Oracle / PLSQL: ORA-00054 Error Message

Learn the cause and how to resolve the ORA-00054 error message in Oracle.

Description

When you encounter an ORA-00054 error, the following error message will appear:

• ORA-00054: resource busy and acquire with NOWAIT specified

Cause

You tried to execute a LOCK TABLE or SELECT FOR UPDATE command with the NOWAIT keyword but the resource was unavailable.

Or you tried to DROP a COLUMN using the ALTER TABLE command and received the error.

Resolution

The option(s) to resolve this Oracle error are:

Option #1

Wait and try the command again after a few minutes.

Option #2

Execute the command without the NOWAIT keyword.

Option #3

If the error occurred while trying to DROP a COLUMN, be sure to backup the data. Then TRUNCATE the table and execute the DROP COLUMN command again.