SQL CE Merge Replication: Error 28532: A read operation from the transport returned no data.

Question

Hi,

I am using sql server 2005 and ce framework 3.5 and attempting to use merge replication between my hand held and my sql server. I am getting the following error:

Error 28532 : A read operation from the transport returned no data. The version of SQL Server Compact 3.5 Client Agent and SQL Server Compact 3.5 Server Agent should match.

I am finding little to no information on the net. Can anyone tell me either how to check the versions of Server Compact 3.5 Client Agent and SQL Server Compact 3.5 Server Agent or any steps i can take to resolve the issue ?

Thanks Loads Cheryl

Answer 1

This is (probably) unrelated to your specific error, but in general merge replication between SqlCE and SQL Server is unreliable in situations where network connectivity is frequently lost (e.g. over wireless or worse, over cell phone networks), and can lead not just to lost data but to bizarrely corrupted data on the server. This problem has not (to my knowledge) been fixed in SqlCE 3.5.

MS does not advertise this, of course, although after a long struggle to diagnose the problem, their tech support finally acknowledged the problem and said SqlCE replica DBs were guaranteed to merge eventually (i.e. if you try to sync up enough times, it will eventually work correctly).