SQL Server instalion problems

Question

Oops ...

Unable to install SQL Server (setup.exe).

Exit code (Decimal): -2061893606Error description: Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for

potential causes.

Answer 1

The error message you are encountering, "Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed," indicates that SQL Server did not start when the setup process attempted to run configuration steps. To troubleshoot this issue, you should check the SQL Server error log located at:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG

This log will provide more details on why the SQL Server did not start. Additionally, if you see a message about 256 misaligned reads, this could be related to a known issue with Windows 11, where certain disk drives report a sector size that SQL Server cannot handle. Microsoft has published workarounds for this problem.

If you do not see the misaligned reads message, consider uploading the error log for further assistance, but remember to rename it to ERRORLOG.txt for compatibility with forum software.

Answer 2

This is my copy-paste answer for this error message. Not to unsimilar from the AI response (it has obviously been training on my posts), but a few more details and also a link which is missing from the AI response:

The message Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed is a generic error that means that SQL Server did not start when Setup wanted to run configuration steps. To understand why it did not start, you need to look in the SQL Server errorlog, which you find in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL17.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG. Note that the component MSSQL17.MSSQLSERVER is for a default instance of SQL 2025. If you are trying to install an older version or a named instance, this component will have a different name.

If you see a message about 256 misaligned reads, you are running into a known issue where Windows 11 for some disk drives reports a sector size that SQL Server does not cope with. Microsoft has published an article with workarounds for the problem.

If you don't see the message about misaligned reads, feel free to upload the errorlog here, so we can look at it. You will need to rename to ERRORLOG.txt for the forum software to accept it.