Missing database

[Avatars91]

Hi,

I switched my antivirus from AVG free to Avira and also carried out some system optimisation procedures via a system optimisation tool (freed some disk space, optimised some start-up processes). Next time I opened HM2 and could see only one of my optional databases on the list of databases and after reimporting hands from the archive I noticed that there are a lot of important hands missing such as at least a couple of big pots that I lost. I'm not sure what exactly may have caused the database to disappear and why there are some hands missing in the archive folder, but to cut a long story short, I'm mostly interested in determining what's the best method of getting back as much from my old database in the form that it was before it disappeared. Could anything involving PG admin 3 work perhaps? Or is there no solution to me and I can only stick with what the HM2 archive folder has to offer? It's weird that some hands are not in the archive if I clearly remember looking at some time ago in my database.

[udbrky]

Did you manually move files from the archive? The archive is where imported hand histories are moved after writing the information to the database.

AVG causes a lot of trouble. Avira causes major issues. It blocks the database folder, keeping us from writing to it. In some cases, we have seen Avira corrupt Windows to the point the hard drive needs to be reformatted. We do not recommend using it at any time. We recommend Microsoft Security Essentials or Kaspersky for the lowest chance of HM2 conflicts while staying protected against viruses.

Many of those free Norton, Mcaffee, Comodo, Zonealarm, Avira, Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, etc, 'internet security' bundles will not work well with Holdem Manager.

Please do the following steps, so we can get your computer to a state that we know will work with Holdem Manager:

1) Uninstall any 3rd party security software bundles.
2) Reboot your computer
3) Please install the latest version: http://www.holdemmanager.com/downloa...ger_2_Beta.exe
- After downloading, you should right-click the file, go to properties and click unblock.*
* If you do not see an 'unblock' option you can ignore this step.
- Then, right click the file and run as administrator.
4) Enable Windows Firewall's recommended settings through your Control Panel, turn off Windows Defender, and add firewall exceptions for HM and SQL - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: Software Security Problems (Firewall)
5) Install Microsoft Security Essentials for antivirus/malware protection and update it - Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Afterwards, you will need to undo what AVG did.

Please see this FAQ to alleviate any security bottlenecks - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: Set Correct Permissions on files and folders HM2 use

Please try to vacuum/analyze and reindex your database - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: Database Manager (Ribbon)

If you continue to have problems, try the following:

Try creating a new DataBase and import a small portion of your \HM2Archive so you can see if the problem exists in the new DB - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How to create a new database and import previously played hands

If the new database seems to work properly, it sounds like your database might be corrupt. Please continue to use the new database and import the rest of your hands using the steps above. This is why regular backups are a good idea. If your database becomes corrupt you can restore a backup and only have to import the most recent hands (that were played after the backup was created) and edit any tournament results if necessary.

Here is a FAQ explaining how to backup your database and all settings in one easy step - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup and Restore Database, Settings and HUD configs work?

[Avatars91]

I completed all these steps but the database manager still shows only 1 of my databases. However, the folders of the ones which disappeared are still in the same directory where that 1 working database is located (..AppDate\Roaming\HoldemManager\Database) and are not empty. Can this somehow be a problem with Postgres?

[udbrky]

Did you reinstall postgres? Did you delete any files in the postgres folder?

This is an issue we see with AVG - it blocks files and causes database issues.

[Avatars91]

I did not reinstall postgres and did not delete any files in the postgres folder manually. But I did use CCleaner, which cleaned up tons of space on my computer. No idea what it deleted but that may very likely be related.

As for AVG, I have uninstalled it and have Kaspersky now, so that shouldn't cause trouble.

Any chance I could still somehow fix this to gain access to those databases? They're still in the necessary directory and have lots of files in them, perhaps it's possible to get it all back?

[fozzy71]

This is why regular backups are a good idea. If your database becomes corrupt you can restore a backup and only have to import the most recent hands (that were played after the backup was created) and edit any tournament results if necessary. Here is a FAQ explaining how to backup your database and all settings in one easy step - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup and Restore Database, Settings and HUD configs work?

