Symptoms
Consider the following scenario:
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You install Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2014 PowerPivot for Microsoft SharePoint 2013 on a SharePoint server. Or, you install SQL Server 2012 PowerPivot for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 on a SharePoint server.
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The SharePoint server uses a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), as shown in Central Administration – Manage servers in the farm.
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You try to update or refresh data in a PowerPivot workbook, such as the management dashboard.
In this scenario, you receive the following error message:
Unable to refresh data for a data connection in the workbook. Try again or contact your system administrator. The following connections failed to refresh: PowerPivot Data
Additionally, the following exception is logged in the SharePoint Unified Logging Service (ULS) log:
EXCEPTION: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.Redirector.CacheManager.ImageLoad(SPFile spFile , DateTime fileLastModifiedTimestamp, Int32 localeId, String databaseName, String databaseId, ImageLoadMode mode)
Resolution
The issue was first fixed in the following cumulative update of SQL Server.
Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2014 /en-us/help/2931693
Cumulative Update 8 for SQL Server 2012 SP1 /en-us/help/2917531
Each new cumulative update for SQL Server contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous cumulative update. Check out the latest cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
Workaround
To work around the issue, use a NetBIOS name for the SharePoint server.
