BUG: SQL Setup Fails If Non-NIC Hardware Profile Is Used

• Microsoft SQL Server, version 6.5

SYMPTOMS

The SQL Server 6.5 Setup fails in Windows NT 4.0 if a hardware profile is used, which disables the network interface card (NIC). For example, in the automatic Dial-up Networking portion of Setup, the following error message appears:

   Cannot reach <servername>, do you want to dial a remote network

   The SQL Server installation could not be successfully completed.
   Setup could not connect to the SQL Server.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do one of the following:

• Boot to Windows NT with a NIC-enabled hardware profile. You can set up a NIC even though the network cable has been disconnected.
• Dial into your company network using Dial-up Networking and log on to a Windows NT Server. This enables the network named pipes, which allows SQL Server to set up successfully.
• Install the MS Loopback Adapter driver and restart Windows NT. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

        ARTICLE-ID: Q106208
        TITLE     : How To Demonstrate Windows NT Network Features w/o a
                    Network
  
  

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

�Hardware Profiles� is a new feature in Windows NT 4.0. To access hardware profiles, start Control Panel System and choose the Hardware Profiles tab. You can create a hardware profile by clicking Copy. You can inspect the NIC status of a particular profile by clicking Properties. Then, choose the Network tab.

A NIC-disabled hardware profile is a common configuration for portable and laptop computers. SQL Server Setup attempts to connect the network using a network named pipe rather than a local named pipe. A network named pipe includes the computer name and requires networking software to be function on the computer. A local named pipe does not include the computer name and does not require networking software to function on the computer. A local named pipe is often expressed as a blank, empty, NULL server name, or as a dot (.). Network named pipes do not work with a non-NIC hardware profile. You can confirm this by running the SQL Server diagnostic program called Makepipe at the MS-DOS Command Prompt (CMD.EXE). Another command you can use is: Readpipe /<server name>

The Readpipe session is unable to connect; however, the �Readpipe /S� (without quotation marks) command works.