Hello everyone!

My PowerPivot won't refresh data from SQL, even though I'm able to access the server just fine. Another machine, which has the same rights, refreshes well. The button "Test connection" says the connection is fine.

An odd detail: my machine won't let me set connection timeout to more than 64,434 -- says connection test failed. The other machine can set the connection at 1,000,000.

Here's the error message I'm getting (after about an hour of waiting every time): "We couldn't refresh the connection. Please go to existing connections and verify they connect to the file or server."

P.S. Powerpivotus refreshus didn't work :(

Hi Ron,

According to your description, you are experiencing the issue when clicking Refresh All button, however another machine which has the same rights can refresh it without any problems, right?

In your scenario, are there any difference between the PowerPivot workbook which on the two server? Based on my research, the most common is a variation in the table being refreshed. If you're trying to refresh a PowerPivot table and the data source table has either more or less columns, this error can pop up. Besides, make sure that the fields/columns being refreshed are of the same data type. If you try to update a numeric PowerPivot column with sting, varchar and text, this error will occur.

You can try to use a trace file to troubleshoot errors in PowerPivot. Please refer to the link below to see the details.
Using a Trace File to Troubleshoot Errors in PowerPivot

Regards,