We are having an issue with a server that we linked to our sql server 2012 instance.

The server that we linked through an odbc or oledb connection is Pervasive SQL.

Selecting from the linked server this way works as long as the result set is small:

select * from linked_server.database..mytable

If the result set is more than around 2mb (might be slightly more or less) then we get this error:

Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The OLE DB provider "MSDASQL" for linked server "KSLAP208" reported an error. The provider reported an unexpected catastrophic failure.
Msg 7330, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
Cannot fetch a row from OLE DB provider "MSDASQL" for linked server "KSLAP208".

However, the silly thing is that SSMS 2012 for instance displays all the columns that need to be returned and then immediatley errors out.

What would cause SSMS 2012 to produce an error on a result set that is too big? (more than 1-2mb)??

here's what i see in the odbc administrator:

Option 1, disable pre-fetch

Sometimes, disabling pre-fetch will solve problems like this.

You can disable the prefetch by clearing the "Enable pre-fetch of data for queries" check box in the Performance tab when creating a DSN or adding "PREFETCH=0" to the connection string when creating a DSN-less connection.

Option 2, Allow inprocess

Go to Linked Servers
Providers
MSOLAP (or similar)
Properties
Make sure "Allow inprocess" is enabled. Even if it is, turn it off. Save. And then turn it back on. Sometimes resetting this can help.