InstallAware

Hi,

I have an issue in an installer I've made dealing with the creation of a database and failure to access it later in the same install run. The installer is developed using IA 9. The installer has different feature selections for the user, one is to install a database; another is to install files and an NT service. For the database, the installer runs SQL scripts using the Microsoft SQL Server against a SQL Server instance. It successfully creates a database and, using another script, successfully populates specified tables with default values. There are two separate Microsoft SQL Server statements to do this database work. They work every time, providing permissions are correct.

The trouble happens further along during the installation if the user also had selected to install a service in this execution of the installer. During this operation, when executing a custom program that also tries to write to a table in this database, it fails as if it can't make a connection. When investigating the custom program's access from the database side with SQL Profiler, no SQL statements appear, and no login problems are logged.

If the installation is done in 2 passes, i.e the database alone is installed first, then the installer is run again and the service is selected alone and installed (installer is run twice), everything is installed successfully and the service and DB all work afterward.

My question is; does IA 9 do something with a database that it creates, and/or its connection, that would present a problem to a program that tries to also access the same database shortly after it in the same installer run? (some database optimization techniques, etc.)

I've been looking at this and have no good leads.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

ab

Nothing, really. We've also had reports of the opposite - such as external program access working but internal access failing I wish I knew more and could help you out.

I am having this same problem on my Vista x64 installation at home after installing SQL Express as well...but only on that machine. Every 32-bit system I've tested on works great, my Vista x64 reports cannot connect to database. I've been tweaking and testing but am not finding a reason or solution.

Would you by chance be having this problem on an x64 box?

P.S. - I did have to put a "sleep" in between the SQL Express installer (that I'm installing myself not as a prerequisite) and the database connect/install script as some multi-core/fast machines would try to connect prior to the database server being fully started.

DevilSun,

I've done the most testing on Windows Server 2003 x86 - and the problem happens all the time on this platform.

As time drags on I expect that I too will resort to delay or sleep experiments, but I'd prefer to discover and deal with the base cause.

ab

Is The SQL Server Browser Service running and the Connection (NP and TCP) enabled ?

Thanks for the help Piepsi

Hi Piepsi1802,

Yes, I have used the Surface Area Configuration tool to enable the remote connections (TCP and Named Pipes) for that instance and activate the Server Browser Service.

Do you have an install that successfully does what mine is trying to do? (create a medium-sized database and then update some tables with data - all in one run)

Thanks for the extra eyes.

ab