Informix Error -12109: Smart Large Objects: Conversion failed.

Cause and resolution

Smart Large Objects: Conversion failed.

During conversion/reversion of server, conversion/reversion of sbspace failed.

Your smart blob space might have been corrupted before conversion.

Run oncheck -cS and oncheck -ce on all sbspaces before conversion. If an sbspace is corrupt, you might need to restore the sbspace from a backup before conversion.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-12109 fires when sbspace conversion/reversion fails during server version conversion/reversion — per the official guidance.

The smartblob space having been corrupted before conversion, per the official guidance — the direct, likely cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Run oncheck -cS and oncheck -ce on all sbspaces before conversion, per the official guidance.
Restore the sbspace from a backup before conversion if it's found corrupt, per the official guidance.

Examples

Checking sbspace integrity before conversion

$ oncheck -cS sbspace_name
$ oncheck -ce sbspace_name

Diagnostic Checks

Run oncheck -cS/oncheck -ce on the sbspace, and restore from backup if corruption is found.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-12108 — "Smart Large Objects: Unknown version." A related version-conversion error, on an unrecognized target version rather than a corrupted sbspace.

Sbspace conversion/reversion failed, likely due to pre-existing corruption — check with oncheck -cS/oncheck -ce and restore from backup if needed.