Currently, I am installing BizTalk Server 2004 in a multi-server environment with a remote, clustered SQL Server. While installing Sharepoint Services 2.0, I encountered the following error after entering the database information:
“Device activation error. The physical file name “WSS_Config.mdf” may be incorrect (Error Code: 5105)”
After wasting a full day on figuring out the issue, the issue turned out to be an invalid configuration setting in the SQL Virtual Server settings. Once I got the SQL Administrator involved, he was able to determine the problem by the nature of the error. In this case, the path to the data file was missing a colon.