SQL Server 2019 installation error on windows 11 with error "Could not find the database engine startup handle"

Question

SQL Server 2019 installation error on windows 11 with error "Could not find the database engine startup handle"

Abhishek Singh 26

I am trying to install SQL server 2019 on windows 11. But the installation always gets stuck on SQLEngineDBStartConfigAction_install_configrc_Cpu64

Then after some time it shows an error: -

I have tried everything from completely uninstalling, to changing rights, installing in a VHD, etc. but its not getting resolved. I am in urgent need of SQL server.
Attaching log file below:-

201630-log.txt

Chicheng Zhang 1 Reputation point

2022-10-13T18:21:59.54+00:00

maybe there is the same issue happened on my computer on windows 11.But I'm a chinese and I lived in Guangdong,so how could I fix that problem?
Chicheng Zhang 1 Reputation point

2022-10-13T18:22:08.55+00:00

maybe there is the same issue happened on my computer on windows 11.But I'm a chinese and I lived in Guangdong,so how could I fix that problem?
Erland Sommarskog 128.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2022-10-13T20:59:43.553+00:00

Beware that the error message Could not find the database engine startup handle is a general error which tells us that SQL Server did not start when Setup wanted to run configuration. There can be many reasons why this happens.

To find out why SQL Server does not start, you should look in the SQL Server errorlog, which you can find in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\ERRORLOG assuming a default installation. If you find an error message about 256 misaligned reads, this is a none issue and this article from Microsoft suggests workarounds.

If you don't see this error, please start a new thread and include the errorlog file.

Answer accepted by question author

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Chicheng Zhang 1 Reputation point

2022-10-13T18:21:59.54+00:00

maybe there is the same issue happened on my computer on windows 11.But I'm a chinese and I lived in Guangdong,so how could I fix that problem?
Chicheng Zhang 1 Reputation point

2022-10-13T18:22:08.55+00:00

maybe there is the same issue happened on my computer on windows 11.But I'm a chinese and I lived in Guangdong,so how could I fix that problem?
Erland Sommarskog 128.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2022-10-13T20:59:43.553+00:00

Beware that the error message Could not find the database engine startup handle is a general error which tells us that SQL Server did not start when Setup wanted to run configuration. There can be many reasons why this happens.

To find out why SQL Server does not start, you should look in the SQL Server errorlog, which you can find in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\ERRORLOG assuming a default installation. If you find an error message about 256 misaligned reads, this is a none issue and this article from Microsoft suggests workarounds.

If you don't see this error, please start a new thread and include the errorlog file.

Answer 1

Erland Sommarskog 128.7K MVP Volunteer Moderator

That was not the file I was asking for. However, the file you attached (and which I failed to observe when I read your first post, my apologies) explains why your setup fails.

You are victim for a bug in the Setup wizard. When your Windows locale is Hindi (India), the Setup Wizard will select Indic_General_90_CI_AS as the default collation. But this collation is not valid as a server or database collation. When you run the Setup wizard and you come to the Server Configuration page, go to the the Collation tab. Click the Change button. You can exit directly. That page knows that the collation above is not permitted, and will change the collation to Indic_General_90_CI_AS_SC_UTF8 which is legal. You can also make any other selection you may prefer.

As for that file I asked you to look at - don't look for it. With this particular error, you never get that file. (Most of the time when people get the error about the start up handle, there is a file, as SQL Server starts and stops. But in this case, SQL Server refuses to start due to the bad collation.)

Abhishek Singh 26 Reputation points

2022-05-14T08:14:28.487+00:00

Thank you very much, SQL server is finally installed after so much struggle. Saved me many hours. Thanks once again
Erland Sommarskog 128.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2022-05-14T08:23:43.167+00:00

By the way, I have reported this as a bug, which you can vote for here: https://feedback.azure.com/d365community/idea/b50d5511-d9c7-ec11-a81b-6045bd796569.
距离荒诞 0 Reputation points

2024-04-05T09:31:46.4533333+00:00

你好，我这边也有同样的问题。但是尝试了这个操作，发现并没有更改为-_uft8。是点击了更改，进入更改页面后，直接点击取消就会变更为__uft8吗？是在collation页面直接变更为_uft8吗？

Answer 2

Steve Lea 5

Run registry script in command prompt as admin

REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" /v "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes" /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "* 4095" /f

Reboot then rerun the setup i.e. setup.exe as admin

Install SQL server Normally.

Erland Sommarskog 128.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-09-01T21:26:43.7366667+00:00

That may resolve another common problem with Win11 + SQL Server, but not the issue that was the root problem for the original poster.
Hossein Mansouri 0 Reputation points

2023-09-18T09:12:33.3166667+00:00

Thanks Steve. With your help, my problem was solved. I changed windows several times, but finally with this command in Windows 11, the problem was solved. I just signed up here to say thanks.
Daniil Girin 0 Reputation points

2023-11-07T17:14:09.88+00:00

One week of tries! One hundred reinstallation! Same error. Windows 10 x64bit. It worked! Thank you, good man! Just signed up to support the previous comrade! It's worth to advise the rest of the people!

Answer 3

Olaf Helper 47,581

See https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/24364.sql-server-troubleshooting-could-not-find-database-engine-startup-handle-error-during-installation.aspx for details

Abhishek Singh 26 Reputation points

2022-05-13T10:10:08.643+00:00

As I told I have tried everything. I already followed the same link that you have provided with no result, still the same error.

Answer 4

Erland Sommarskog 128.7K MVP Volunteer Moderator

This error means that SQL Server did not start when Setup wanted to run installation scripts. To find out why SQL Server did not start, check the SQL Server errorlog, which you find in C:\Program Files\Micrisoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG. Note that the exact path depends on your installation options, so may need to modify it.

Abhishek Singh 26 Reputation points

2022-05-13T21:07:42.493+00:00

I have attached the log file in the question itself. Attaching it here also.
201893-log.txt

Can you please check and investigate the issue?

Answer 5

Flávia Cássia de Paula 0

Esta ocorrendo o mesmo erro comigo, segue o logERRORLOG.txt

Erland Sommarskog 128.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-07-14T21:29:07.18+00:00

House rules: don't piggyback on old threads, but ask a new Question, describing your problem from start to end. Also, the language for this forum is English.
Flávia Cássia de Paula 0 Reputation points

2023-07-15T14:56:03.22+00:00

Ok, I am sorry!

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SQL Server 2019 installation error on windows 11 with error "Could not find the database engine startup handle"

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