Schulz Consulting

Consulting and Upgrades

  • Home
  • Services
  • Contact

5 assumptions I’ll make when debugging your MAS200 server

February 5, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

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.

Filed Under: Sage 100 ERP, Technical Documents, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: lockups, mas200, mas200 error, mas200 freeze, mas200 lockup, mas200 server, Sage 100 ERP, Wayne Schulz

MAS90 and MAS200 Lockups, Freezes and Crashes – Solved (again)

January 8, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Have you been fighting frequent lockups, freezes or other unexplained problems where Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 has stopped responding to your users?

Members of the 90Minds group have reported that one of the causes of many lockups for their clients appears to be the Symantec Endpoint system security software.

This suite of software includes antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion prevention (protection against unauthorized access, theft, tampering, and attacks on network availability), and device control – to protect against known and unknown threats.

The traditional way to deal with anti-virus software suspected of causing system crashes or lock-ups is to exclude the data files within the MAS 90 folder from scanning.

In this instance several of my trusted consultants have reported that excluding files and directories does not seems to eliminate the crashing/lockups of MAS 90 or MAS 200 (this problem seems to occur with either product).

The only cure that seems to work is to completely remove Symantec Endpoint. Simply excluding files or turning off the scanning does not appear to be effective at stopping crashes.

IMPORTANT: System locks, crashes and freezing can be caused by MANY different problems including faulty hardware and data corruption.  In most instances if all other things have remained unchanged you should look to the latest additions or changes to your system as the most likely culprit.

Removing Symantec Endpoint is never guaranteed to solve the problem. Rather, locking or random freezing of a MAS90 system is generally solved by a series of trial and error steps – of which one would be to replace the anti-virus software.

After making slight system changes you should allow for a period of time to observe whether the problem is cured (or reduced). If you have one user who seems to start the chain of events that lead to a system lockup – have that user move to another computer for the day and see if the problem goes away.

Curing MAS90 lockups is often a process of making small changes to your system and observing whether they work. My experience has been that the best place to start is with anti-virus software. Based on the feedback of my 20+ consultant network – it is looking increasingly like there may be some concerns that cause Symantec Endpoint to not play well with Sage MAS 90 or 200.

If you have found a way to make Symantec Endpoint work – please share in the comments below so the rest of our daily readers can learn from your suggestion.

Filed Under: Tips and Tricks Tagged With: antivirus, mas200 lockup, mas90 crash, mas90 freeze, mas90 lockup, symantec endpoint

Access Sage 100 in the cloud today. 3rd party applications supported Available 24/7 from anywhere. Dedicated hosts

Call 1-888-244-6559 (toll-free)

Search Our Site

Sage 100 Newsletter

Sage 100 News

  • Does Sage have plans to stop supporting TLS 1.0 & 1.1 for Sage 100?
  • Payroll Requirements for Year-End 2023
  • DataSelf ETL+ v2023.07 for Sage 100 Announced
  • Version History of Sage 100 Accounting Software
  • What Happens if Sage 100 Goes Read-Only?
  • Sage 100 Knowledgebase Updated
  • Top Sage 100 New Features – Versions 4.4 through 2023
  • The Wayfair Ruling at Five: Why 72% of Businesses Still Struggle with Economic Nexus
  • AVALARA UPDATE: Sales Tax Holiday Changes in Florida
  • Sage 100 & CRM – May 2023 Update

Contact Us

Schulz Consulting
Connecticut Office
Click Here To Contact Schulz Consulting
Phone: 860-657-8544
Email Us
Available remotely nationwide.
We are a local branch of DSD Business Systems Connecticut.

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.