- All work processes die right after the instance is started.
- The SAP MMC shows work processes with status "ended".
- Only one work process shows status "wait".
- An ABAP dump saying "PXA_NO_SHARED_MEMORY" is generated as soon as a user logs in.
- The SAP MMC Syslog shows the following error multiple times: "SAP-Basis System: Shared Memory for PXA buffer not available".
Problem Analysis
The instance profile contains misconfigured memory-related parameters. Most likely the "abap/buffersize" instance profile parameter is set to high.
Solution
Edit the instance system profile at the OS level under /usr/sap/<SID>/sys/profile and lower the value assigned to "abap/buffersize". Then, restart the instance.
Also, it's important to find out if any other memory parameter were changed. If not, the system should start once the adequate memory allocation has been set to the the "abap/buffersize" parameter.
TROUBLESHOOTING SAP STARTUP PROBLEMS
Home: Introduction
Scenario 1: Dispatcher does not start due to a port conflict
Scenario 2: Dispatcher dies due to a database connection problem
Scenario 3: SAP does not start at all: no message server and no dispatcher
Scenario 4: Users get 'No logon possible' messages when they attempt to log in
Scenario 5: The message server starts but the dispatcher doesn't
Scenario 6: Work processes die soon after they start
Review: Conclusion and more resources
This was first published in July 2005