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hrPatchFileMismatch
The exact boundary reported here
For hrPatchFileMismatch, treat the value as part of a state machine: it says what remained valid and what did not. The decisive boundary is the database patch file was not generated from the backup database being restored.
The stored Value is 0xC8000228 (negative JET error -552; -552). The HRESULT carries failure severity, so output state must be treated according to the individual API contract. Current ESE documentation uses JET_errDatabasePatchFileMismatch for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that a patch file is backup-specific and cannot be borrowed from another set with the same database name. Start by capture patch and database signatures, backup-set ID, file hashes, page size, and restore-map entry. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | database, patch, log, and backup metadata that establish one recoverable lineage |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | hard recovery, database-header inspection, patch application, and post-restore validation |
| Code-specific boundary | the database patch file was not generated from the backup database being restored |
| Narrow corrective direction | use the patch file packaged with this exact backup or restart from a complete verified set |
A hard-recovery failure leaves the restored database invalid; retry begins from a fresh restored copy., database state, signature, page size, consistent time, and required logs must agree.
Adjacent conditions
This result specifically means that a patch file is backup-specific and cannot be borrowed from another set with the same database name. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrConsistentTimeMismatch | the database last-consistent timestamp does not match the recovery or backup lineage being applied |
|---|---|
hrDatabaseInconsistent | the database is not in a clean transaction-consistent state and requires recovery before normal use |
hrRecoveredWithErrors | repair or restore completed far enough to produce output but encountered errors that affect confidence in the result |
Keep the original constant and hexadecimal value in telemetry. Replacing this result with “backup failed” or “database warning” removes the state information needed to select the next legal API call.
Diagnostic record
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 patch and database signatures, backup-set ID, file hashes, page size, and restore-map entry.
- Backup identity and restore map: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Required log positions: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Database header and state: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Signatures, page size, and hashes: record it together with it 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.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not modify the only backup copy in place.
- do not attach a dirty or mismatched database as if it were clean.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Corrective path
- Record it,
0xC8000228, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by capture patch and database signatures, backup-set ID, file hashes, page size, and restore-map entry.
- Apply only the narrow correction: use the patch file packaged with this exact backup or restart from a complete verified set.
- 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
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “the database patch file was not generated from the backup database being restored”, 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
- JetExternalRestore behavior — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- Database header information
- ESE error-code table
- Microsoft JET_ERR enumeration
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