access 2003 upsize wizard to create a database and a table and upsize the data.

I backed up the database, zipped the backup, uploaded that back to DISCOSvr and uses SSMS Express 
there to restore the database.  SSMSE can see the database, can open the table etc. DIRECTLY FROM 
DiscoSvr as the admin user.

Now that I have the table in a SQL Server database I am trying to link the FE to that table using 
the link table wizard in Access - from my workstation.  That wizard can see the SQL Server and it 
can see the admin databases but it cannot even see the net database(s) that I created using the 
Admin user directly on DiscoSvr.  When I open SSMSE from my workstation, it can see and manipulate 
the built in Admin databases and it can *see* but cannot even expand the two databases that I 
manually created on SQL Server.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com

On 1/8/2011 10:34 AM, Mark Breen wrote:
> Hello John,
>
> In this case, I would like to know whether there is a database corruption
> issue or a connectivity.
>
> What about quickly creating a new db names testconn and see if you can
> connect to that.
>
> If it works and disco does not, then quickly check the db mappings from the
> properties dialog box.
>
> If you are mapped and you think that you should be able to see it, then
> maybe the db is corrupt.
>
> A few things to do are, stop and start the server, then refresh the branch
> and check again.
>
> Detach and re-attach the db and see if it helps
>
> Start thinking about a restore
>
> is that any help?
>
> I have seen ghost db's hang around but usually the three-step dance of stop
> start services, reboot, delete again etc will remove it.
>
> HTH
>
> Mark
>
>
> On 8 January 2011 05:06, jwcolby<jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>  wrote:
>
>> I went back in with MSE and looked at that server.  While I can see the
>> databases of interest, if I click on them and try to see the tables inside,
>> I get an error "the database DISCO is not available" and the plus symbol in
>> front of the database disappears.
>>
>> So I can see that the db exists but not actually access it (from my
>> workstation).
>>
>> I can see and open the database from MSE on the server itself.
>>
>> Is this an ownership / rights kind of issue?  I am not getting an actual
>> error number from my workstation, just an "not available" generic kind of
>> message.
>>
>> If it is ownership / rights, how do I go about discovering how to fix it?
>>
>> --
>> John W. Colby
>> www.ColbyConsulting.com
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