FIX: Repetitive Connect/Disconnect May Shut Down SQL Server (164734)

SYMPTOMS

If a client application calls dbopen/dbclose (using DB-Library) or SQLConnect/SQLDisconnect (using ODBC) repetitively, it may cause the following error and shut down SQL Server. Web Servers also exhibit this behavior.

18001 Process %d entered sequencer without owning dataserver semaphore

This problem only happens on computers running Windows NT Server 4.0, and it occurs more frequently when both the clients and server are running on the same computer. In the scenarios where Microsoft was able to reproduce this error, the processor speed of the server needed to be fairly high, and even then this problem only surfaced occasionally.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, either move the client application to a separate computer or try to take advantage of the 'Connection Pooling' functionality provided by ODBC Driver Manager 3.0.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 3 for Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. For more information, contact your primary support provider.