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Q182085: XCON: MTA Fails with 9405 Error Queue-Desc-Object (ID1)

Article: Q182085
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 12-JUL-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you try to start the Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA), the
service may fail to start and the following error message appears in the Windows
NT Application Log:

  Event ID: 9405
  Source: MSExchangeMTA
  Type: Error
  Category: Field Engineering

  An unexpected error has occurred which may cause the MTA to terminate.
  Error: Queue-Desc-Object (ID 1) not found. [BASE MAIN BASE 1] (16)

Additionally, running MTACHECK against the \mtadata directory will fail with a
similar error message:

  Error in Queue-Desc-Object (ID 1) initialization
  Database contains serious errors and cannot be automatically repaired.

CAUSE
=====

This error occurs when the file DB000001.DAT is missing from the
exchsrvr\mtadata directory on the affected Exchange Server computer. Reasons for
this file being lost are usually user intervention, file corruption, or hard
disk corruption. This results in Windows NT automatically running a CHKDSK
during the next startup and the corrupt file being deleted.

WORKAROUND
==========

The MTADATA directory needs to be rebuilt. Consult the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article on rebuilding the MTADATA directory:

  Q162384 XCON: How to Troubleshoot MTA Starting Failures

MORE INFORMATION
================

Because DB000001.DAT is one of the MTA core static data files, it cannot just be
copied from the Exchange Server CD-ROM. If DB000001.DAT is copied from the
Exchange Server CD-ROM and the MTA is restarted, message data loss may occur.

Additional query words: exception emsmta dat

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbExchange550 kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Issue type        : kbprb

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