Re: Postgresql 'backend closed the channelunexpectedly' - how to re-install?

"Jim Byrne (NTL)" <james(dot)byrne2(at)ntlworld(dot)com> writes:
> I had a look at the database but although I can login, all commands give the
> same error message about the 'backend closing the channel' unexpectedly. It
> looks like the database itself is corrupted, and not just the data."

Ugh. The failing backend process is probably dropping a core file in
the database directory --- can you get us a debugger stack trace from
the core file?

> I have spent a lot of time looking for fixes to this problem - without
> success. It looks to me as if I need to re-install the database?

Reinstalling the rpms would only help if the executable files got
corrupted, which is conceivable but not very likely. (You may as well
try it though.) The more likely bet is data file corruption, which you
may not be able to get out, of short of initdb and reload-all-the-data.
Unfortunately I have no idea what data the Cobalt GUI expects to find in
that database, or whether their "meta-verify" tool is capable of
rebuilding from an empty database. You're probably going to have to ask
the Cobalt folks for help.

regards, tom lane