P.S. - I am having the same issue with both SQL 2012 and 2014 LocalDB.
I have been looking for days for the answer to this question, and have installed, uninstalled, repaired, etc. I have deleted, and created instances, I have corrected Environment Path, moving the SQL 2014 paths to the beginning of the path.
I have VS2013 installed.
I have SQL 2014 SQL Express with tools and LocalDB installed.
I have VS2013 configured as follows:
TOOLS -> Options -> Database Tools -> Data Connections -> (LocalDB)\ProjectsV12
"SQLLocalDb info" showed that ProjectsV12 exists, but "SQLLocalDb start ProjectsV12" failed to start, so I deleted it and recreated and started it with the following commands:
"SQLLocalDb delete ProjectsV12"
"SQLLocalDb create ProjectsV12"
"SQLLocalDb start ProjectsV12"
LocalDb starts just fine, no errors in error.log either.
Then I issue the stop command to place LocalDb in its default state:
"SQLLocalDb start ProjectsV12"
At this point, I expect VS2013 to autostart it when I attempt to Add a new SQL Database by adding a SQL Database to a project.
Instead I get an ERROR MESSAGE saying, "...instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessable. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQl Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error 50 - Local Database Runtime error occurred during LocalDB instance startup: SQl Server process failed to start.)
Then I start again:
"SQLLocalDb start ProjectsV12"
I can add now the SQL Database to the VS2013 project as expected.
The problem then is VS2013. When I count on VS2013 to autostart it for me, I get the ERROR MESSAGE above.
When I look at the SQLLocalDb error.log:
C:\Users\Z617699\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server Local DB\Instances\ProjectsV12\error.log
THINGS START OFF FINE:
2014-12-19 15:07:29.64 spid9s The resource database build version is 11.00.3000. This is an informational message only.
2014-12-19 15:07:29.64 spid7s Starting up database 'msdb'.
2014-12-19 15:07:29.82 spid9s Starting up database 'model'.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.04 spid9s Clearing tempdb database.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.34 spid9s Starting up database 'tempdb'.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.64 spid14s The Service Broker endpoint is in disabled or stopped state.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.64 spid14s The Database Mirroring endpoint is in disabled or stopped state.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.65 spid14s Service Broker manager has started.
2014-12-19 15:07:30.72 spid7s Recovery is complete. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
THEN START TO GO WRONG:
2014-12-19 15:07:49.12 Logon Error: 17828, Severity: 20, State: 3.
2014-12-19 15:07:49.12 Logon The prelogin packet used to open the connection is structurally invalid; the connection has been closed. Please contact the vendor of the client library. [CLIENT: <named pipe>]
2014-12-19 15:07:49.18 Logon Error: 17828, Severity: 20, State: 3.
2014-12-19 15:07:49.18 Logon The prelogin packet used to open the connection is structurally invalid; the connection has been closed. Please contact the vendor of the client library. [CLIENT: <named pipe>]
2014-12-19 15:07:50.16 spid52 Starting up database 'EBF298F6-0828-4B3D-B5FF-1A03937ACD96'.
2014-12-19 15:07:50.31 spid52 Setting database option AUTO_SHRINK to ON for database 'EBF298F6-0828-4B3D-B5FF-1A03937ACD96'.
2014-12-19 15:07:50.32 spid52 Setting database option OFFLINE to ON for database 'EBF298F6-0828-4B3D-B5FF-1A03937ACD96'.
2014-12-19 15:12:14.09 Logon Error: 17828, Severity: 20, State: 3.
2014-12-19 15:12:14.09 Logon The prelogin packet used to open the connection is structurally invalid; the connection has been closed. Please contact the vendor of the client library. [CLIENT: <named pipe>]
2014-12-19 15:12:14.83 spid52 Starting up database 'C57A07F2-36B0-4232-8054-6D5047DC6FDD'.
2014-12-19 15:12:15.03 spid52 Setting database option AUTO_SHRINK to ON for database 'C57A07F2-36B0-4232-8054-6D5047DC6FDD'.
2014-12-19 15:12:15.04 spid52 Setting database option OFFLINE to ON for database 'C57A07F2-36B0-4232-8054-6D5047DC6FDD'.
2014-12-19 15:30:21.38 spid14s Service Broker manager has shut down.
2014-12-19 15:30:21.40 spid52 .NET Framework runtime has been stopped.
2014-12-19 15:30:21.67 spid52 Server shut down by request from login USWIN\z617699.
2014-12-19 15:30:21.67 spid52 SQL Trace was stopped due to server shutdown. Trace ID = '1'. This is an informational message only; no user action is required.
I have 2 computers facing this issue, and 1 that works fine.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you,
Dave Boal