There are several issues to consider regarding database startup.
For a database to start, all files of IQ_SYSTEM_MAIN, all files of IQ_SYSTEM_TEMP, and the catalog file SYSTEM must be available. You can start a database while skipping dbspaces that cannot be fully opened. If any writeable files of IQ main store dbspaces other than IQ_SYSTEM_MAIN or any catalog dbspace files other than SYSTEM cannot be opened on server startup, SAP Sybase IQ logs an error and marks the dbspace dynamically offline (marked offline in memory, as opposed to marking it offline in the catalog). If there are any files of IQ_SYSTEM_TEMP that cannot be opened, the database does not start unless you use the -iqnotemp startup parameter.
SAP Sybase IQ checks the consistency of the commit_id in each dbspace file header against the value in the system tables ISYSDBFILE and ISYSIQDBSPACE and marks any file or dbspace that does not match offline as above.
A dbspace that has been marked offline at start time may be brought online via the ALTER DBSPACE ONLINE statement, assuming that the problem has been corrected and the dbspace can be opened. To correct path problems, you can correct the path of the dbspace file using ALTER DBSPACE dbspace name ALTER FILE logical filename RENAME PATH new pathname.
A table object that resides in an offline dbspace is unavailable. Any DDL or DML request except ALTER DBSPACE ONLINE, to any table object in an offline dbspace generates an error. After you make a dbspace offline, there may still be data pages in the buffer cache. In the case of a very small table, the entire table may be in memory in the buffer cache and temporarily available, even if the dbspace is offline.
The server holds database information in memory using fixed-size pages. Once a server has been started, you cannot load a database that has a catalog or IQ page size larger than the server. For this reason, always set the catalog page size to its maximum value, 32768 bytes, with the -gp switch.
The -gd server command line option determines the permission level required to start databases. By default, this option is set to DBA, so that only users with the SERVER OPERATOR system privilege can start IQ databases. However, you can also set this option to ALL or NONE. ALL means that all users can start a database. NONE means that no users, including the user with the SERVER OPERATOR system privilege, can start a database.