FLASH: SQL Server 2008 R2 Error: Could Not Find Database Engine Startup Handle
Error / Message:
Could Not Find Database Engine Startup Handle
Related Messages / Conditions:
SQL Server setup media does not support the language of the OS or does not have ENU localized files. Use the matching language-specific SQL Server media or change the OS locale through control panel.
Cannot uninstall partially installed SQL Server R2
Setup.exe-Bad Image:C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\SQLServer2008R2\setup.rll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error.
Context:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer Edition
Windows 7.0 Professional 64-Bit
Toshiba Satellite
Summary:
While WinRAR seemed to extract a set of SQL Server 2008 R2 setup files that installed without flaw, the set of files generated by WinZip from the same .iso file led to tedious hours of troubleshooting partial, but ultimately failed, attempts at installing SQL Server 2008 R2 setup files on a Windows 7, 64-bit PC.
Discussion:
Having successfully installed all components of MSSQL Server 2008 R2 many times on various operating systems and machines, I was recently confronted with the need to install it on a mini-laptop I intended to use for writing articles remotely. To say I had difficulty with the installation on the 64-bit Windows 7 Professional machine (which certainly seemed capable of handling MSSQL Server 2008 R2, either x86 or x64, from a hardware perspective, according to the Systems Requirements published by Microsoft), is an understatement. What typically had taken less than an hour many times in the recent past turned into one botched installation after another over a period of several days (and nights).
It all started with .iso downloads from MSDN, initially SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer (_sql_server_2008_r2_developer_x86_x64_ia64_dvd_522665.iso), but other editions once I determined that there was an issue with the Developer installation. I made multiple attempts at installing, while rummaging through a plethora of accounts of similar errors across the Web, many of which offered solutions that amounted to distractions that wasted lots of time.
(I’m always astounded to see, anytime I’m attempting to get to a solution how readily and often such speculative solutions are offered. I’d love to post some of the ideas tendered, especially in light of what turned out to be the real cause of the problem, but to further broadcast such “information” would not be productive.)
Each of the many attempts ended, at what appeared about 75 % or so of the way through (all components except Reporting Services and the Database Engine were indicated to have been installed by the status grid), with an error. The initial error, with which I didn’t recall ever having been confronted, was as follows:
Could not find the Database Engine startup handle.
When the failure was evident the first time around, I realized I would have to try to perform a repair operation, or to uninstall and start over. Attempts at either led to additional errors, chief among which was:
SQL Server setup media does not support the language of the OS or does not have ENU localized files. Use the matching language-specific SQL Server media or change the OS locale through control panel.
and
The ENU localization is not supported by this SQL Server Media.
At this point in my detours, I came across a timely workaround. When I replaced the setup.rll file in the following path:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\SQLServer2008R2\Resources\1033
with its counterpart in the setup media in the path
\resources\1033\setup.rll
and then initiated the uninstall again, my efforts met with success.
But that really only landed me back at my starting point: Having simply treated a symptom of the real problem, I could only to go through installation attempts again and again with the same unsuccessful results.
At a point I finally decided to go back and “do it all from scratch.” I didn’t have CD burning capabilities (I was on the road at the time), but used WinRAR v. 393 (I had no copy of WinZip on the machine, like the ones in my office, where I had been using v. 14.0, and I didn’t want to take time to download it) to unpack the .iso file (the same one, but freshly downloaded from MSDN: TechNet would have been my choice at this point, as I suspected a flawed installation package file – something that had happened with MSDN files before - but TechNet had no Developer edition among its SQL Server 2008 R2 offerings. )
This step led to the solution, it appears. I was able to get the newly extracted files to work the first time around! From that point, it seemed to make sense to question “why the difference?” after so many tries with the previous files. It was then that I compared the originally extracted set (which I had expanded using WinZip) to the WinRAR set – at least in a cursory fashion.
Properties Comparison: WINRAR-expanded Files vs. WINZIP-expanded Files
The numbers didn’t match up (neither overall sizes nor number of files / folders). And, having had a successful installation with the RAR-extracted files, it wasn’t too hard for me to figure out which of the alternatives was the “right” answer…
I didn’t go any further with trying to identify the specific files that comprised the difference, or to isolate the differences themselves. I had wasted enough time on this costly issue as it was. Suffice it to say that I hope my pain has not been in vain, and that others can benefit from my misadventure.
WinZip is a Registered Trademark of WinZip International LLC.
WINRAR is a Registered Trademark of Roshal, Eugene INDIVIDUAL RUSSIAN FED. Gagarina 21-15 Chelyabinsk RUSSIAN FED. 454010 (Per USPTO Search)