I serve a small relational database (6 files) from a Power Mac G4 running FMServer7v3 to a small number of Mac OS X 10.3.9 local clients running FMPro7v3, and have never had a problem.

That is, until yesterday, when the Server stopped Serving and I went into FMServerAdmin to diagnose. In the Configure tab, under Databases, it lists all my files, but they remain Closed... I choose to Open Databases... and for a nanosecond, the status changes to something else (not enough time to read), then goes to Closed again. For the life of me, i can't get Admin to Open these files!

The only thing that changed that possibly could have messed with anything: i installed OS X 10.4.1 Tiger on one of the clients and used it to Remotely Access the database. This is when the breakdown happened, I think.

Anyone have any thoughts on what might have happened, or how I might get Server Admin to Open the files? (FMPro7v3 on the server G4 still is able to open the files locally, but unable to Share them, as it thinks that "Another user on this computer is trying to share the files..."

I uninstalled FMPro7, FMServer7 and all their components, reinstalled, and same deal.

Thanks in advance for all the geniuses who have so much more of a clue than I.

I've been using 10.4.1 on some clients to access a FM Server on 10.3.9 w/o problems.

Did you check the server log files to see if any errors are reported. It's possible that the files got corrupted somehow when FM Server stopped serving (crashed?) That would be consistent with what you've seen as far as reinstalling making no difference.

Try putting a known good backup of one of your files up on the server and see if that works. Also, try opening the other files directly with Filemaker Pro (make sure the server is stopped before you do this)

Dana