SQL Server 2019 installation Windows 11 "Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed" Error

Question

I can't install SQL Server 2019 on my Windows 11 machine, because it fails to start Database Engine Services and I do not understand why. This is my personal computer and I have full access and all permissions to it.

I know this error is posted all over the inte.net and I've seen a few on StackOverflow already, however no solution what so ever I could find anywhere helped me solve this issue.

Installation failure screenshot

I've spent quite a few hours trying multiple tutorials online but I feel like I've reached a dead end. In my desperation I've even tried to reinstall windows to no avail.

I hope my explanation was clear enough even though I'm almost falling asleep because I stayed up so late trying to fix this. Thank you very much for your help and I can provide more logs or information on what I've tried or not.

Edit: as suggested in the comments, I've checked sector sizes with the command prompt, and this is the output, it is not the expected value indeed:

    C:\WINDOWS\system32>fsutil fsinfo sectorinfo C:
LogicalBytesPerSector :                                 512
PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity :                    32768
PhysicalBytesPerSectorForPerformance :                  32768
FileSystemEffectivePhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity : 4096
Device Alignment :                                      Aligned (0x000)
Partition alignment on device :                         Aligned (0x000)
No Seek Penalty
Trim Supported
Not DAX capable
Not Thinly-Provisioned

Summary log:

Overall summary:
  Final result:                  Failed: see details below
  Exit code (Decimal):           -2061893606
  Start time:                    2022-02-02 02:21:47
  End time:                      2022-02-02 02:25:37
  Requested action:              Install

Setup completed with required actions for features.
Troubleshooting information for those features:
  Next step for SQLEngine:       Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.


Machine Properties:
  Machine name:                  CISMAILPC
  Machine processor count:       16
  OS version:                    Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22000)
  OS service pack:               
  OS region:                     United States
  OS language:                   English (United States)
  OS architecture:               x64
  Process architecture:          64 Bit
  OS clustered:                  No

Product features discovered:
  Product              Instance             Instance ID                    Feature                                  Language             Edition              Version         Clustered  Configured

Package properties:
  Description:                   Microsoft SQL Server 2019 
  ProductName:                   SQL Server 2019
  Type:                          RTM
  Version:                       15
  SPLevel:                       0
  Installation location:         C:\SQL2019\Developer_ENU\x64\setup\
  Installation edition:          Developer

Product Update Status:
  None discovered.

