ORA-1461 encountered when generating server alert SMG-3500

Doc ID 461911.1

Patch 6602742

Applies to: 

Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 10.2.0.3 and later

Information in this document applies to any platform.
***Checked for relevance on 09-Nov-2011***

Symptoms

After applying patch set 10.2.0.3, the following errors may be reported:
ORA-1461 ENCOUNTERED WHEN GENERATING SERVER ALERT SMG-3500
ORA-01461: can bind a LONG value only for insert into a LONG column

Cause

The issue is discussed in the following bug reports:

Bug 5887228: ORA-1461 GENERATED BY SMON WHILE IT IS UPDATING SMON_SCN_TIME

Bug 5982820: ORA-1461 INSERT WRI$_ALERT_HISTORY BY MMON

Bug 6145134: ORA-1461 INSERT WRI$_ALERT_HISTORY BY MMON
All above bug reports were closed as a duplicate of:

Bug 6085625 :ORA-01483: INVALID LENGTH FOR DATE OR NUMBER BIND VARIABLE

NOTE: The fix for Bug 6085625 introduced a regression for unpublished

Bug 6452485: STAR:NT:RAC:ORA-600: INTERNAL ERROR CODE, ARGUMENTS: [17182]

Solution

1 - To fix both Bug 6085625 and unpublished Bug 6452485, you can apply merge Patch 6602742.

For some platforms where Patch 6602742 is not available, you can use the alternative merge Patch 6602482.
If you cannot find these patches available for your platform please log a SR with Oracle Support.
2 - You can also use the following workarounds as mentioned in Bug 6085625:

• Flushing the shared pool can help remove the problem cursor from the shared pool.
• Using SESSION_CACHED_CURSORS = 0 can help in some cases.

3 - The problem is solved in:

• 10.2.0.4
• 11.1.0.7
• 11.2

References

BUG:5982820 - ORA-1461 INSERT WRI$_ALERT_HISTORY  BY MMON

BUG:6085625 - ORA-01483: INVALID LENGTH FOR DATE OR NUMBER BIND VARIABLE

BUG:6145134 - ORA-1461 INSERT WRI$_ALERT_HISTORY  BY MMON