Microsoft KB Archive/938050

= FIX: Error message when you try to synchronize a SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition subscription again: &quot;The common generation watermark is invalid at this replica since it does not exist&quot; =

Article ID: 938050

Article Last Modified on 11/20/2007

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APPLIES TO

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, when used with:  Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition</li></ul>

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard X64 Edition</li></ul>

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems</li></ul>

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition for Itanium-based Systems</li></ul>

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise X64 Edition</li></ul> </li></ul>

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Bug #: 50001335 (SQL Hotfix)

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SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You synchronize a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (SQL Server Compact Edition) subscription to a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 publication. During the synchronization, you disconnect the subscriber. In this scenario, you receive the following error message when you try to synchronize the SQL Server Compact Edition subscription again:

System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeError: A call to SQL Server Reconciler failed. Try to resynchronize.

The merge process failed because it detected a mismatch between the replication metadata of the two replicas, such that some changes could be lost leading to non-convergence. This could be due to the subscriber not having synchronized within the retention period, or because of one of the replicas being restored to a backup older than retention period, or because of the publisher performing more aggressive cleanup on articles of type download-only and articles with partition_options = 3. (Source: MSSQL_REPL, Error number: MSSQL_REPL-2147199363)

The common generation watermark is invalid at this replica since it does not exist or metadata for changes not yet propagated may have been cleaned up. (Source: MSSQLServer, Error number: 21800)

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
 * You disconnect from the database when SQL Server Compact Edition is processing the .out file from the virtual directory.

Note The virtual directory is on the server that is running Internet Information Services (IIS).
 * The partition options property of the published article is set to the 3 value.
 * The SQL Server 2005 publication uses the dynamic filtering feature.
 * The ExchangeType property of the Replication Merge Agent is set to the Bidirectional value or to the Download value.

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CAUSE
This problem occurs because the merge replication metadata at the publisher differs from the merge replication metadata at the subscriber. When you try to synchronize the SQL Server Compact Edition subscription again, the merge replication process detects the difference. Therefore, you receive the error message.

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Cumulative update information
To resolve this problem, install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2. Then, install cumulative update package 2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (build 3175). This problem is resolved in cumulative update package 2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (build 3175).

For more information about how to obtain SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

913089 How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

For more information about how to obtain cumulative hotfix package 2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (build 3175), click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

936305 Cumulative update package 2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is available

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WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, set the partition options property to the 1 value or to the 2 value.

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STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section.

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