One of the toughest things to diagnose are sporadic Sage MAS 200 errors. Typically these manifest themselves as Error 12 conditions or cryptic lockups that bring the MAS200 server to a grinding halt (usually mid-day or in the midst of a heavy processing day).

The first thing I’ll usually try with a MAS 200 server problem is running the server app as a program instead of a service. This seems to be especially helpful for larger sites (for sake of argument lets label a site with over 10 users as large).

If you’re seeing error messages like “Connection failure to host:[tcp]Servername;####;NODELAY;STREAM” when starting tasks – these can often be resolved with the tweaks from our site.

I’ve diagnosed more than a few of these in my career. While they’re highly annoying – they generally  can be resolved with  careful and systematic checking of configurations and settings.

My observation is that many sites however fail in diagnosing the error conditions. Below is my list of the top 5 reasons that problems go un-resolved (or in some instances such as failing to have a backup – get worse).

Top 5 Reasons Your MAS 200 Server Keeps Having Errors

1. The IT person didn’t do what I asked because they typically don’t know how and are too embarrassed to admit to you or the boss. If you’ve asked to have Anti-Virus exclude certain folders – check that it has been done. Similarly watch them make any changes (again). Yes, you’ll have to put up with some heavy breathing and sighs. This is something all IT people learn to do in school.
2. Even though staff will say  “It couldn’t be this” – check it anyway. Insist on it. Watch them do it. That goes for any of the Sage KB suggestions as well as instructions on excluding folders, files, etc on antivirus scans. Probably 40% of the problems go away when users actually try the fixes (as opposed to saying they tried them). (Tip: Always backup first – and be sure to read my #5 below).
3. The fact that Word and Excel run are totally irrelevant to any diagnosis of why MAS 200 won’t run — but the IT folks will hold that out as Prima Facie evidence that MAS 200 sucks, Sage sucks, Providex is a shitty language, SQL rocks, their MAS 200 consultant sucks, The Boss Sucks and their network is air-tight and better than any other on Planet Earth. You just have to develop a tough skin and keep running down the checklist.
4. Roughly 40% of IT folks have no idea what administrative rights are. In general I test for this right off by right clicking on the Start button and noticing whether “explore ALL” is an option. When that’s not present I assume the user doesn’t have administrative rights. Quite a few times after I do this and announce the results the IT folks disappear for a half hour or so. I’m pretty sure they’re going in the back to look up “administrative rights” in their “Server Administration for Dummies” book.
5. The IT staff don’t have a proper backup. Drag the entire \MAS90 folder (and all subfolders) to a separate location locally before starting.

Our site contains information on the different ways that you can correct many MAS 200 errors. The key is to systematically try them all one by one and observe whether small changes to your setup are correcting the issues you exist with MAS200 lockups.