What does errno 51 (EBADR) mean?

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: invalid request descriptor

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
ERROR_REM_NOT_LIST	Win32 error	Windows
KERN_POLICY_STATIC	Kern return	Mac
ippStsFeaturesCombination	Intel Ipp Status	Any
EL2HLT	errno	Linux
ENETUNREACH	errno	Mac
UNEXPECTED_INITIALIZATION_CALL	BugCheck Code	Windows

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ENETUNREACH	EBADE

EBADR

A request descriptor is not an ordinary file descriptor

EBADR is Solaris errno 51 and is labeled invalid request descriptor. It sits in the historical “convergent error returns” range of the illumos header. The word descriptor should not automatically send debugging toward close(), read(), or an invalid integer file descriptor; EBADF and EBADFD cover different conditions.

Oracle's Solaris Common Messages guide records a concrete historical use: NIS+ used EBADR to indicate corrupted or missing tables. That is far more specific than the previous generic “old exchange operation” explanation and shows why the failing subsystem must be identified before interpreting the noun “request”.

What to verify

Find the API or service that returned EBADR and inspect its request-object or table validation path.
For old NIS+ software, check the relevant table state and accompanying service diagnostics rather than retrying a filesystem operation.
Keep EBADR separate from EBADRQC: the latter identifies an invalid request code, not the request descriptor.

References

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