The following bug has been logged online:
Bug reference: 5055
Logged by: john martin
Email address: postgres_bee@live.com
PostgreSQL version: 8.3.6
Operating system: Centos 5.2 32 bit
Description: Invalid page header error
Details:
All of a sudden we started seeing page header errors in certain queries. The
messages are in the form of "ERROR: invalid page header in block xxxx of
relation xxxx". The query fails. I found may previous messages in the
archives. Most, if not all, replies seemed to indicate hardware errors. I
have run all the disk/memory tests like fsync and memtest86 but nothing was
found. I have also rebooted is multiple times .
I found an unsatisfactory work around that causes, ahem, data loss. We went
ahead with it anyway fortunately because the error happened in our dev
environment. IOW, we could tolerate the data loss. The work around consists
of adding the following parameter to postgresql.conf and restarting
postgres.
"zero_damaged_pages=TRUE"
We no longer see the error messages with the above work around. Needless to
say, the work around cannot be used in production. But the database is
running on the SAME HARDWARE. Is it possible that it is a postgres bug?
I found the issue reported 5 years back to my surprise.
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-09/msg00869.php
I am urging the community to investigate the possibility that it may not be
hardware related, especially since it was first reported at least 5 years
back. Or may be you have decided not to fix if the number of people
reporting is very less. I have a very good opinion of postgres quality.
While I am not 100% sure it is a bug (only circumstantial evidence), I do
think it improves the product quality to fix an annoying old bug.