new server and problems with mdw file

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We have a split FE/BE database with copies of the FE on each user workstation
and use the Auto FE Updater from Tony Toews’ website. About a year ago I
implemented user level security which so far has worked as designed. Late
last week the IT folks moved the shared BE and mdw file to a new, larger
server (still called O:\) . Shortly after that I got a phone call from one
of my users saying that the DB would only open on a single machine. After
further investigation we discovered that it will only open on one machine at
a time. If another user already has the DB open the second user gets the
error message that the file O:\ABCSecurity.mdw cannot be found.

We were able to temporarily work around this problem by putting the mdw file
on each workstation and installing a new shortcut on all the machines that
bypasses the Auto FE Updater and uses the local mdw. The shared BE file on
the server correctly opens when using this new shortcut. Obviously this is
not a good final solution since I don’t want to have to maintain multiple mdw
files when we add new users or have users change their passwords. To add
complexity to the situation I am at a remote location and cannot actually see
what is going on and the IT folks on site don’t seem to have any Access
knowledge. I am at a loss for what to try next.

Thanks in advance for your help

Kathleen
 
Kathleen said:
last week the IT folks moved the shared BE and mdw file to a new, larger
server (still called O:\) .
Click to expand...

You should consider using UNC pathnames rather than mapped drives. So your
shortcut would use \\servername\share\path... in it.

Shortly after that I got a phone call from one
of my users saying that the DB would only open on a single machine.
Click to expand...

Since they have a new server, it's possible that they changed windows folder
permissions. All users of the mdb need read, create, delete, write
permissions on the folder where the backend/mdw are located. Also ensure
that the backend mdb does not have the same name as the mdw.
 
Lynn,
Yes, I saw that in some other posts and the IT folks say they have given
change permissions for the shared server to everyone.

I am actually a bit less concerned with the Auto FE Updater than the
security file. If we were to modify the .ini file with that to work with the
local mdw it might still work but I haven't tried that yet since I am at a
remote location and my users are somewhat less computer savvy.

It seems as if once one person opens the DB using the secured mdw that mdw
file becomes invisible for subsequent users, though the subsequent user can
see it in Windows Explorer.

Kathleen
 
Good point about the UNC pathnames. I will try that as soon as I can get the
IT folks to give it to me. The server is at a remote location that I do not
have access to from my office.

The users all have all persmissions to the folder on the new server and the
mdw (ABCSecurity.mdw) and backend (ABCTablesOnly.mdb) have different names.

Kathleen
 
What I mean is that upon clicking on the shortcut the subsequent users get a
message stating that the file 'O:\ABCSecurity.mdw' cannot be found when it is
in fact there. If one person has it open then Access cannot find it for a
subsequent user to use it.

Kathleen
 
I just got the correct UNC pathname from the IT person and while a single
user can open the file using the UNC path when a subsequent user tries to
open the file they still get the message that
'\\10.20.300.40\SharedFolder\lee\ABCSecurity.mdw' cannot be found.

Any other ideas for what I should try?

Kathleen
 
Kathleen said:
I just got the correct UNC pathname from the IT person and while a single
user can open the file using the UNC path when a subsequent user tries to
open the file they still get the message that
'\\10.20.300.40\SharedFolder\lee\ABCSecurity.mdw' cannot be found.
Click to expand...


With one person in the database, verify that two ldb files exist in the
folder.

Also does this happen when a specific user opens it first, or with any user
that opens it first.
 
With one person in the database there is an ldb file for the BE and another
ldb file for the security.mdw.

It doesn't matter who goes in first. Anyone can be the first user in, the
next person who tries to log in gets the error message that it cannot find
the security.mdw. We even tried to restore a backup copy of the mdw that was
created before the upgrade and that didn't help.

Kathleen
 
I'm sorry, but I have no further suggestions. It must have something to do
with the new server setup since this problem surfaced only after that
change.
 
Thanks for your help anyway. I appreciate being able to eliminate some of
the more elementary solutions before going to the IT department.

Kathleen
 
Kathleen,
What server OS on the new server?

It was looking like an environmental (network) issue from the beginning.
It's acting as if the share folder is "shared" but only limited to one user
count. It is possible to set up a share this way (i.e. in Windows server
based), but I cant imagine your IT people set up a "shared" folder and only
allow 1 user (connection).

Some of the other basic things you can try while logging in as different
users:

do the following to the shared folder -
- create an excel file, save it, and delete it. Make sure it lets you.
- create an excel file, keep it open on one user and have another user try
to open the same excel file. The other user should be able to see the excel
file, open it with a warning that the file will be open 'read only'. The
other user should also be able to save the excel file AS another file.

(The above steps are basically testing for 'full access' privileges for the
users involved. I'm still suspecting network privileges issue).



Immanuel Sibero
 
Just saw this. I'd be looking in the server logs to see if there are
any lower level messages that you do not normally see.

Eg. "error 1234, corrupt ACL on file blah.mdw"

or somesuch. Your IT folks should know how to do that. I'm no operating
system logging expert, so I'm just assuming that this might be possible
on your OS version.

HTH,
TC
 
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