Anybody know why SQL Server 2005 throws "'SQLOLEDB' failed with no error message available, result code: E_FAIL(0x80004005). "?

Question

We've got a web system running SQL Server 2005 for the back end, and ASP.Net for the front end (using .net 2.0).

Every now and then, the system barfs out the error in the title: 'SQLOLEDB' failed with no error message available, result code: E_FAIL(0x80004005).

The web system runs just fine 24/7, and then every now and then will toss this out on a select or some such. I've tried re-running the exact select that throws the error, but (of course) it works fine when I do it. And, to answer the obvious follow-up question, no we haven't done any code changes or upgrades to speak of lately.

Has anyone ever run into this before? Nosing around on google seems to only turn up situations where Access has some kind of file issue (permissions, missing data file, etc.)

Answer 1

Firstly, it's probably not SQL Server throwing out the error, and if it is, it's probably not while running the SQL statement itself, but if it is, it's almost certainly going to be peculiar to a login that doesn't have permissions, not the SQL command itself.

The 0x80004005 error is a general permissions failure, and it can occur in just about anything, but it's most likely to be in another layer.

I've seen it in authentication when the account the application is running under does not have access to the network to open a connection to the SQL Server. The SQL Server never even sees the request, but the client will say that the server cannot be found.

If it's intermittent, that could point to an intermittent domain controller issue, but that would depend on how your Windows Servers and Active Directory are set up, and how your application is connecting to SQL Server.

To solve this one, your netadmins will need to really know their Windows logging functionality and track it down for you.