IBSurgeon FirstAID 8.0
IBSurgeon FirstAID automatically diagnoses and repairs corrupted Firebird and InterBase databases - including corruptions that gbak and gfix cannot fix. It works at a low level without the Firebird/InterBase engine, so you can preview data before you buy and recover what you see.
Purchase & licensing
Licensed per database file you recover. HQbird includes FirstAID for 50 recoveries; Enterprise subscription plans include recovery toolkit capacity too. Upgrades · Full purchase page
How to repair a database
- Download FirstAID - no registration required.
- Open the corrupted database, double-click a table, and browse data pages.
- If the data looks right, purchase a license (license email usually within about 15 minutes). What you see is what you recover.
- Read the Recovery Guide (left) before you run the repair.
Two recovery modes
Direct fix
Repairs the original file in place by fixing broken internal links. Fast: after the fix, run gfix / gbak for a clean backup/restore. Best for many common corruptions.
Data extraction
For heavy corruption or metadata loss: preview tables, then export recoverable user data into a new empty database with the same structure. Uses only a few system tables to decode data.
FirstAID recovers corrupted Firebird/InterBase databases in more than 95% of cases when data is visible in the preview.
Video: repair a Firebird database with FirstAID
What corruption looks like
Corruption usually means broken links between internal structures. When the engine hits a missing record or page, it stops with messages such as Internal gds software consistency check (…) or Internal Firebird software consistency check (…) - from gbak, gfix / firebird.log, or applications. See the full list of serious Firebird/InterBase errors.
When gfix and gbak cannot finish the job, FirstAID bypasses the crash sites and either repairs links or exports user data.
Technical requirements
- Windows application (Windows 7 or later) - recovers databases from Windows or Linux servers (copy the file to the Windows machine)
- 8 GB RAM or more recommended
- SSD recommended for faster recovery
Common corruptions FirstAID handles
| Symptom / error | Typical approach |
|---|---|
| Cannot find tip page (165) | Direct fix |
| Bad checksum / checksum error on database page | Direct fix; extraction if heavy |
| Decompression overran buffer (178); wrong record length (183) | Extraction |
| Unknown I/O / truncated file (lost pages at end) | Direct fix (recreate system pages) |
| Wrong page type (expected X, found Y) | Direct fix |
| Fragmented record corrupt; cannot find backversion | Extraction / record repair |
| Pointer page vanished (256); invalid BLR | Extraction / recompile or full export |
| nbackup merge / “not in physical backup mode” | FirstAID + guide steps |
More error codes: serious Firebird/InterBase errors list.
After a direct fix: gfix and gbak
Run gfix after a Direct Fix (skip it for extraction - the export target is already clean). Then take a verified gbak backup and restore to a new file.
gfix (after Direct Fix)
gfix -v -full -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database gfix -mend -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database
Summary lines (record / index / transaction / BLOB / page errors) are informational; proceed with gbak even if gfix reports problems.
gbak
gbak -b -g -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database Path_to_backup gbak -c -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_backup Path_to_database
Full detail: FirstAID Recovery Guide.
Avoid further corruption
For standby mirrors and stronger ops, use HQbird - replication, automated backups, and monitoring. Or compare Enterprise subscription plans.