Microsoft KB Archive/154385

Knowledge Base

MTA generates error message because of corrupted or missing .tpl file

Article ID: 154385

Article Last Modified on 2/27/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q154385

SYMPTOMS

In Exchange Server 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5, when you start the Exchange Server message transfer agent (MTA), you may receive the following error message:

Could not start the Exchange Message Transfer Agent service on \\server_name.
Error 2140: An internal Windows NT error occurred.

The following stop error message may be logged in the Application event log in Event Viewer:

Event ID 9400 MSExchangeMTA
An MTA fatal error has occurred. The file file_name.TPL could not be opened. [BASE MAIN BASE 1] (16)

The MTA cannot start at this point.

In Exchange 2000 Server, the MTA Stacks service may stop responding and you may receive the following error message:

Could not start the Microsoft Exchange MTA Stacks service on local_computer. The service did not return an error. This could be an internal Windows error or an internal service error. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.

There may be no events logged in the Application or System event logs.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if a .tpl file is missing or corrupted.

The 9400 error message contains a file name (Bind.tpl, Rose.tpl, Common.tpl, and so on). This file should be located in the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder, but the file may be missing or corrupted.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue:

1. Identify the file in the error message and see if the file is located in the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder.
2. If the file is there, rename the file in File Manager.
3. Whether the file is in the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder or not, copy a new instance of the file from the Setup\CPU_type\Mtadata folder that is located on the Exchange Server compact disc.
4. After copying the file to the computer, right-click the file in the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder, and then click Properties.
5. On the General tab, click to clear the Read-only check box, and then click OK.
6. Restart the MTA service.

Additional query words: 2140 mta server down crash 9406 exch2kp2w

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb kbusage KB154385

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