FIX: Heavy TEXT/IMAGE Inserts May Lead to Error 611 (195530)

SYMPTOMS

Large numbers of users performing inserts into the same table with a TEXT or IMAGE column, within a transaction, can raise an error 611 as follows:

Error: 611 Severity: 21 State: 1 Attempt made to end transaction that is idle or in the middle of an update.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, perform the following steps:

Remove the transaction or alter the transaction scope.
Insert a NULL into the TEXT or IMAGE column within the transaction.
Update to data to the proper text value outside the actual BEGIN TRANSACTION and COMMIT TRANSACTION statements.

Avoid using this method on non-logged text operations. Each time a non-logged text operation is completed, the SQL Server must make sure all dirty pages associated with the table are flushed to complete the operation. If many spids have dirtied pages, this can be a significant flush. In many cases, it may be better to increase the log size and avoid the immediate checkpoint of all pages associated with the specified table.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 6.5. This problem has been corrected in Service Pack 5a for Microsoft SQL Server 6.5.For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

197177 INF: How to Obtain SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a