Asp.net Provider 80004005 Unspecified error can be a pain unless fixed.

It appears all of a sudden making website features inaccessible.

The typical causes include unresponsive databases, insuficients permissions, etc.

At Bobcares, we often get requests to solve such ASP errors as part of our Server Management Services.

Today, let’s analyze the cause and see how our Support Team fix it for our customers.

Why use Asp.net?

Firstly let’s take a looks at ASP.NET.

ASP.NET is a web application framework. It allows us to use a full-featured programming language such as C# or VB.NET to build web applications easily.

Windows servers are most used for Asp development. Moreover, the Plesk control panel is  one of the common choice for Windows servers.

Cause and Fix for Asp.net Provider 80004005 Unspecified error

Recently, one of our clients made a slight change to his database. After that, when he uploaded the new database, he started seeing the error message on his website.

The error snippet was :

Provider error '80004005'
Unspecified error
C:\INETPUB\VHOSTS\MYDOMAIN\HTTPDOCS\HOME\../includes/inc_header2.asp, line 37

Further, the client reported that everything was working fine until uploading of new MS Access database. However, the Compact and repair also didn’t help to fix the issue.

There are a few possible reasons for the error to appear. We will discuss how our Support Team handled the error after analyzing the causes.

1. Unresponsive database

Asp.net Provider 80004005 Unspecified error can happen due to open IIS instances. As a result, the database gets stuck. Similarly, even after recycling the IIS app pool, sometimes connections remain open in IIS and the database becomes unresponsive.

Solution: Our support team suggests the clients close all opened connections in IIS before any changes. For instance, to fix the error, we recycle the IIS Application Pool from the control panel itself.

2. Insufficient Permission

The error may happen due to insufficient permission for the user to access the database.

Solution: Our Dedicated Engineers fix the file permission for the .mdb file and allow access by the user.

3. Incorrect ASP.NET version

In many cases, an incorrect network framework version can cause the 80004005 error.

Solution: The fix here is to set the correct framework version. We do this from the Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Internet Information Services. We then right-click on View Application Pools. Then set the Network framework version to v4.0 for both “Classic NET AppPool” and “DefaultAppPool“.

4. Invalid Connecting String

Similarly, the error can be with the connection string in the ASP code. Recently, our client was having the same error again. We tracked the error and we found that the code was trying to connect a particular .mdb file. But the uploaded file name was different.

Solution: We fixed it by replacing the config file with the correct database name.

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Conclusion

In short, Asp.net Provider 80004005 Unspecified error happens due to invalid connecting string, unresponsive database, incorrect ASP settings and a few other factors. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers fix errors related to Asp.