Cannot start Postgres : invalid data in PID file

On 04/14/11 1:01 AM, Daron Ryan wrote:

Problem: Cannot start Postgres
Platform: Postgres 8.3, Windows Vista Home
Error Message: pg_ctl: invalid data in PID file "C:/Program
Files/PostgreSQL/8.3/data/postmaster.pid"

I run postgres on Windows Vista Home Edition. It normally runs as a
service but is not starting. I created a command line instruction by
copying the data from Windows service GUI and changing "runservice" to
"start". Under the command line it produces the following:

C:\Users\Daron>"C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/8.3/bin/pg_ctl.exe" start
-N "postgr
esql-8.3" -D "C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/8.3/data" -w
pg_ctl: invalid data in PID file "C:/Program
Files/PostgreSQL/8.3/data/postmaste
r.pid"

Entering "type postmaster.pid" in the appropriate directory produces a
couple of blank lines.

I thought of trying to delete the PID file but I am not sure if it may
cause further problems.

as long as you can ensure that the server is not running, its perfectly
safe to delete the PID file.

The postmaster.pid file shows the pid of the postmaster. The file
shouldn't exist when the postmaster isn't running, so it should be
safe to delete. Its presence does indicate that postgres was
improperly shutdown though.

--
Peter Geoghegan       http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Training and Services