Windows NT Err Msg: The RPC Server is Unavailable

ID: Q131469

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

If you have insufficient resources on your Windows NT Server system, one or both of the following errors may appear on clients computers that are trying to connect to the server:

Error 1723: The RPC server is too busy to complete this operation.
-or-
Error 1722: The RPC server is unavailable.

NOTE: These errors may appear in a windowed dialog box, or as a numbered event error message in the system log on the client computer. The service or utility running on the server at the time of the error determines how the error appears on the client.


CAUSE

If your server has more than 48 megabytes of RAM, the problem may occur because PagedPoolSize is set too small. The static value for PagedPoolSize is established when you install Windows NT.


RESOLUTION

This has been corrected in Windows NT 3.51. When you upgrade your computer from a previous version, if Windows NT Setup finds the value 0x03000000 (48 MB), it is reset to 0, which is the 3.51 default at installation time.


WORKAROUND

You may be able to work around this problem by increasing the PagedPoolSize value in the registry.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

To correct this problem:

  1. Shutdown Windows NT.


  2. Turn the server off and then turn it back on.


  3. Start Windows NT.


  4. Run Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE).


  5. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
    
      \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
    You will find that the value for PagedPoolSize is 0x03000000 (48MB).


  6. Set PagePoolSize to zero.


  7. Shutdown and restart Windows NT.


When PagedPoolSize is set to zero, Windows NT automatically calculates a new value based on the amount of physical memory installed.


MORE INFORMATION

The small PagedPoolSize is only one of several potential triggers, or first causes, that affect the operation of SERVICES.EXE. The "RPC server is too busy..." and "RPC server unavailable..." messages indicate that SERVICES.EXE or one of its threads may have hung. A thread may remain in a blocking state and appear to be hung if a resource is not available.

SERVICES.EXE is a process that functions as the service control manager. It also runs a variety of Windows NT user mode functions as threads including server, browsing, event log, and RPC services. The symptoms are typically returned by workstations performing commands (including net view, event log, and other related RPC requests). Client RPC requests to the pipe \SRVSVC, result in Server Message Block (SMB) errors returned with STATUS_PIPE_NOT_AVAILABLE by the server.

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q130069 SERVICES.EXE Fails With Access Violation and Returns RPC Busy...

Q126401 Err Msg: "Not Enough Server Storage is Available to Process..."


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1 and Windows NT Server version 3.5. This problem has been resolved in Windows NT version 3.51.

Additional query words: 3.10 prodnt cpr sufficient pagedpool page pool size ntfaqmax 


Keywords          : kberrmsg kbnetwork ntconfig ntregistry NTSrv 
Version           : 
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: February 24, 1999