Semantic Model Refresh Mixed Results (succeeds and fails inconsistently)

[WrigleyMedia]

My issue: My semantic model in PowerBI service has a scheduled refresh that fails in the refresh more than it succeeds.

My setup:

• My datasource is a FileMaker Server database hosted on a Mac.
• I used a Windows laptop to pull data from the Mac server via ODBC in PowerBI desktop.
• I am using a gateway to open the connection to the data source to PowerBI service.
• The datasource is published to PowerBI service and I do have multiple reports created in PowerBI service that visualizes multiple fields from multiple tables in my FileMaker Server database.
• I am accessing PowerBI service with Google Chrome

Solutions attempted:

• I have recreated the schedule refresh (doesn't work)
• I have manually refreshed (mixed results)
• I have checked the gateway version is up to date

Error code from the failed refresh:

Data source error{"error":{"code":"DM_GWPipeline_Gateway_MashupDataAccessError","pbi.error":{"code":"DM_GWPipeline_Gateway_MashupDataAccessError","parameters":{},"details":[{"code":"DM_ErrorDetailNameCode_UnderlyingErrorCode","detail":{"type":1,"value":"-2147467259"}},{"code":"DM_ErrorDetailNameCode_UnderlyingErrorMessage","detail":{"type":1,"value":"We're sorry, an error occurred during evaluation."}},{"code":"DM_ErrorDetailNameCode_UnderlyingHResult","detail":{"type":1,"value":"-2147467259"}}],"exceptionCulprit":1}}} Table: Projects.

FileMaker Server is operating perfectly. The credential to access the server is correct. As I said, the refresh has succeeded multiple times, but more often than not, it fails. Seems like it has something to do with the Projects table in my FileMaker database, but I have no way of knowing what it could be. I am pulling four different tables into PowerBI, which includes dozens of columns and tens of thousands of records.

[v-vpabbu]

Hi @WrigleyMedia,

we would like to follow up to see if the solution provided by the super user resolved your issue. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.
If our super user response resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful.

Regards,
Vinay Pabbu

[v-vpabbu]

Hi @WrigleyMedia,

we would like to follow up to see if the solution provided by the super user resolved your issue. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.
If our super user response resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful.

Regards,
Vinay Pabbu

[WrigleyMedia · Accepted solution]

Hi there. I am working through some of the solutions provided. If it ends up working, I will mark this resolved.

[v-vpabbu]

Hi @WrigleyMedia, just checking in — did you get a chance to try the solution? Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Regards,

Vinay Pabbu

[johnbasha33]

Hi @WrigleyMedia 

Things You Should Try

1. Disable parallel loading

In Power BI Desktop:

• Go to Options > Data Load

• Uncheck “Enable parallel loading of tables”

• Republish the model

This helps when certain tables (like Projects) are more fragile under concurrent access.

Add Table Diagnostics

Create a minimal query that isolates just the Projects table, and see if the error persists

let
Source = Odbc.DataSource("dsn=YourDSN", [HierarchicalNavigation=true]),
Projects = Source{[Name="Projects",Kind="Table"]}[Data]
in
Projects

If that still fails intermittently, the issue is definitely at the ODBC or FileMaker end, not Power BI.

Check for NULLs, Blanks, or Corrupt Rows

Sometimes refresh errors are caused by:

• Very long text strings

• Binary blobs (e.g., container fields)

• Unexpected NULLs or bad UTF characters

To test this:

• Add Table.Preview or a Table.RemoveColumns step in Power Query to remove any fields you suspect might be problematic

You can also filter the Projects table down to a subset (e.g., latest 100 rows) to see if smaller loads succeed more consistently

ODBC Driver Tuning

FileMaker’s ODBC driver isn't known for stability under Power BI loads. Suggestions:

• Make sure you're using the latest FileMaker ODBC driver

• Try switching from DSN to DSN-less connection string if possible

Use Power BI's retry logic: add try ... otherwise null around your source steps to prevent a crash from killing the whole refresh

Increase Gateway Timeout (via JSON override)

By default, the gateway has limits. You can extend those via:

• Gateway config files (MashupGatewayConfig.json)

Or move to Premium and use the enhanced refresh options (if available)

Final Suggestion (Debugging Only)

If you need more transparency during refresh, log what’s failing:

• Create a Power Query step to log row counts or sample data from Projects

Save them into a table or temporary file using R or Python script inside Power BI (only during testing)

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

[WrigleyMedia]

Thank you! It might be the binary blobs (container fields). There are two of them in my table. I'll Query them out and see if that works.