Javi here , after 48 hours of blood , sweat and coffe...
Error located , cornered and extermined. It was not a interbase issue. Just
dust acumulated near de DRAM chips that caused random memory failures.
Beware of electrostatic discharges out there , childs...

Now , for the morbid curious , the procedure to locate this kind of errors
(Linux Server , of course) :
1st - Find a good backup , that restores in another server
2nd - restore several times the backup in the suspect server. If possible ,
under different stress states (in bare system bones , under heavy load as
compiling the kernel , ..). Use "gbak -R -V backup.gbk backup.gdb " for
greater visual pleasure.
2a - If backup fails in different tables in different ocasions , you
have got it , faulty RAM.
2b - If not , just try some "select * From " in several tables , and
stress the system , or just , try to restore the same backup to two
different database files. If possible , at the same time. Recommended to use
"top" in other console to be aware of the memory usage ;)

If you have got persistent error in one of the restored files and not in
another , you have got a disk error.. man fsck
(try df -h first to make sure you have not run out of disk space! )

Recovery procedure :
Use compressed air to dust-off the mainboard , power supply , and ,
specially , the RAM sticks. Usually , you sould see a ring of fine powder
surrounding a big condenser near the ram , extending to the ram.
Beware , some compressed air dispensers humidize the air , and some others
can throw ultra-fine dust at high speed. Both can be fatal to sensitive
hardware. You have been warned. Medical air supply is ideal to this
procedure.

May the Source (and Luck) be with you...

(Sometimes , the nigthmares have happy end , you know)

Javier Rodríguez
EntreBytes S.L.
Ontenient , Spain
ERP Development.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Helen Borrie" <helebor@...>
To: <ib-support@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [ib-support] Re: Need Help with Consistency error


>
> Ideally, we need the full text of the message, along with a brief
> explanation of what it means, its effects on further database activity,
the
> cure (repair or excision of the damaged data) and any tips for avoiding a
> recurrence.
>
> Sometimes, dreams do come true :))
>
> heLen
>