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Informix Error -911

-911 System error - Cannot read from pipe.

This internal error reflects a failure in communication between your application and the Informix STAR or IBM Informix NET software. Look for operating-system error messages that might give more information. Restart the application. If the problem recurs, note all circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-911 fires when communication between the application and the Informix STAR/NET software fails on the read side of an internal pipe — per the official guidance, this is an internal error, distinct from the network-level -912/-913 errors, and reflects a local inter-process-communication breakdown rather than a network problem.

  1. A local IPC (pipe) failure between the application process and the Informix STAR/NET software's process, per the official guidance.
  2. An OS-level resource issue affecting the pipe, given the official guidance's pointer to checking OS-level error messages.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Look for OS-level error messages that might give more information, per the official guidance.
  2. Restart the application, per the official guidance — the documented first step.
  3. If the problem recurs, note all circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support, per the official guidance.
Examples
N/A

An internal IPC error — restart the application first; escalate with OS-level error detail if it recurs.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check OS-level error messages around the time of the failure.
  2. Restart the application as the documented first response.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -914 — "System error - Cannot write to pipe." The write-side counterpart to this read-side internal pipe failure.
  • -912 — "Network error - Could not write to database server." A related but distinct category — a genuine network failure, rather than a local IPC pipe issue.
  • -913 — "Network error - Could not read from database server." Same distinction as -912, on the read side.

A local IPC failure, distinct from the network-level -912/-913 errors — restart the application first.