“unavailble database” error prompt connecting to Firebird service is annoying and difficult to trace. Sometime it work and sometime it doesn’t. We don’t know when it work and when it doesn’t work.
“unavailable database” happen in TCP/IP connection
Use TCP/IP connection string to connect to a Firebird database is easy to trace. The connection string looks like
- 192.168.5.1:/data/db/test.fdb
- localhost:/data/db/test.fdb
Please note that localhost is not using local protocol connection but it is a TCP/IP connection using loopback address.
If you encounter “unavailable database” error for TCP/IP connection, please make sure:
- You network connection on both end are working and the TCP/IP configuration is correct. Try to run “PING” to the Firebird server will confirm the connection is working.
- Make sure Firebird Service is running
- Make sure Firewall doesn’t block Firebird listening port. Default port number is 3050
- Make sure the connection string point to valid Firebird database file
Once you got above verified, the “unavailable database” error prompt should gone.
“unavailable database” happen in Local Protocol
The data transmission throughput for local protocol is few times better than TCP/IP connection. However, it is easy to encounter “unavailable database” error while using Local Protocol when Firebird is running as service. The connection string is simple:
- c:\db\test1.fdb
- c:\db\test2.fdb
The connection string is the database file path itself without any prefix.
Using Local Protocol with Firebird 1.5
Run as Application | Run as Service | |
Windows XP | Yes | Yes. Only work for first logon user |
Windows Vista | Yes | No |
Using Local Protocol with Firebird 2.X
Run as Application | Run as Service | |
Windows XP | Yes | Yes. Work for any number of logon users |
Windows Vista | Yes | No |
Please note that Local Protocol only works for:
- x86 OS and x86 Firebird
- x64 OS and x64 Firebird
Local Protocol doesn’t work for x64 OS and x86 Firebird.
The above tables explains why local protocol sometime work and sometime doesn’t work.
1 comment:
Oh mate, this information should be provided by firebird!
So many forum posts looking for answers to this problem!!
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