Re: error- how to solve-reg

rinto r john <rintotkml(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> while starting postgressql 8.3 it shows an FAITAL error,can u please help
> to solve the error
> error shown as below.

> FATAL: incorrect checksum in control file.

This isn't a bug (or at least you've not provided any evidence that it
is), so pgsql-general or pgsql-admin would be a more appropriate forum.

Before anyone can offer really useful advice, we'd need to know:

* how'd you get into this situation? Something bad must have happened,
perhaps a power failure or O/S crash ... do you know what?

* What platform is this on? And which 8.3.x PG release exactly?
(I'll refrain from lecturing you about running out-of-support releases,
but you are ...)

* Is pg_controldata able to print anything useful from the control file?
What does it show exactly?

Your basic alternatives for getting out of this situation are going to
be (1) re-initdb and restore from your last backup, or (2) apply
pg_resetxlog and then try to pick up the pieces. Neither one of these
is particularly appealing, especially if you haven't got a recent
backup. Without answers to the questions above, it's hard to say
what your prospects of success with (2) are. In any case I'd
recommend making a physical copy (e.g. tar or zip backup) of your
whole $PGDATA directory tree before you start, so you can at least
get back to where you are if things go wrong.

regards, tom lane