INTRODUCTION

Connection Suite is a conglomerate of modules held together by a database running in the background. This database, known as Oracle, may stop working for a variety of reasons, such as unexpected server shutdowns, bad sectors on the hard drive, or program bugs. Most of the time, though, issues are caused by the database not running properly.

SYMPTOMS

The following steps will cover how to troubleshoot Oracle and bring it back to full working conditions when it becomes unresponsive. This is how to determine if Oracle is down:

• Check the status of the Dualog Connection Suite webpage. It might either NOT be visible at all, or the auto-filling of the username will not work.
• Check if the Oracle XE and Oracle TNS Listener services are started. Note: In many cases, the Oracle XE service might be running even though the database is down.
• Check if both Web4Sea services are started. Only one of them will run if Oracle is not running properly

If you are experiencing one or more of the above symptoms, the Oracle database is likely the cause of the disruption of the Connection Suite.

TROUBLESHOOTING

The first thing to do when troubleshooting Oracle is to restart the database. This can be achieved automatically by rebooting the Dualog PC, or manually by performing the following steps:

• Stop all Dualog Connection Suite services
• Stop the Oracle XE service
• Restart the Oracle TNS Listener service
• Start the Oracle XE service
• Start all Dualog Connection Suite services

If this does not resolve the issue, the database is likely to be corrupted in some way.

The next step will be to connect to the database to determine what is wrong. This will be carried out through the Windows Command Prompt.

1. In CMD, type: sqlplus
2. When prompted for a user, type: sys as sysdba
3. When prompted for a password, type the password that has been chosen during the installation process, usually: oracle
   Note: the password will not show while typing. Just type the password and hit Enter. If you do not know the password, contact Dualog Support for further assistance.

!!!IMPORTANT!!!

You are now connected to the Oracle database as the database administrator user. Only authorized personnel are advised to proceed with any change described below at their own risk. If in doubt, contact Dualog Support. It is vital that you do not enter any command without knowing exactly what you are doing, as there is no “safety net” in case you corrupt the database.

In such a scenario, a full reinstallation of the Dualog Connection Suite will be required.

The first task will be to restart the database. This is the easiest way to find out if there are errors related to the database. Enter the following commands:

shutdown immediate;

// Wait for the operation to complete

startup;

This sequence of commands will first shut down the database, and then start it up again. Oracle will give you one of these responses:

• "Database opened" - means there are no issues with the database, and the database has been successfully opened and is ready to be used.
  
  
• "Database mounted" - means that Oracle managed to mount the database but was not able to open it. There are therefore some issues preventing the database from opening.
  
  
• If Oracle only managed to mount the database, you will also likely be presented with an Oracle error message with the format “ORA-1111 <error text>”. Should this happen, please call Dualog Support.

MISCELLANEOUS DATABASE CORRUPTION ERRORS

The database can get corrupted in many ways, each returning a proprietary error code. If you experience a database corruption error string, access the oracle database through Sqlplus as shown before, then type as follows:

recover database;

Once this has finished, type:

alter database open;

If everything goes well, the database will open, and you should see a message stating “database opened”.

If the aforementioned commands did not resolve your Oracle issue, return to the command prompt window, and navigate to start -> all programs -> Dualog -> Connection Suite -> Support -> and run a program called “Restore XE DB”.

Alternatively, execute "XeRestore.bat" as an administrator via C:\dualog\connectionsuite

This will run an automated database sanity check that will identify and solve some of the most common Oracle issues. Once this process is completed, you will be prompted to press any key to continue. Press any key and then run Dualog Connection Suite and test if everything is in full working order.

"ORA-00257 ARCHIVER ERROR"

"ORA-03113 END-OF-FILE ON COMMUNICATION CHANNEL"

These error messages indicate that space allotted to the Oracle archive logs has reached its maximum size and the database is therefore not able to open anymore.

The solution is to increase the maximum allowed size for the archive logs.

Access the Oracle console as previously described and insert the following set of commands. You may immediately get an error reporting that you are unable to connect to the database. In this case, shut the command prompt down and log into sqlplus again, then follow the steps below.

Shutdown immediate;
Startup mount;
Show parameter db_recovery;

//Check what the limit is set to be (e.g. 30G)

Alter system set db_recovery_file_dest_size=60G scope=both;

//Ensure that the size (60G) specified in step 4 is greater than the size you found (30G) in step 3.a.

Alter database open;

Alternatively, if prompted to use resetlogs, type in: alter database open resetlogs;

Once done, the archive log size has been increased, and the database should open. At your earliest convenience, do contact Dualog Support and inform them that your Dualog Connection Suite has been affected by this particular issue. They will need to gain access to the Dualog server and take a closer look to ascertain the causes of this issue.

"ORA-12505 - TNS: LISTENER DOES NOT CURRENTLY KNOW OF SID GIVEN IN CONNECT DESCRIPTOR"

This error indicates that the TNS listener service is unable to locate the Oracle database, and as such, the database is not functioning.

First of all, make sure that the Oracle TNS Listener service is started.

If it is running, navigate to C:\dualog\connectionsuite\, run the program called ‘OraEnvSetter’ and choose the option to set the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME environment variables.

Once this has been done, stop and start the database as described at the beginning of this document, or reboot the server, then check if Connection Suite is working as intended.