User Input Settings:
  ACTION:                        Install
  ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN:      false
  AGTSVCACCOUNT:                 NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
  AGTSVCPASSWORD:                *****
  AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Manual
  ASBACKUPDIR:                   Backup
  ASCOLLATION:                   Latin1_General_CI_AS
  ASCONFIGDIR:                   Config
  ASDATADIR:                     Data
  ASLOGDIR:                      Log
  ASPROVIDERMSOLAP:              1
  ASSERVERMODE:                  TABULAR
  ASSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  ASSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ASSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ASSYSADMINACCOUNTS:            <empty>
  ASTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ASTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ASTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ASTEMPDIR:                     Temp
  BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:         Disabled
  CLTCTLRNAME:                   <empty>
  CLTRESULTDIR:                  <empty>
  CLTSTARTUPTYPE:                0
  CLTSVCACCOUNT:                 <empty>
  CLTSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  CLTWORKINGDIR:                 <empty>
  COMMFABRICENCRYPTION:          0
  COMMFABRICNETWORKLEVEL:        0
  COMMFABRICPORT:                0
  CONFIGURATIONFILE:             C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20220202_021140\ConfigurationFile.ini
  CTLRSTARTUPTYPE:               0
  CTLRSVCACCOUNT:                <empty>
  CTLRSVCPASSWORD:               <empty>
  CTLRUSERS:                     <empty>
  ENABLERANU:                    false
  ENU:                           true
  EXTSVCACCOUNT:                 <empty>
  EXTSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  FEATURES:                      SQLENGINE, SNAC_SDK
  FILESTREAMLEVEL:               0
  FILESTREAMSHARENAME:           <empty>
  FTSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  FTSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  HELP:                          false
  IACCEPTPYTHONLICENSETERMS:     false
  IACCEPTROPENLICENSETERMS:      false
  IACKNOWLEDGEENTCALLIMITS:      false
  INDICATEPROGRESS:              false
  INSTALLSHAREDDIR:              C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR:           C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSQLDATADIR:             <empty>
  INSTANCEDIR:                   C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTANCEID:                    MSSQLSERVER
  INSTANCENAME:                  MSSQLSERVER
  ISMASTERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISMASTERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCPORT:               8391
  ISMASTERSVCSSLCERTCN:          <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  ISMASTERSVCTHUMBPRINT:         <empty>
  ISSVCACCOUNT:                  NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ISSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ISTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ISTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ISTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ISWORKERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISWORKERSVCCERT:               <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCMASTER:             <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  MATRIXCMBRICKCOMMPORT:         0
  MATRIXCMSERVERNAME:            <empty>
  MATRIXNAME:                    <empty>
  MRCACHEDIRECTORY:              
  NPENABLED:                     0
  PBDMSSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBDMSSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBDMSSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBENGSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBENGSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBENGSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBPORTRANGE:                   <empty>
  PBSCALEOUT:                    false
  PID:                           *****
  QUIET:                         false
  QUIETSIMPLE:                   false
  ROLE:                          
  RSINSTALLMODE:                 DefaultNativeMode
  RSSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  RSSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  RSSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  SAPWD:                         *****
  SECURITYMODE:                  SQL
  SQLBACKUPDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLCOLLATION:                  SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
  SQLJAVADIR:                    <empty>
  SQLMAXDOP:                     8
  SQLMAXMEMORY:                  2147483647
  SQLMINMEMORY:                  0
  SQLSVCACCOUNT:                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
  SQLSVCINSTANTFILEINIT:         false
  SQLSVCPASSWORD:                *****
  SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Automatic
  SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS:           CISMAILPC\ismai
  SQLTELSVCACCT:                 NT Service\SQLTELEMETRY
  SQLTELSVCPASSWORD:             <empty>
  SQLTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:          Automatic
  SQLTEMPDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBFILECOUNT:            8
  SQLTEMPDBFILEGROWTH:           64
  SQLTEMPDBFILESIZE:             8
  SQLTEMPDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILEGROWTH:        64
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILESIZE:          8
  SQLUSERDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLUSERDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SUPPRESSPAIDEDITIONNOTICE:     false
  SUPPRESSPRIVACYSTATEMENTNOTICE: false
  TCPENABLED:                    0
  UIMODE:                        Normal
  UpdateEnabled:                 true
  UpdateSource:                  MU
  USEMICROSOFTUPDATE:            false
  USESQLRECOMMENDEDMEMORYLIMITS: false
  X86:                           false

  Configuration file:            C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20220202_021140\ConfigurationFile.ini

Detailed results:
  Feature:                       Database Engine Services
  Status:                        Failed
  Reason for failure:            An error occurred during the setup process of the feature.
  Next Step:                     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Component name:                SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
  Component error code:          0x851A001A
  Error description:             Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential causes.
  Error help link:               https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=15.0.4013.40&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026

  Feature:                       SQL Browser
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Writer
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Client Connectivity SDK
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Client Connectivity
  Status:                        Passed

Rules with failures or warnings:

Rules report file:               C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20220202_021140\SystemConfigurationCheck_Report.htm

Answer 1

The issue is with Windows 11 and NVMe drives having bigger partitions than SQL can support. You can check that by doing "fsutil fsinfo sectorinfo C:" in an admin Command Prompt (C: here being the NVMe drive that we are trying to install SQL onto) and looking at the PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity" value. It should be 512 or 4096.

Different solutions in this article (be careful, a few solutions require modifying the registry, make sure to back it up before doing so): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/admin/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size#cause

The article lists a few solutions. You can also install SQL on another drive that has the correct partition sizes supported by SQL (512 or 4096).

Answer 2

Had the above-mentioned problems installing SQL2019 on Windows 11 even with PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity=4096 . The only way I managed to overcome it is by installing(the latest SQL Server2022 Express but it should work also for 2019 as suggested by others) on a newly created VHD drive . Here are the detailed steps to create one(same for Windows 11 too): https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-and-set-vhdx-or-vhd-windows-10

Played a bit with the connection configurations and managed to run it successfully. Good luck!✌️

Answer 3

This problem is because Windows 11 is not compatible with SQL Server 2019. You will have to enable Windows 10 compatability:

1. The value of PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity is your problem. You should run this command:

    fsutil fsinfo sectorinfo <your drive name> Eg fsutil fsinfo sectorinfo E:

2. Should it be other than 512 or 4096, you should run this command:

    REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" /v "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes" /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "* 4095" /f

3. Restart your computer and reinstall SQL server.