Last week I started getting this error and the media scanner program would start but never get past 0%. While in this state, you cannot play any media files (mp3's, video's, etc.). After playing around and restarting the phone, I could usually get the media scanner to finish. However, a few days later I started getting "out of database memory" messages, and a small red icon in the notification bar. I called AT&T and Samsung and neither rep appeared to know anything about the issue, and both suggested doing a Factory Data Reset, which I ended up doing (after backing up with Titanium Backup - TB). After the reset I restored all the system data and apps from TB only to find myself back in exactly the same state! Checking further with TB, it showed that the "DB Data" was full at 133 MB. Doing some more checking, I discovered that going to Menu/Settings/Applications/Manage Applications/All/Menu/Sort by size, showed the first item as "Media Storage" at, you guessed it, 133 MB. Clicking on that and clearing the data fixed the memory issue!
So the bottom line is that I did not need to do a Factory Data Reset at all, although the phone does appear to be a little speedier after this process.
One tip after doing a factory reset - remember to change all the notifications, alarms, and ringtone settings to something other than "default". At least on my phone, the default was like an old fashioned phone ring, but worse than that, it continually repeated until the phone was swiped. I learned this the hard way after this repeating tone came on when the phone battery reached full charge in the middle of the night!
So the bottom line is that I did not need to do a Factory Data Reset at all, although the phone does appear to be a little speedier after this process.
One tip after doing a factory reset - remember to change all the notifications, alarms, and ringtone settings to something other than "default". At least on my phone, the default was like an old fashioned phone ring, but worse than that, it continually repeated until the phone was swiped. I learned this the hard way after this repeating tone came on when the phone battery reached full charge in the middle of the night!