Error description: Could not find the Database Engine startup handle (but my sector is already set at 4096 bytes!)

Stefano Romito 1 Reputation point
2022-11-17T15:42:46.93+00:00

Hi everyone,

As many users experienced, I'm having trouble installing the SQL Server Express 2019.
The Operating System is Windows 11 and any guide that I found online (forums included) recommend to change the PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity because it should be 512 bytes or 4096 bytes.
Unfortunately mine already is set at 4096 bytes (as shown in the following screen):
261505-image.png

SQL server still blocks me from installing the SQL database engine.

The same issue occurs when I try to install SQL server 2022 express:
261592-image.png

Can someone help to find a fix?
Thanks,
Stefano R

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  1. Seeya Xi-MSFT 16,436 Reputation points
    2022-11-18T06:06:23.347+00:00

    Hi @Stefano Romito ,

    For better troubleshooting, could you provide some file, such as summary.txt or detail.txt?
    The path is here: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.
    If there is no problem, you can also check the errorlog. The errorlog is located at Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.n\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG and ERRORLOG.n files.

    Best regards,
    Seeya

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    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Seeya Xi-MSFT 16,436 Reputation points
    2022-11-21T08:44:26.72+00:00

    Hi @Stefano Romito ,

    There is no problem about changing the sector size to 4096. If there is an error about the sector, you can see it in the errorlog. Because of the language difference, your detail.txt and summary.txt are not in English. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for the failure.
    It is recommended that you uninstall SQL Server and reinstall it.
    please follow the below steps to remove all components of previous installed SQL Server completely:

    1. Remove all SQL Server components from 'Programs and Features'
    2. Backup the registry
    3. Delete the following keys in regedit:
      --HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server
      --HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer
    4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and delete all the sub-keys referencing SQL Server
    5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and delete all the keys referencing SQL Server
    6. Reboot the machine
      In addition, please use an administrator account to reinstall SQL Server on your computer (Right click->run as administrator).

    Best regards,
    Seeya

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  3. Stefano Romito 1 Reputation point
    2022-11-21T09:30:42.897+00:00

    Hi @Seeya Xi-MSFT ,

    I followed your steps but the issue is still the same.
    Nothing changes if I try to install the 2022 version of SQL Server Express.
    What else can I do to fix?

    Thanks,
    Stefano R

    262459-summary.txt262571-error-sql.png262518-detail.txt

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  4. Stefano Romito 1 Reputation point
    2022-11-21T09:51:33.347+00:00

    Hi @Seeya Xi-MSFT ,

    Here's the ERRORLOG as requested.
    My PC is a HP EliteBook 840 G9 and meets the installation requirements.

    Thanks,
    Stefano R

    262573-errorlog.txt

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  5. Seeya Xi-MSFT 16,436 Reputation points
    2022-11-22T03:16:31.527+00:00

    Hi @Stefano Romito ,

    There have been 256 misaligned log IOs which required falling back to synchronous IO.

    This is the information from your error log. On systems running Windows 11, some new storage devices and device drivers will expose a disk sector size greater than the supported 4 KB sector size.
    When this occurs, SQL Server will be unable to start due to the unsupported file system as SQL Server currently supports sector storage sizes of 512 bytes and 4 KB.

    Please refer to this Microsoft document:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/admin/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size?fbclid=IwAR0bfkbYbNEd9SKGI6lfScgx_LnegKwpmKM2N9gn_huVvWcBdDmcRTKjwnE

    Consider one of the following solutions:

    1. If you have multiple drives on this system, you can specify a different location for the database files after installation of SQL Server is complete. Make sure that drive reflects a supported sector size when querying the fsutil commands. SQL Server currently supports sector storage sizes of 512 bytes and 4096 bytes.
    2. You can add a registry key which will cause the behavior of Windows 11 and later to be similar to Windows 10. This will force the sector size to be emulated as 4 KB in size. To add the ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes registry key, use the Registry Editor, or you can run one of the following commands in Windows command prompt or PowerShell, executed as an administrator.

    Best regards,
    Seeya

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