Data problem - error "invalid attribute number # for <tablename>"

We've received a client's database which was giving errors and refusing to be backed up; at this point we do not know what's happened to the database to corrupt it (likely a hardware or power failure, etc.)

The error that is being given when trying to do selects on the affected table or doing a pg_dump is:

ERROR: invalid attribute number 32533 for largedata

We've tried to see if we can resolve this error, but

- there's no error number associated with it, so it's difficult to reference
- there doesn't seem to be any information on it (searches for 'invalid attribute number' only return past troubles for which this error was only a symptom, no the main issue).

As I mentioned, we've tried doing a pg_dump, vacuuming the affected table, and trying to select anything from it, all resulting with the error above. At this point, we're left wondering:

- what does this error mean exactly (is it a problem with the data? with the schema?)
- how should we go about dealing with it (what else should we try?)

Of note: we ARE able to pg_dump the database if we exclude the affected table; right now our plan (short of any successful solutions) is to recover the table's data from a known good backup to recover the table data.

Any suggestions/info appreciated.

Seb

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