Many thanks for the reply Ann

--- In firebird-support@yahoogroups.com, "Ann W. Harrison"
<aharrison@i...> wrote:

> Gfix actually reports several different types of error on the various
> object types. Some are benign (e.g. orphan page) and others indicate a
> potential catastrophe (e.g. wrong page type).

Examples (from the firebird log) of some of the errors when gfix was
running:

host.domain.net Sat Jun 4 17:48:33 2005
Database: /var/db/live/storedata.gdb
Index 4 is corrupt on page 682726 in table ITEM_HISTORY (164)

(repeated several times for diff page #)

host.domain.net Sat Jun 4 17:50:15 2005
Database: /var/db/live/storedata.gdb
Index 10 is corrupt on page 523097 in table PAYMENT (184)

(repeated several times for diff page #)

host.domain.net Sat Jun 4 17:50:16 2005
Database: /var/db/live/storedata.gdb
Index 10 is corrupt (missing entries) in table PAYMENT (184)

host.domain.net Sat Jun 4 17:50:19 2005
Database: /var/db/live/storedata.gdb
Relation has 61 orphan backversions (0 in use) in table
PAYMENT (184)

host.domain.net Sat Jun 4 17:52:01 2005
Database: /var/db/live/storedata.gdb
Page 670001 is an orphan

(repeated several times for diff page #)

I have never seen a wrong page type.

Could you recommend a good source of reading (ether online or in
paper) for understanding these better please?

> This suggests that a server process has crashed. The cause could be a
> faulty UDF or ....? The crash could leave orphan pages and orphan back
> versions.

I only run one UDF - add2 which is part of the distro, but to be fair
it could be at fault

> > Are the errors reported by gfix simply a consequence of the large and
> > active database and should I schedule a backup and restore every week
> > to resolve the problems?
>
> You should send us a more complete description of the errors which

will,

> one hopes, give us a better chance of determining the cause and

severity.

I hope the above info is of use.

> >
> > Are the gfix errors related to the errors reported in the firebird log
> > and if so what is the cause of these errors and how do I reduce or
> > prevent these errors.
>
> If, in fact, some server processes are crashing, it would be useful to
> know which and why.

The server crash is rare, the INET (110) and (104) errors are much
more common, and since I'm using DSL/IDSN comms I'm assuming these are
network related problems. I've read that a dropped connection
shouldn't cause a problem with database corruption, but I still wonder
if they are the causes of the above errors. Again, if anyone can point
me in the direction of some research on these errors I would be in
your debt.

Thanks,
Steve