ENCOUNTERING ERROR MESSAGES

Encountering Error Messages

This page explains common error messages encountered by applicants while completing or submitting an application package. Many errors are a result of Adobe Software Compatibility issues. At any time, applicants may call or email the Grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov for assistance with resolving these issues.

Bad Request

When attempting to apply to a funding opportunity, you may receive a “Bad request” error if you do not have a system role with the Create Workspace privilege. See the Online Help article, Manage Roles for Applicant for instructions on assigning and obtaining system roles in Grants.gov.

Adobe Compatibility Error Messages

  • Incompatible Version of Adobe

  • Schema Validation Error

  • File Damaged and Cannot Be Repaired

  • Error: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException

You received one of these error messages because your application package or form was opened, edited, submitted, or corrupted by using a version of Adobe Reader that is incompatible with Grants.gov. Any and all edits made to an Adobe Reader application package or form must be made with a compatible version of Adobe Reader. To resolve these issues, a new application package needs to be downloaded and completed using only a compatible version of the software. Refer to the Adobe Software Compatibility page for more information.

An Error Occurred During File Transmission
This error message means that you are experiencing network connectivity issues or the network is slow. The file that you are attempting to upload is not being fully transmitted to Grants.gov. It is recommended that you check your internet connection or contact your IT support staff to check on your network connectivity and then try again.

VIRUSDETECT - Check Attachment Name
If you are receiving an error message for an Adobe Reader package that states VIRUSDETECT, please follow these guidelines to resolve the issue:

  • Use a virus protect program to run a virus scan on your entire application package. This will ensure that your package is completely free of viruses before resubmission.
     

  • Check the length of your file attachment names. File attachment names longer than approximately 50 characters can cause problems processing packages.
     

  • Avoid using any special characters (example: -,&,*,%,/,#) or spacing in the file names. If you need spaces in the name of your files, use the underscore (example: my_Attached_File.pdf) in naming the attachments.

If you still receive the error message, call or email the Grants.gov Support Center.

Intake Servlet Is Unable To Save The Data. Broken Pipe
If you receive the "Broken Pipe" message, this means there were intermittent interruptions during your submission. As a result, the submission confirmation page did not display properly after you submitted your application package. Although you may receive this error message, your submission may have been properly received by Grants.gov. However, this message prevents you from automatically receiving a Grants.gov tracking number for your application.

To ensure that your application package was received properly by Grants.gov you have three options:

  1. Visit the "Track Your Package" section to login into the Grants.gov system and view your submitted applications. If you do not see your submitted application listed, follow the instructions in Option 2 below.
     

  2. Open an internet browser window (ex: Internet Explorer) and resubmit your application package as normal. If you still do not receive the confirmation page after you resubmit your application package, contact the Grants.gov Support Center (see Option 3 below).
     

  3. Call or email the Grants.gov Support Center to verify that your submission was received by Grants.gov and to receive a tracking number for your application package.

Failed to Update GrantApplication XML's LOB::Failed to Update GrantApplication XML's LOB
Grants.gov does not automatically reprocess applications that receive this error message. Applicants are advised to call or email the Grants.gov Support Center to have the application package manually reprocessed.

Could Not Invoke Service..Nested Exception
When receiving this error message, the grant application submission will be automatically reprocessed by the system. Your application package will either be successfully validated or it will be rejected with valid errors. You can periodically check the status of your submission by using the Check Application Status option under the Applicant Login: https://www.grants.gov/applicants/grant-applications/track-my-application. Reprocessed applications retain their original receipt times.

ERROR 404 ("Page Not Found")
Error 404 is a general HTTP status code which means the Internet browser was unable to communicate with the server. Either the server could not find the requested page, or the server configuration was set not to reveal the reason for the error. To resolve this issue, you may contact your network provider to disable your web caching for the Grants.gov domain or you may use the steps below to update your network settings:

  1. Using Internet Explorer, select tools and internet options

  2. Click the Advanced Tab

  3. This gives you the option to click default settings

  4. Select HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections (make sure that this box is not
    checked)

  5. The Box for HTTP 1.1 should be checked

  6. Go back to www.Grants.gov and see if you can access the site

ERROR 500 ("500: Internal Server Error" / "HTTP Error 500 - Internal Server Error" / "500 Error" )
Error 500 is a very general HTTP status code which means there was an issue with the website's server. Most of the time the error is temporary, so you may try refreshing the website to resolve the issue. If the issue occurs during login, close your Internet browser window and log in to Grants.gov again.

Failed to Save Attachment
If you are receiving this error message, check that you have properly saved all of your application package's supporting documents. Failure to do so will result in the package not being properly transmitted to Grants.gov.

  • "[Attachment href="SF424_P2.optionalFile3"] to database!::Failed to Save Attachment [Attachment href="SF424_P2"

Closing Date of the Grant Opportunity Passed
The deadline has passed for the opportunity for which you have applied and the grantor agency is no longer accepting applications.

Mandatory Forms Not Found
If you receive an error message similar to the error message below, you may not have completed all mandatory forms associated with your specific application package. Double check that all mandatory forms and fields are complete in your application package and resubmit.

  • "the following mandatory forms were not found in the submitted forms: Attachments-V1.1"

Authorized Organization Representatives Only
If you have received an error message concerning your AOR status, your Grants.gov username may not be authorized to submit applications on behalf of your organization. Check your registration status by logging into Grants.gov or contacting your E-Business Point of Contact (POC). Review the information on Grants.gov roles and privileges.

Rejected With Errors and Conflicting Notifications
If you received conflicting email notifications after submitting an application in Grants.gov, please check whether the following occurred:

  • Applicant receives the Grants.gov Submission Receipt e-mail

  • Applicant then receives a Grants.gov Rejection Notice for application with a list of errors

  • Applicant then receives the Grants.gov Submission Validation Receipt email notification

Applicants are receiving the third validation email without correcting any errors listed in the second Rejection Notice e-mail because the Grants.gov system is automatically reprocessing the applications. Upon reprocessing, if there are no errors identified, then the application package is successfully validated and the applicant correctly receives the third Validation Receipt e-mail.

The applications that are reprocessed and successfully received into the Grants.gov system are forwarded to the agencies for retrieval. If the above occurs with your application, please call or email the Grants.gov Support Center to secure a case number and to ensure your application was received.

Special Characters & File Attachment Length
If you are receiving the following error message after attempting to submit your application package, please refer to the Submitting UTF-8 Special Characters page for assistance.

  • "Please use only the following UTF-8 characters when naming your attachments: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, space, period, parenthesis, curly braces, square brackets, ampersand, tilde, exclamation point, comma, semi colon, apostrophe, at sign, number sign, dollar sign, percent sign, plus sign, equal sign, and limit the file name to 50 or fewer characters. Attachments that do not follow this rule may cause the entire application to be rejected or cause issues during processing."

Blank Spaces in Application File Fields
If you are receiving the following error message after attempting to submit your application package, open your application attachments and verify that no empty spaces are left within the form fields. Use the backspace key on your keyboard to remove any spaces and resubmit as usual.

  • DefaultValidationHandler found problems cvcminLength.valid: Value length "with=
    "0" is not facet.valid with..."