Error while trying to connect to same Database Server having 2 different versions of PBI desktop

[sohananahid]

Hi all: Good day! Earlier I installed "May version" of Power BI Desktop in my machine going through the Request SW channel in my company and developed a dashboard! Now, we can install latest version via the MS Store App and I just installed November version! But, IT support team asked us not to uninstall the previous version I got via the previous channel!

Using the latest PBI desktop version, I am trying to connect to the same Oracle DB server I used before, but I get error [“Object Reference not set to an instance of an object!”] as below:

When I try to create a new .pbix file and try to access that DB server using my old PBI desktop version- I can do it and don’t get any error.

Is this happening because I have 2 different versions of PBI desktop on my machine? Any suggestion is highly appreciated! Many thanks in advance! 😊

[v-zhenbw-msft]

Hi @sohananahid ,

We found a similar thread, hope it can help you.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47880625/powerbi-object-reference-not-set-to-an-instance-of-an-o...

If it doesn’t meet your requirement, we suggest you to open a ticket here for help: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/support/

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ zhenbw

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[v-zhenbw-msft]

Hi @sohananahid ,

The error is caused maybe not the 2 different versions of Power BI Desktop.

To connect to an Oracle database with Power BI Desktop, the correct Oracle client software must be installed on the computer running Power BI Desktop.

This mean that if you have the 64-bit Oracle client, you need to install the 64-bit version of Power BI Desktop.

Please check the version of your Oracle client and Power Bi Desktop.

Please refer the troubleshooting in this document.

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ zhenbw

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[sohananahid]

Hi @v-zhenbw-msft : good day! Thanks a lot for your response. 🙂 I already have 64 bit Oracle client [had to get it first time I tried to connect to Oracle DB with my prev version of PBI desktop, 64 bit]. This current version of PBI desktop [Nov version] is also 64-bit! So, I don't think this is the issue with right n-bit of Oracle client! 

Any more suggestion would highly be appreciated! 🙂