FM Server 5;5 - LOST CONTROL - help?????

[Sparky]

Hi - I'm new to this group. I'm having a crazy problem and don't know how to solve it. I'm nearly illiterate in the world of filemaker but have a good grasp of computer stuff in general - so please be patient.

Here's the issue. The extent of any work I've done with FM server is to go into the console and stop/start/restart the server itself when we lose touch with it on a windows XP network (TCP). However I tried this today and when I went into the console and click on the admin/networking icon as per usual all I get is a setup assistant. This kind of freaks me out. Any idea what might have happened or how I can restore control??

thanks MUCH.

Jonathan Dewdney

[DykstrL]

My first question is: are you accessing the FM server files via File Sharing? [a BIG no-no - a sure recipe for corrupt files]

My 2nd question is, what do you mean by "lose touch"?

My first guess is that you have a very strange setup that is causing your FM server to be very unstable, requiring a lot of restarts. You probably already have corrupt files on the server.

If you follow the recommended setup for a 5.5 server, you should have a very stable, reliable server, requiring very little intervention.

[Sparky]

DykstrL,

Thanks for your input.

Hmmmm... challenging question for me. I'm a CAD/photoshop nerd. At any rate, when I open the "sharing" menu item under Pro 5.5, the 'single user' option is checked, via TCP/IP. The "local data access comparison" option is OFF.

Would this indicate to you that there is file sharing going on?

As for the "losing touch" thing, the symptom is basically that one and/or all of our five users will be unable to select a host file (in the OPEN dialogue) when clicking on "hosts". There are several db files that we normally access in this way. Sound legit? Someone else recommended a fresh install to me. But I'm not yet convinced.

Thanks again - hope this helps ID the problem.

Jonathan

thanks

[stanley]

This sounds like a TCP/IP problem. I'd check in the TCP/IP control panel and see if the server's address is set manually or via DHCP. If it's being set by DHCP then the clients might lose it. I always set my servers to manual (and always use the same address, too).

-Stanley