Oracle Database Tips by Donald Burleson

Note: Starting in 11gR2, the listener log is not activated by default. You have to turn on listener logging: logging_listener_name=on

Question:

I initially installed Oracle 8i on my PC. Recently I installed Oracle forms 6i; since that day I have not been able to connect to my database. I receive an ora-12203 error message because listener is not started. I tried to start the listener service by going to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and Services. I still receive the same error message.

This question posed on 09 November 2005

Answer:

Well, I can't solve your problem but I can direct you where to begin looking. First, look for the listener log in $ORACLE_HOME/network/log. This may tell you why the listener will not start. Also, check the database alert log to insure that the database is starting. Sometimes the service will tell you it started when in fact it never gets to the point of being open.

Try to manually start the listener. Open a command prompt. Set the oracle home and then start the listener, as shown below:

C:> set ORACLE_HOME=C:\oracle\ora8i (whatever yours is)

C:> lsnrctl start

If this fails you will have the errors that caused it to fail. You can use the listener control utility to start, stop or check the status of the listener.

C:> lsnrctl status

I hope that will at least get you to the point of not getting the listener error message or to help you find out why the message is occurring.

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