I checked the QC SA logs, this problem is that I'm getting an ''invalid userid/password'' message when it tries to log on to the DB schema. I tried running the restore from the ALM server but get the same results.
The DBID file that I am using to perform the restore is a copy of one created when I created a new empty project. I changed the project_name, db_name, and physical_directory to match the names and location of the repository folder and DB schema copied over from the production system.
Frankly I am baffled by why I am getting an ''invalid userid/password'' message.

When you restore the project DB backup to the SQL DB server instance, it is recommended to drop the td user that the back up is currently attached to and re-attach the new td user from the current DB instance (this is in case the user or password is different in the system it is coming from).

Run the two SQL queries within this green highlighted answer in this post (they are exec statements to drop and re-add the td user):

http://eyeontesting.com/questions/900/error-during-quality-center-10-installation.html

Hope this helps.
Dan

You can find more information in the Site Administration log. In ALM in the Site Admin UI go to the Servers tab and click on your ALM server. This will display the location of the SA log and Client logs (created on the ALM server). Go to the specified location for the SA log and review the most recent log file. It is formatted as HTML so will open in a browser.

I always run project restores logged in to the ALM server itself to ensure access to the physical repository directory. Is the physical repository directory path specified in the dbid file accessible directly from your workstation? If you are running the restore from there, then that path must be accessible from the workstation.

What are you using for database management? I use MS SQL. When I transfer a project database from one db server to another, I have to run a query against that database to ''fix'' the ALM/QC SQL user ''td''. That could be another problem.