Database Corruption (1 Viewer)

[HeatherO]

I have a split database with multiple users. The back end is hosted on our server, and each user has a front end saved on their desktop. We were having issues with corruption quite frequently and figured out that users were leaving their front ends open when leaving at night, and at some point their computers were losing connection temporarily to our server. I created a form in the front end that will close the database if it's inactive for a period of time. This resolved the issue until recently. One of our employees works from home sometimes - connecting to her desktop remotely. A handful of times in the past 2 weeks, she has been actively working in the database and then receives an error "Unrecognized Database Format". Any ideas what could be going on, or any suggestions on what to start looking at?

 

[Ranman256]

The 'Unrecognized Database Format' error could be because they have an older version of Access app trying to read a newer version db.
Also designing in old access on newer form designs can cause crash/corruptions.

 

[isladogs]

The 'Unrecognized Database Format' error could be because they have an older version of Access app trying to read a newer version db.
Also designing in old access on newer form designs can cause crash/corruptions.

Not true.
If you use an older version of Access to try and open a database that contains e.g Access 365 features such as bigint datatype, you will get a message about the minimum version of Access needed to open it.

Unrecognised database format is an indication that compilation code is corrupted.
It can almost always be fixed by decompiling your database.
For further details, see http://www.fmsinc.com/MicrosoftAccess/Performance/Decompile.asp

 

[HeatherO]

Thank you both for responding. I guess my next question is, why would it only be happening with this one specific user?

 

[isladogs]

Unfortunately there could be many possible reasons including different specifications on that PC, running using the remote connection, not shutting down properly etc

 

[shadow9449]

1. Did you try replacing the front end that resides on her local computer? Maybe it got damaged and you can solve this by replacing it. The way I implement split databases is with a batch file on each computer that loads a new copy of the front end application from the server into the client computer every time they either turn on the application or log into Windows. That makes deploying updates really easy even if they have the application on 10 computers.

2. By any chance is this (or any other user) connecting to the LAN over a wireless network?

3. Have you checked the power management settings on the network card to see if it's set to Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power?
That causes the network to disconnect when idle and can mess with Access if they leave forms open. See image attached

 

[Vassago]

1. Did you try replacing the front end that resides on her local computer? Maybe it got damaged and you can solve this by replacing it. The way I implement split databases is with a batch file on each computer that loads a new copy of the front end application from the server into the client computer every time they either turn on the application or log into Windows. That makes deploying updates really easy even if they have the application on 10 computers.

2. By any chance is this (or any other user) connecting to the LAN over a wireless network?

3. Have you checked the power management settings on the network card to see if it's set to Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power?
That causes the network to disconnect when idle and can mess with Access if they leave forms open. See image attached

This was going to be my suggestion. Having an auto-update file run to ensure a fresh copy every time fixed a lot of these issues I had years ago. There's also always that off chance that someone isn't using a local copy. I traced this by setting up a log that would track the path of the database on open back to the machine and user. After having many people insist they weren't using a network copy, I found that some people were using a shortcut to the network because the update was "taking too long" and they wanted to bypass it, not realizing it would cause these issues. Mind you, the update took a few seconds max. :banghead:

 

[HeatherO]

We have tried getting her a new front end. We do have a script set up on each desktop to copy the front ends, but will be setting that up to run automatically when they log in.

We have one user who connects with a wireless connection. She's a part-timer and (so far) we have had no issues with her connection.

We are going to make the change to the network card settings but were wondering why it would go idle if we have anti-virus, etc always running in the background?

 

[gemma-the-husky]

One other possibility is a recent issue which seemed to be the result of MS updates. It should have resolved itself by now, but you never know.

https://www.devhut.net/2018/06/13/a...ecognized-format/comment-page-1/#comment-2113

 

[HeatherO]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I decompiled the front end and made sure everyone updated. We're making the change to the network card settings as well. Hopefully this resolves the issue.

 

[Extra_Cover]

I encountered a similar problem. The work around in the link did solve the problem for me.

Access reports that databases are in an 'inconsistent state' - Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com