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hrLogWriteFail
What this return value changes
For hrLogWriteFail, a correct handler first decides whether the value is success, warning, or failure, then examines the documented outputs. The decisive boundary is the write-ahead log could not durably accept a required record.
The stored Value is 0xC80001FE (negative JET error -510; -510). The HRESULT carries failure severity, so output state must be treated according to the individual API contract. Current ESE documentation uses JET_errLogWriteFail for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that database-page writes cannot substitute for a failed log write because ESE durability depends on write-ahead ordering. Start by capture the log path, generation, offset, byte count, Win32 error, free space, volume state, and first failing transaction. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | durable write-ahead-log I/O and capacity of the log volume |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | transaction commit, log flush, generation creation, recovery undo, and backup truncation |
| Code-specific boundary | the write-ahead log could not durably accept a required record |
| Narrow corrective direction | freeze further updates, correct storage, and let the owning service perform supported recovery |
ESE must log changes before corresponding database pages become durable., log storage is often separate from database storage and must be diagnosed independently.
Evidence worth preserving
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: capture the log path, generation, offset, byte count, Win32 error, free space, volume state, and first failing transaction.
- Path, generation, offset, and byte count: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Win32 status and latency: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Free/reserved space and quota: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Checkpoint and growth rate: 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.
How to distinguish nearby results
It specifically means that database-page writes cannot substitute for a failed log write because ESE durability depends on write-ahead ordering. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrLogDiskFull | the volume hosting transaction logs cannot allocate the next required log write or generation |
|---|---|
hrInvalidBackupSequence | backup APIs were called in an order that violates the ESE external-backup state machine |
hrMissingRestoreLogFiles | hard recovery cannot reach consistency because one or more mandatory restore logs are absent |
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.
A safe response sequence
- Record it,
0xC80001FE, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by capture the log path, generation, offset, byte count, Win32 error, free space, volume state, and first failing transaction.
- Apply only the narrow correction: freeze further updates, correct storage, and let the owning service perform supported recovery.
- 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.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not delete required log generations to free space.
- do not keep accepting writes after durable logging has failed.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “the write-ahead log could not durably accept a required record”, call one documented API transition, and assert the exact HRESULT. The corrected the case should change only the decisive precondition and should verify cleanup as well as the primary output. For the result backup or restore path, also prove that the resulting set can be enumerated and that no file handle or context remains active after finalization.
Technical references
- ESE log files and reserves — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- Transaction-log parameters
- ESE error codes
- Microsoft JET_ERR enumeration
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