# Rails & dbd-odbc error **URL:** \ **Category:** rubyonrails-talk\ **Created:** [December 21, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590 "2008-12-21T17:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11175](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/8edcca/32.png) [@11175](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/11175)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590/1 "2008-12-21T17:16:01Z")
Hi -- I'm trying to get my rails app on OSX 10.5.5 to connect to SQL Server with ruby dbi, and am getting the following error: /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/dbd-odbc-0.2.4/lib/dbd/ODBC.rb:57: warning: already initialized constant VERSION /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/dbd-odbc-0.2.4/lib/dbd/ODBC.rb:58: warning: already initialized constant DESCRIPTION DBI::InterfaceError: Could not load driver (uninitialized constant DBI::TypeUtil)   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/dbi.rb:368:in `load_driver'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/dbi.rb:233:in `\_get\_full\_driver'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/dbi.rb:219:in `connect'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-sqlserver-adapter-1.0.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlserver_adapter.rb:46:in `sqlserver\_connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/connection\_adapters/abstract/connection\_pool.rb:223:in `send'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:223:in `new\_connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/connection\_adapters/abstract/connection\_pool.rb:245:in `checkout_new_connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:188:in `checkout'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/connection\_adapters/abstract/connection\_pool.rb:184:in `loop'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:184:in `checkout'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/monitor.rb:238:in `synchronize'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:183:in `checkout'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/connection\_adapters/abstract/connection\_pool.rb:98:in `connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:326:in `retrieve\_connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/connection\_adapters/abstract/connection\_specification.rb:121:in `retrieve_connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb:113:in `connection'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active\_record/base.rb:1214:in `table_exists?'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.2.2/lib/active_record/base.rb:1353:in `inspect'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:298:in `output_value'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:151:in `eval\_input'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:259:in `signal_status'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:147:in `eval\_input'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:146:in `eval_input'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:70:in `start'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:69:in `catch'   from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:69:in `start'   from /usr/local/bin/irb:13\>\> exit Can anyone suggest where I might look to find fixes for this? Cheers,    Doug. ---
**Author:** ![Mauricio\_Linhares1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Mauricio\_Linhares1](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Mauricio_Linhares1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590/2 "2008-12-21T21:27:17Z")
Isn't ODBC only available on Windows boxes? ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Macneall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Simon\_Macneall](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Simon_Macneall)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590/3 "2008-12-21T21:35:04Z")
you can get the equivalent on Linux using freeTDS and uniODBC, which is a funish setup ---
**Author:** ![11175](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/8edcca/32.png) [@11175](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/11175)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590/4 "2008-12-21T21:35:51Z")
No, I'm using FreeTDS and iODBC on the Mac, and FreeTDS with unixODBC on Ubuntu. Although not with any notable success on either, so far!    Doug. ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Macneall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Simon\_Macneall](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Simon_Macneall)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/rails-dbd-odbc-error/37590/5 "2008-12-21T21:53:57Z")
I followed the following instructions on Linux and it all worked pretty much straight away: [http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/HowtoConnectToMicrosoftSQLServerFromRailsOnLinux](http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/HowtoConnectToMicrosoftSQLServerFromRailsOnLinux) They also have OS instructions - [Peak Obsession](http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/HowtoConnectToMicrosoftSQLServer) Simon