Title
DCE32.dll not found when running Oracle executables

Date
2008-07-09

Summary
I have both an Oracle Database 10g (10.2.0.2.0) and Oracle MRCA 10g (10.1.2.0.3) installed on the same server.

When I SQL*Plus with environment set to the ORACLE_HOME of the Database, it works fine:
    C:\>set ORACLE_HOME=c:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1
    C:\>set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
    C:\>set ORACLE_SID=orcl
    C:\>sqlplus system@orcl
    SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Wed Jul 2 09:37:57 2008
    Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle. All Rights Reserved.
    Enter password:
When I SQL*Plus with environment set to the ORACLE_HOME of the MRCA software, I receive the error:
    C:\>set ORACLE_HOME=e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1
    C:\>set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
    C:\>set ORACLE_SID=orcl
    C:\>sqlplus system@orcl

     POPUP WINDOW SAYS:
    This application has failed to start because DCE32.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
All executables under the %ORACLE_HOME%\bin directory of MRCA give the same error (e.g., imp, tnsping, etc.).

Details
1. There is no fix for this.

No one is sure why this happens on some machines and not others (but it has to do with both the environment and the linking of the MRCA executables).

The only workaround is the following: 
move e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1\bin e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1\bin.backup
mkdir e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1\bin
copy e:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\bin\*.* e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1\bin
copy e:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\NETWORK\ADMIN\tnsnames.ora e:\oracle\product\10.1.2\mrca_1\network\admin

2. I also received the following error when running RepCA (Repository Creation Assistant) afterwards: 
ORA-12705: invalid or unknown NLS parameter value specified

To resolve this, set the NLS_LANG environment variable and re-run: 
set NLS_LANG=AMERICAN

Applicable Versions
Oracle Database 10g (10.2.0.2.0) for Microsoft Windows 32-bit
Oracle Application Server Metadata Repository Upgrade Assistant 10g (10.1.2.0.3) for Microsoft Windows 32-bit
Ahmed Aboulnaga
.com .com