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Re: compatible

From: Charles Hooper <hooperc2000_at_yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Sep 2006 04:22:28 -0700
Message-ID: <1157628148.175599.287890@d34g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>


mike7411_at_gmail.com wrote:
> On Oracle 10g, I tried the following option:
>
> ALTER SYSTEM SET compatible='8.1.0' SCOPE=spfile;
>
> However, when I try to reload, it refuses to load, saying:
>
> ORA-00401: the value for parameter compatible is not supported by this
> release
>
> I don't know how to change the parameter back without the database
> being loaded.
>
> Any ideas?

I made the same mistake with one of my 10g R2 databases when trying to resolve a compatibility problem with an application that was designed to work with 8.1.7 (scale on some numeric values was not defined). Oracle will first try to start the database using the spfile, if it can't be found or is corrupt, it will automatically look for the old init.ora text file - you can use this to your advantage.

If you have an up to date init.ora file (you should update it after major changes to the spfile have been tested), copy the init.ora file into the appropriate location. On my server, this is located in (along with the spfile):
  \oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\database
Verify that the init.ora file contains compatible=10.2.0.2.0 (or whatever is appropriate)
Rename the current spfile so that Oracle will not be able to find it. STARTUP the database
If no problems, create a new spfile from the init.ora file.

What if the init.ora file is not up to date, or does not exist? Create a copy of the spfile, open that with a text editor, and reformat it as necessary (delete garbage characters, add line breaks, etc.). Save the file as the init.ora file, and rename the original spfile. STARTUP the database. If no problems, create a new spfile from the init.ora file.

Charles Hooper
PC Support Specialist
K&M Machine-Fabricating, Inc. Received on Thu Sep 07 2006 - 06:22:28 CDT

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