sentient beings

When deploying a cube to SSAS (Sql Server Analysis Services) 10.50 aka 2008r2 using Visual Studio 2008, I got the following errors.

1. Internal error: Invalid enumeration value. Please call customer support! is not a valid value for this element.
2. An error occurred while parsing the 'StorageMode' element at line 1, column 6751 ('http://schemas.microsoft.com/analysisservices/2003/engine' namespace) under Load/ObjectDefinition/Dimension/StorageMode.
3. Errors in the metadata manager. An error occurred when instantiating a metadata object from the file, '\\?\N:\SSAS\OLAP\Data\RMT_CUBE\RP DIM TIME.12.dim.xml'

Additionally, building the project and then deploying using the wizard results in a similar string of error messages

The column in the second error and the file referenced in the third error may vary. The filename in the third error however is worth noticing because it's the dimension that is stopping you from deploying. In this case, my dimension was named "RMT DIM TIME".

On the internet, you will find many solutions advising you to drop the database and redeploy. I have found a way that is less time consuming and a lot less worrying than simply dropping your entire database.

I was able to solve the problem by simply re-processing the offending dimension in SSMS (Sql Server Management Studio). After re-processing the offending dimension, life was peachy again.

Hope this helps you. Apparently, installing the latest SSAS service pack would also solve the problem but that's not always a straightforward solution in a managed environment.

I thought I had tried about everything to get CR2 RAW support up and running in Windows XP. I installed the Canon Codec and tried to open the files with the regular Windows Fax and Picture viewer. FAIL!

I installed Microsoft's Powertoy "Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP" but that failed with a "cannot load image" message. I was at wit's end. Until ...

Finally, I discovered that Microsoft's Live Photo Gallery that is part of Vista and Windows 7 and that does suppot CR2 RAW files was available for Windows XP. Download it here: http://download.live.com/photogallery and then uncheck all the vile software you don't need. Et voila, CR2 RAW support from your explorer in Windows XP.

Whew. That only took me about 2 hours to fix.

After a reboot of my development machine, the SQL Server 2008 R2 service wouldn't start.

I consulted the Event viewer, but that only yielded the following message.

Log Name: Application
Source: MSSQL$SE2008R2
Date: 1-6-2010 12:38:43
Event ID: 17120
Task Category: Server
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: [censored]
Description:
SQL Server could not spawn lazy writer thread. Check the SQL Server error log and the Windows event logs for information about possible related problems.

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="MSSQL$SE2008R2" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49152">17120</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>2</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-06-01T10:38:43.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>7660</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>censored</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>lazy writer</Data>
<Binary>E042000010000000130000004400540041003000300035003400360030005C0053004500320030003000380052003200000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

After checking the internet for a solution, I came up with none. I decided to check the SQL Server Log file and it contained the following line.

I/O affinity turned on, processor mask 0x00000002. Disk I/Os will execute on CPUs per affinity I/O mask/affinity64 mask config option. This is an informational message only; no user action is required.

I them remembered that I had tried to assign CPU2 to handle I/O requests. Since the only way to remedy something that goes wrong and which you haven't got a clue about is to retrace your steps, my next step would be to undo that setting. But the SQL Service wouldn't start and the -I command line option didn't work.

I started SQL Server manually as described in this MSDN article: How to: Start an Instance of SQL Server (sqlservr.exe). I specifically used the -f option to make sure SQL Server would start with as little configuration as possible.

SQL Server started and I launched my Enterprise Manager and checked the "Automatically set I/O affinity mask for all processors".

I then closed the Enterprise Manager, quit the command prompt and started the service. Life was peachy again.

A very long time ago, when I was still playing World of Warcraft, I tried to order a key for World of Warcraft through Gamersloot.net. You can read about why that was a bad idea over here: Never order from Gamersloot.net. They took my money but never sent me the key.

A few weeks ago, I decided to check out where all the World of Warcraft Phishing attempts came from. I quit WoW quite a while ago, but I keep getting "notification" messages. I did a quick check of the headers and found out that the mails are being sent to the exact same mail address I used to register with Gamersloot.net.

I have a long standing policy to create specific mail addresses for every site I register on. This allows me to track back spam to the originating site and it worked well for Gamersloot.net.

So, besides the Goldselling activities and the "take-the-money-and-run" activities, they also do Phishing - trying to steal passwords from the people they rip off.

Today, SQL Server 2008 express gave up on me. I installed it yesterday and it worked fine. Then I turned off my PC and when I turned it back on today, SQL Server Express wouldn't start. A quick look in the event log got me the following 2 errors.

FCB::Open failed: Could not open file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf for file number 2. OS error: 5(failed to retrieve text for this error. Reason: 1815).

FCB::Open failed: Could not open file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf for file number 1. OS error: 5(failed to retrieve text for this error. Reason: 1815).

Additionally, when trying to change settings from the SQL Server Configuration manager, I got the following error.

You have until 1% to log off. If you have not logged off at this time, your session will be disconnected and any open files or devices you've opened may loose data. [0x80070d59]

The solution was to enter the Services control panel, locate the SQL SERVER (EXPRESS) service, pick the Log On tab and check "Log on as Local System Account".

That got the job done. It's running now.