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hrExistingLogFileHasBadSignature
State represented by this code
For hrExistingLogFileHasBadSignature, the hexadecimal HRESULT is most useful when kept beside the API call and the affected artifact. The decisive boundary is a log already present in the target log path belongs to a different log sequence or has an unreadable signature.
The stored Value is 0x8800022E (positive JET status 558; 558). The HRESULT carries a warning, so the call may have useful output or a valid cursor state that must be inspected. Current ESE documentation uses JET_wrnExistingLogFileHasBadSignature for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that the warning points to a pre-existing target-path file; hrGivenLogFileHasBadSignature concerns a supplied restore log. Start by preserve the filename, generation, header signature, base name, target path, and provenance of both the existing and restored log sets. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Data for a reproducible incident
Preserve the first result before retries, cleanup, service restart, or file replacement changes the evidence. The diagnostic record should identify the exact API phase and the owner of every handle or artifact involved.
- Code-specific observation: preserve the filename, generation, header signature, base name, target path, and provenance of both the existing and restored log sets.
- Provenance and hashes: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Target and backup log directory listings: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Generation numbers and signatures: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Checkpoint and database signatures: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
Use hashes, lengths, IDs, generation numbers, and redacted samples instead of copying directory contents or sensitive database values into routine logs. For this it investigation, a complete provenance chain is often more useful than a second automatic retry.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | the relationship between pre-existing target logs and the restore log lineage |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | hard recovery, restore target paths, log generation validation, and checkpoint processing |
| Code-specific boundary | a log already present in the target log path belongs to a different log sequence or has an unreadable signature |
| Narrow corrective direction | quarantine the conflicting file set and rebuild the target path only from one verified backup and log lineage |
Every log generation carries sequence identity in addition to its filename., warnings about existing target logs identify a collision that should be resolved before normal service resumes.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not overwrite the conflicting files before preserving evidence.
- do not mix logs from different backups because names appear contiguous.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Nearby ESE or AD backup states
It specifically means that the warning points to a pre-existing target-path file; hrGivenLogFileHasBadSignature concerns a supplied restore log. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrExistingLogFileIsNotContiguous | the log sequence already present in the target path contains a generation gap required by recovery |
|---|---|
hrBadDbSignature | the database signature does not match the backup or log set used for recovery |
hrColumnSetNull | a column update resulted in a NULL value as an explicit outcome |
Keep the original constant and hexadecimal value in telemetry. Replacing it with “backup failed” or “database warning” removes the state information needed to select the next legal API call.
Next actions
- Record it,
0x8800022E, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by preserve the filename, generation, header signature, base name, target path, and provenance of both the existing and restored log sets.
- Apply only the narrow correction: quarantine the conflicting file set and rebuild the target path only from one verified backup and log lineage.
- After it, recreate any context invalidated by the failure; do not carry stale HBC, cursor, file, or restore-map state into the retry.
- repeat the smallest non-destructive test that reaches the same boundary, then verify both the return value and the resulting file, cursor, backup, or database state.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
Technical references
- JetExternalRestore phases and ranges — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- ESE files and checkpoint behavior
- ESE error-code table
- Microsoft JET_ERR enumeration
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