You can try the steps below to reinstall and reconnect the existing databases but if this doesn't work you will need to restore your most recent backup if you have one and import hands that were played after the backup was created, or recreate the database from scratch manually using the archived hands:

Please note that reinstalling PostgreSQL will mean losing all your old data. If you have access to HM2 and your database was not corrupt then please follow these instructions for backing up your database as a precaution in case you cannot reconnect after reinstalling PostgreSQL - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup and Restore Database, Settings and HUD configs work?

If you cannot access the database in HM2 then you can backup your database using this method: Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup or Restore via PostgreSQL work? (Advanced Method) but if your database was corrupt then the best solution is to reimport all your hands from C:/HM2archive folder or if your pokersite supports it you can request all your hands and summaries and reimport them as restoring a corrupt database will just restore all the problems you had.

Once you have backed up your previous database(s) then follow the instructions below to uninstall and reinstall PostgreSQL using the same database.

1) Uninstall PostgreSQL from the Windows Control Panel.

2) Run the command - start > programs > accessories > command prompt > right-click > run as administrator and type the following and then press enter:

net user postgres /delete

3) You should get a successfully completed response if done correctly. If you get a permission type error you likely didnt run it as administrator as explained above.

4) Reboot your PC

5) Install the same version of PostgreSQL as your previous database using these instructions - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: Reinstall PostgreSQL 8.4 while preserving database
http://www.holdemmanager.com/downloads/postgres84

[Avatars91]

Thank you for your support.
I did all the steps and that sadly didn't work.

What is more, I decided to try and create another database in HM2 and whenever I try to create a new database I get an error "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation" and the database does not show up in the database manager. However, the database does show up in the ..appdata\roaming\holdemmanager\database folder.

The one database that I have been using ever since this issue came up is an almost empty secondary one that somehow survived. I reimported my hands from the archive into it but lots of hands seem to be missing and all hands seem to have duplicates for the time period before the end of September, as I recently discovered.

Anyways, should I rather reinstall postgres by creating a new database, reimport hands from the archive and then just live with the fact that the old one's are gone in the form that they were? Or could it still be possible to trace the root of this issue and somehow fix this all in the light of all the information that I can provide on the issue? Because pgAdmin also shows all the lost databases as well as the newly created ones. Some of them show an error "FATAL: could not open relation base/384498/1249: No such file or directory" when I click on them in pgAdmin and some show that same error when I click on them and navigate to "catalogs" and then "PostgreSQL (pg_catalog)". But I get the same error when I click on any freshly created database that also does not appear in the database manager.

[udbrky]

It looks like Postgres is corrupted.

Please note that reinstalling PostgreSQL will mean losing all your old data. If you have access to HM2 and your database was not corrupt then please follow these instructions for backing up your database as a precaution in case you cannot reconnect after reinstalling PostgreSQL - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup and Restore Database, Settings and HUD configs work?

If you cannot access the database in HM2 then you can backup your database using this method: Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: How does Backup or Restore via PostgreSQL work? (Advanced Method) but if your database was corrupt then the best solution is to reimport all your hands from C:/HM2archive folder or if your pokersite supports it you can request all your hands and summaries and reimport them as restoring a corrupt database will just restore all the problems you had.

Once you have backed up your previous database(s) then follow the instructions below to uninstall and reinstall PostgreSQL using the same database.

1) Uninstall PostgreSQL from the Windows Control Panel.

2) Run the command - start > programs > accessories > command prompt > right-click > run as administrator and type the following and then press enter:

net user postgres /delete

3) You should get a successfully completed response if done correctly. If you get a permission type error you likely didnt run it as administrator as explained above.

4) Reboot your PC

5) Install the same version of PostgreSQL as your previous database using these instructions - Hold'Em Manager 2 FAQs - Poker Software :: Reinstall PostgreSQL 8.4 while preserving database
http://www.holdemmanager.com/downloads/postgres84

[Avatars91]

That's what fozzy suggested and I did that already but sadly with no success. Perhaps I should backup the databases through pgadmin and then uninstall postgres completely, also deleting all folders and removing it from the registry. Reinstalling it the way suggested above still resulted in having a corrupted postgres. I could just remove any trace from it on my computer and then just perform a clean install and restore the databases from the backup files via pgAdmin, no? Would that not work?

[fozzy71]

If you backup/restore a corrupted database it is most likely just going to restore the corruption. If you don't have a backup from before the corruption you don't really have much choice other than recreating it manually.