Re: Installing Oracle8

Hi, Billy -

Sigh... Still no luck... I tried reinstalling with no initial database. After everything was installed (no errors), I tried:

oradim80 -NEW -SID orc1 -INITPWD password -STARTMODE auto -PFILE

   d:\oracle8.nt\database\initORC1.80

(the name of the param file installed was the "initORC1.80"; I didn't
have any initXXXX.ora files at all). All it did was create a .cmd file to start the service for the instance, and a log file full of errors. Same thing happened when I tried to use the visual interface, or test a connection to TCPEXAMPLE.WORLD, TCPLOOPBACK.WORLD, etc. -

ORA-12538 TNS:No such protocol adapter
ORA-12560 TNS:No such protocol adapter
ORA-00508 No such protocol adapter

I checked the install program, and the TCP/IP adapter was listed as installed. Next, I tried to manually start some of the services
(the names service, the listener, and other related ones) and got
an Oracle error that "an internal Windows NT error" had occurred.

I'm beginning to think this is the underlying reason why I get "ORA-12203 TNS:Unable to connect to destination" - apparently, I can't create a database, so I can't connect to it. I checked the various .ora files, and they all had at least one entry for PROTOCOL=TCP. On a positive note, I was able to get rid of the left-over services with "oradim80 -DELETE ..." and regedt32 like you suggested. Thanks. I'd been reluctant to mess with the registry until I had some idea as to whether or not removing the services would trash my system.

Is it possible that my network configuration is somehow preventing Oracle from working? My (somewhat limited) understanding of how it all works is that you have the listener running for each particular protocol, listening for a connection request; a name server running to resolve requests to specific locations (machine, volume etc.); and a service running to support each actual database / instance, together with another service that starts and initializes the instance. Is this correct?

I've been all through the documentation, and I cant find any info that even hints at anything other than what I've tried so far. The best guess I can venture is that something in my networking setup or protocol stack is keeping some part of Oracle8 from running correctly. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any postings or reports at the Oracle site that mention a similar problem.

One other thing I noticed - if I run oradim80 (no parameters), I get a window. If I select "new", then "advanced", the database name is ORACLE, but the sid is orc1. The help file says that the name should be the same as the sid. Is this correct? I tried both, and it didn't seem to make a difference (both failed).

I guess I was hoping that this would be a relatively painless "put in the CD, run install, and use it" deal, but I'm glad I didn't bet on it :). At this point, I not even sure exactly what's failing, so I don't know where to look to try and isolate the problem(s). I've tried contacting Oracle Tech Support twice now, but haven't heard anything back.

Does this make any sense to you? If so, can you point me in the right direction(s)? I'm trying to avoid using MS SQL Server, as it's tied to one operating system, but I haven't had anywhere near this much trouble getting it to work. About the last thing I want to do is have to support different databases on different platforms. Oracle would be a nice solution - if I can ever figure out how to get it going.

Thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Larry Morley Received on Mon Nov 02 1998 - 00:15:24 CST