Device activation error

Hi All,

Currently I have a PC that has MSDE installed on it and is attached to database (MyData.MDF and a log file MYLog.LDF) located on its hard drive at c:\data\.When I detach from the database, place a copy of the two files noted above on my networkdrive @. u:\data and try to attach I get the following error’s:

SQL[1] exec error = -1: Changed database context to 'master'.

“Device activation error. The physical file name u:\data\MyData.MDF may be incorrect.”

I have done some testing a have found that I can attach to a copy of my database if I move it anywhere on the c: drive, and or even to a 1Gb USB key attached to the system(e:\).So far it seems to only be an issue if I move it to a mapped network drive.If anyone could please provide me with any info it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

James D.

First, your data must be stored on an approved network server/storage you want to be supported. Second, you will have to use a special trace flag to force sqlserver to mount a networked db file. See the following article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304261|||

It's because your U: drive isn't a local drive. By default, it's not support to place data files on mapped shares or UNC paths. You can find more information in the following article:

Description of support for network database files in SQL Server

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=304261

-Sue

|||

Excellent, thank you for the response.

After I use the trace flag mentioned and get my MS SQL Server Desktop Engine to mount to the networked db files, will it be possible to have a second PC with MS SQL Server Desktop Engine also installed on it to connect to the same networked DB files at the same time as the first unit, or will it be limited to just one PC at a time due to file locks? We require that at least two units(possibly up to 3 more in the future) can all share, write, and read to same networked db files at the same time. If you could please let me know when you have a moment it would be great.

Thanks.

James D.

|||

Sqlserver is a shared nothing technology. I.e. only one instance can access the data at any time. So, no, you cannot have another server hits that network database file(s). As it stands, unless your hardware is part of the qualified HCL, you're running in an unsupported platform.

Btw, sqlserver has a feature called Scalable Shared Database (SSD) which allows multiple instances to share the same database file. However, this requires a SAN.