Database file stops being hosted - Advncd help req

[Don J]

We have been having a couple of weird problems while using FMServer 5.5v1 on a Windows 2000 box. Every once in awhile one particular database file stops being hosted by Filemaker Server and the only way to get FMServer to host it again is by stopping and starting the service. I have tried using the command line FMServer open as this file in one level down from the actual filemaker directory but this does not work.

I should mention that the install went perfect - all files were hosted and everything worked well for two weeks until this scenario happened. We then stopped the service and tried to start it again and it would not fire up until we specified "run as..." and specified Administrator level account credentials. The service will then run fine for a couple of weeks and then stop hosting one particular database file (this file is apparently used a lot). I have not yet seen the event viewer files or the log file yet :

Here is where I get an earful

I know we are performing pure evil here, but the service is being run from an IBM shark file server off a mounted drive (which could somehow explain the Admin credentials required to run the service). Users do not open any files from the file folder. Does anyone know where to get ahold of FMServer 5.5v2 or better? I thought that the fixes in this build might possibly resolve our issues.

I know this is an ugly one but if anyone has any good suggestions other than installing on its own box I am all ears.

Thanks again

[Wim Decorte]

http://www.filemaker.com/support/updaters.html

You need to get your hands on the event logs before you can figure out what's wrong. What's obviously wrong but you know it is the basic deployment...

[Don J]

I have checked the .com .co.jp and other international sites and plenty of other FM sites in the hopes of getting a copy of Server 5.5v2 or better (I believe that it goes up to v4) but none of them offer the updates any longer. I also tried the FM FTP server and was unable to find this in the public folders. I have had a couple of CD's sent to me that were supposed to be v2 but they were all v1's.

[Ted S]

Hi Don,

I've seen files go "off-line" so-to-speak a number of times in the past in our Windows environment.

I'll cut right to the chase; we have traced the problem to two different causes; both happen on CLIENT workstations.

1. A workstation with more than one NIC (Network Interface Card).

2. A client with a corrupt OS.

In case number 1 we have had to resort to removing the FileMaker app from all computers that have more than one NIC. Apparently there is something in the FileMaker client's initial broadcast (searching for the server) that wipes out the list of hosted files. We stop and restart the FileMaker service and that usually fixes the problem.

In case number 2 we once had a badly corrupted client PC on the network where the instant we clicked the HOSTS button the list of files being hosted on the server would disappear. I'm sorry to say that we didn't get a chance to investigate the exact cause because the offending PC would hardly operate. The mouse wouldn't work, the Windows event viewer wouldn't come up, etc. One thing we did notice when we did an IPCONFIG was that there was a secondary wacky IP address listed. The address was not like that which would normally be assigned by our DC. We simply rebooted and ran a CHKDSK and that fixed the problem. Incidentially, the user told me it had been weeks or longer since he had even logged off of his system. I told the bugger to log off every day and reboot at least weekly.

Hope this helps.

[Don J]

Thanks for the reply Ted as devastating as it was : I was (and still am) hoping that this can be resolved by updating the FMServer software to v2 but it is begining to look a little more bleak. Did your log files indicate what user was causing the file(s) to go missing? I will bear this is mind when checking our log files.

Thanks again for everyone's assistance, and since I am not out of the woods yet I am still all ears

_______________________________________________________________

A man and his metaphors will never be lost for words of wisdom

- Don J

[Ted S]

Don,

Nope, the bad (or double NIC'd) workstation would crash the FM server application milliseconds before anything was written to the log. We simply find out who the offending person is when he or she contacts IT and asks why FileMaker is always down.

We have never have solved this problem. Server upgrades didn't do it. Moving FMS to a dedicated box didn't do it. Recovering the files didn't work either.

We are not in production on Server 7 yet but I don't hold out much hope for it being fixed. Maybe I will be surprised.

[Don J]

Thanks again Ted :