Oracle Database Discussions

Hi guys,

I'm currently locked out of a database where I'm told there is no users currently in (by the team who use the DB & cant connect). I assume it's probably some application issue but how can I see this? Why can't I login? It seems strange to me that the master account (sys) cannot even connect to the database. I thought Oracle would have coded the sofware so as to make an exception for this account (e.g. when I host a server in UT2004 and it is 12/12 players it will still let me connect making it 13/12 then kicking someone next map).

There was a few oracleDB processes at OS level which I killed but it still didn't allow me to connect. Now there is only background processes listed.
Rather strangely the listener log is continually updated (just now at 11:14) but when I tail -f listener.log it only shows January 13th. Any ideas why this is? Note: The server has the correct date according to the "date" command.
Any way to fix this issue other than killing pmon?

Mike