Fix: Lotus Notes Error 0x1a5

Lotus Notes saves all user mailbox data in NSF file format. If the NSF file gets corrupt then, it may lead the user to a big trouble. Whenever the Lotus Notes database gets corrupt then, user may receive different types of error messages while sending, receiving mails and performing other operations with the Lotus Notes application. Severe level of corruption can make user permanently loose their valuable mail data.

In this article, I want to introduce the readers with “Lotus Notes: Error 0x1A5” that is generally faced by the users in Lotus Notes/Domino environment.

Lotus Notes: Error 0x1A5
Causes:
The above error may occur:

• When the “Directory=” parameter may be missing from the notes.ini file.
• When database maintenance tools (like Fixup, Compact or Updall) are run by user on a partitioned server.

Lets go through the first error causing scenario I.e. When the “Directory=” parameter may be missing from the notes.ini file. In this situation user need to set the "Directory=" parameter in notes.ini file to resolve the error.

Notes.ini file:
Notes.ini file plays a very important role for proper functioning of Lotus Notes and Domino .If the parameters in the Notes.ini are incorrectly set  then, Lotus Notes and Domino couldn’t run properly.
Notes.ini should be modified only when needed or if Lotus Support Services recommends doing so. Otherwise, any wrong modification may lead to unpredictable & erroneous behaviour of Lotus Notes and Domino.

Three ways to edit NOTES.INI settings:

• With the help text editor : Open and edit the NOTES.INI file using the text editor you use such as word pad/ notepad or it may also depend on the OS you are using. 

• With the help of Configuration Settings document: You can use Configuration Settings document to add and modify NOTES.INI settings. But there are some limitations:
• There are some settings couldn’t be set or modified using Configuration Settings document.
• It cannot be used for modifying NOTES.INI file of Notes Client; it is applied only for Domino servers.
• With the help of Set Configuration server command.

Most of the users choose to edit the NOTES.INI file by opening it with the help of text editor, it is the simplest way.

Follow the below steps to set the "Directory=" parameter in your notes.ini file:
1.Open the server's notes.ini file with the help of some text editor program (such as Notepad or WordPad)
2. Go to the line "NotesProgram=".
3. Then, add "Directory=<full path to your domino data directory>"
For example: Directory=C: \Lotus\Domino\Data
4. After editing, save the changes done and close the notes.ini file.
5. Restart the Domino server.

Check if you are still getting the same error. I hope these steps will solve your problem.

It’s always advisable to adopt the preventive measures to avoid Lotus Notes database corruption. Transaction logging must be enabled for Lotus Notes Domino, its serves as a good way to bring Lotus Notes database in consistent state if corruption occurs. As well as, database maintenance task should be done on regular basis so that severe data corruption situations can be avoided.

Lotus Notes database maintenance task can be performed with the help of fixup, compact and updall commands. You may receive "Lotus Notes error: 0x1A5." while running a maintenance task, like fixup, compact, or updall, for a database on a partitioned server. In such situation, the steps to resolve "Lotus Notes error: 0x1A5." is totally different from above discussed method. I am going to discuss the same in my upcoming post.