Failed to connect to database

[KevinKuhn]

Hey all,

I'm a 9.4 beta user and installed ArcGIS 10 Desktop.  I am getting an error when I attempt to open (preview or connect) in arcmap or arccatalog to geodatabases.   "Failed to connect to database. This release of the GeoDatabase is either invalid or out of date. [Invalid Geodatabase release]"

I haven't looked at all of my geodatabases, but the problem seems limited to the geodatabases that I either edited or created using 9.4.   I was able to open a few older (9.2) geodatabases.

I downloaded and installed the geodatabase/sde patch, but this seems irrelevant since my geodatabases are only local, either file or personal, not SDE. 

I also saw this post http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/114-Beta-10-Map-Packages?highlight=Failed+connect+database.+invalid...

which briefly mentions that 9.4 geodatabases created different schema's than that of 9.3...  i had assumed that the full release of ArcGIS 10 would have rectified this incompatibility, or would have at least been able to read the 9.4 version. 

I'm using a 64bit intel, windows 7 machine.

Anyone else having these problems?  Any advice? 

Thanks,
Kevin

[VinceAngelo]

There were structural changes to ArcSDE geodatabases between 9.4 Beta1 and 10.0 final.
It's probably not possible to read 9.4 beta geodatabases with anything but the corresponding
ArcGIS beta release.

- V

[KevinKuhn]

Vince,

Just to clarify, does this apply to all geodatabase types created in 9.4, even the personal and file geodatabases?

Thanks,
Kevin

[DerekLaw]

Hi Kevin,

Answer is yes. As Vince mentioned, there were probably some structural changes to the internal geodatabase schemas between 9.4 Beta1 and 10.0 final. This would apply to all types of geodatabases.

Hope this helps,

[DarrellFuhriman]

WTF? Is this a joke?

You're telling me that all the work I did is lost? I can't re-download the beta, so I can't reinstall it to export the data, and even if I could, the beta will expire at some point. What if I hadn't discovered this until after the beta license had expired?

I sincerely hope there's a fix for this soon, because this is ridiculous and there's no excuse for it.

[RussellBrennan]

Hi dfuhriman,

     The issue you are describing is how the software was designed to function. While Vince and Derek are correct that there were structural changes in the geodatabase made after 9.4 Beta, the main reason why geodatabase upgrades cannot go from 9.4 Beta to 10.0 Final is to ensure that any �??known issues�?? (e.g. inconsistent data due to bugs) from beta were not able to make it into a 10.0 Final production environment.

     The workaround for this issue will be to use a 10 Pre-Release client (ArcGIS Desktop, Engine or Server) to upgrade your geodatabases from 9.4 beta to 10 pre-release. Once your geodatabases have been upgraded to 10 pre-release, a 10 final client can then be used to connect to these geodatabases. You can then continue using the 10 pre-release geodatabase or upgrade it to 10 final as we recommend.

     If you have any other questions on this let me know.  If you need help with upgrading your geodatabases; you can either reply to this thread or contact Technical Support at 1-888-377-4575.

[DarrellFuhriman]

     The workaround for this issue will be to use a 10 Pre-Release client (ArcGIS Desktop, Engine or Server) to upgrade your geodatabases from 9.4 beta to 10 pre-release. Once your geodatabases have been upgraded to 10 pre-release, a 10 final client can then be used to connect to these geodatabases. You can then continue using the 10 pre-release geodatabase or upgrade it to 10 final as we recommend.

That's kind of difficult to do if I can't actually download the software anymore (which I can't). I was never able to install the 10 pre-release, hence this issue.

Plus, I truly fail to understand how it's possible to do a safe upgrade from 9.4 beta to 10 pre-release to 10 release, but somehow too hard to include that same upgrade path within the 10 release. That just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, it does make one wonder why this little tidbit of information isn't included anywhere in the release notes (such that there are) or any other help file online.

It might have been nice for that to be mentioned somewhere, no?

[TravisPeterson]

I may have  simalar issue.  I have ArcView 9.3.1 SP2 installed.  I have received file geodatabases from a contractor and I cannot open them with ArcView or ArcCatalog - I receive the message "Failed to connect to database." with any action I take. 

I have looked at the geodatabase in windows explorer and there are files within them.

I am at a loss.  Could it be a compatability issue?

[VinceAngelo]

Does the contractor have ArcGIS 10?  ArcGIS 9.x cannot read ArcGIS 10 geodatabases.

The workaround is to create an empty 9.3 FGDB, and have the 10.0 user populate it
(without upgrading it, of course).

- V

[DonnaClark]

I have uninstalled 9.2 and now installed 10. I am trying to use the tutorials supplied with 10 but am getting the same invalid geodatabase message as mentioned in previous posts. I'm not an expert (hence why I need the tutorials) so would appreciate some very simple direction please.

Thanks