Please help, all of my databases are crashing!

[A-Ron]

Hello,
For the last couple months I have been having inconsistant problems
with one of my access databases. At first Access would crash when I
opened a particular report, then it started crashing opening some of
the queries some of the time. Now it is crashing with some of the
linked tables. It seems it I can get the linked tables to open, I can
open up the reports and queries fine with no problem. Also when I open
up a form and change it it crashes. I have read a lot of posts about
deleting printers and compacting/repairing the database, but none seems
to be helping. The database has a few forms with some vba behind them
and some links to ODBC databases. We have been using the database for
over a year with no problems. Others are experiencing problems with
the same database.

What really has me worried is that databases I made recently from
scratch are showing the same symptoms.

Error message: "The instruction at '0x619156b4' referenced memory at
"0x00000555". The memory could not be 'read'." (has also been at
0x00000000)

I'm also getting some "JIT" error when trying to open .NET but I think
it is unrelated (maybe?)

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks in advance for
your help!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

Some good tips on how to handle corruption here:
http://allenbrowne.com/ser-47.html

Take a look, but if it's happening to multiple databases then I'd tend to
think that something nastier is going on. Have you tried a reinstall of
Access?

What's the .Net error that you're getting? Is that running Visual Studio or
just opening .Net apps? I have VS.Net on my machine and also work on mdbs.
They live perfectly happily together.

 

[A-Ron]

Thanks Mr. Oldfield for your reply.

I have not reinstalled Access because others that use the database are
experiencing the same problems. I am the only one that administrates
the databases, do you think that my computer is corrupting it for
others? The problem is that it starts to error very inconsistantly,
then it gradually gets worse. Then it works, but only ocasionally.

As for the other error it is a "Machine Debug Manager" it reads:
[
Usage: mdm [option]
Options:

/dumpjit:display current JIT (just-in-time) debuging settings
]
and that's it. It shows up while using it to download documents from
our document vault via an IE app (maintained by corporate). However
after the message displays, it pauses for a while then works as
expected. I was going to attempt to use .NET rather than VB6 for some
things, but .Net crashes all of the way where I can not open it. I
have had .NET reinstalled numerous times.

Any more feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

To be honest, I'd also suspect that a reinstall may well not do anything...
but given that you have a very unusual situation you're reduced to grasping
at straws. Feasibly, as you're producing the databases, if your setup is in
some way corrupting the files then it might cause them to crash for other
users. If you create a file from another machine, does it also crash?

One other thing: does it make any difference where the files are saved? If
you normally create files onto a network drive, then it might be worth
creating onto your hard disc and seeing if that fixes anything.

Do the dbs that are crashing all have ODBC links?

I don't get what you mean re .Net. When you're talking about installation,
do you mean just the framework?

 

[A-Ron]

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated.

I have not tried to produce a db on another computer. It might be
worth a try, along with moving it local rather than on the network.

All of the dbs that crash have ODBC links, however I have recreated
them all over again. Perhaps I did something wrong.

By .Net I mean .Net studio. I have had .Net Studio installed a few
times over to try to remidy the mdm error. No one here seems to know
how to fix it, but it isn't really hindering my job that much (unless
it is crashing access), so I haven't investingated it that much.

I'll try your other ideas next week and post my results.

Thanks again!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

If you do end up trying the Access reinstall, I'd suggest completely
removing .Net first - again it makes little sense but you may as well take
the chance to remove another possibility.

 

[Rob Oldfield]

....and if its only ODBCed dbs going wrong, I'd also suggest ensuring that
all your machines are using the same version of mdac. You could just
standardise on a single version (search MS for mdac component checker) but
I'd think going to the latest version across the board might be better.
Again, a search of MS will get that for you.

Thinking about it more, I'd definitely do this as a first step before
playing with reinstalls etc.

 

[Rob Oldfield]

I'll stop thinking of additional things to add soon....

mdac standardisation applies to the machine that's the data source as well.

 

[A-Ron]

Hello Mr. Oldfield,

Again your help is much appreciated. I ran the utility on my PC, it
says "MDAC 2.8 SP1 on Windows XP SP2". I'm not certain what the server
is using, but I doubt I would have much influence on changing anything
though. Perhaps I should have MS office re-installed. I'll see if
I can have IT do the deed early this week. I'll be sure to post my
results.

I suppose I will have to recreate the faulty databases, since
curruption is highly suspected.


Thanks!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

MDAC versions can be tricky to look after if you're not in charge of the
servers. We're still grasping at straws a bit here, but I just think that
MDAC is the most likely straw. For reference, VS.Net does install a version
of MDAC (I couldn't say off hand which one), so if you've been having
trouble getting that install right, it might be that MDAC is being installed
incorrectly somehow. Do you actually use the ADO library in your apps? If
not, it'd be worth removing the reference to it. Before you do that I'd
check the references on another machine to see if it shows anything as
MISSING (that's Tools, References from any code window). Another thing
worth trying would be to just get your admins to run the component checker
on the server, then find a machine with the same version and see if you get
any problems if you recreate a db on that machine.

 

[A-Ron]

Queries without code in them are crashing too and I have no references
to MDAC. I only use ADO. Given these conditions, could MDAC still
be an issue?

Thanks again!

 

[Rob Oldfield]

Yes. ADO uses the MDAC files.

What is the data source by the way?

 

[A-Ron]

It is an oracle database.
I'm not certain but the degradation of my databases may coincide with
the some sort of server upgrade. If memory serves I think the upgrade
was for server 2003 (can verify if you think it may be relevant).

 

[A-Ron]

I found out we did the 2003 update more than a year ago. The update I
was thinking of was a proxy change.

 

[Rob Oldfield]

Might be worth checking whether there's an update available for the Oracle
client then. I'm not sure how that interacts with MDAC but it's worth
checking both.