Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Quickbooks H202 problems/thoughts

I can't explain how I have so many problems at one client with Quickbooks server/client issue - whereas I have other clients with the same setup with no problems.

After spending 8 hours on it yesterday, here are some more things to troubleshoot/look at:


  1. On the Quickbooks host, ping the host itself with NETBIOS name (meaning if the host is machine X, open a DOS prompt on machine X and ping X).  If you get anything other than an IPv4 address in the reply, make an entry for the QB host in the HOSTS file,
  2. On the Quickbooks host, telnet to each of the ports that should be open to make sure you know what should be open (telnet NETBIOSNAME 8019).  List of ports is below.
  3. On a Quickbooks client, telnet to each of the working ports to make sure they aare working properly (and if not - adjust firewall settings as appropriate).


And even with the above in place, you *still* might have trouble.  I had a Windows 7 physical machine set up optimally that would just not work right.  Whenever a client tried to convert the QBW file to multi-user mode, Quickbooks would give an H202 message.  I also had a Windows 2008 32 bit Hyper-V VM machine that was optimally configured as well.  I would also get an H202 error when trying to put a client (logged in as admin) in multi-user mode.  Every possible thing I could see was optimal.

I ended up creating a new Windows 2008 R2 VM - configured no differently than the two above machines in any meaningful way - that worked.  IP address was given through a DHCP reservation.  There was a HOSTS file entry on it.  I made the firewall adjustments.  I shared out the folder that had the QBW file with appropriate permissions.  I ran the QB database server tool and scanned the appropriate directory.  The initial ND file looked no different than the ND file from the above two machines (Win 7 and Win 2008 RTM 32 bit).  I can't explain it, but at 5 am - I was able to get a reproducible successful state.


Quickbooks ports that need to be open in the firewall:
QuickBooks 2015: 8019, 56725, 55363-55367
QuickBooks 2014: 8019, 56724, 55358-55362
QuickBooks 2013: 8019, 56723, 55353-55357
QuickBooks 2012: 8019, 56722, 55348-55352
QuickBooks 2011: 8019, 56721, 55343-55347
QuickBooks 2010: 8019, 56720, 55338-55342

Initial ND file when you first create it:
// This is QuickBooks configuration File. It exists while users are connected
// to a company file. Do not delete this file yourself. QuickBooks may not
// operate correctly if you manually delete this file.
[NetConnect]
ServerIp=10.0.0.170
EngineName=QB_qbserver_18
ServerPort=10180
FilePath=C:\QB\TestCompany, LLC.QBW
ServerMode=1
FILECONNECTIONGUID=

Final ND after it is successfully used:
//This is QuickBooks configuration File. It exists while users are connected
// to a company file. Do not delete this file yourself. QuickBooks may not
// operate correctly IF you manually delete this file.
[NetConnect]
ServerIp=10.0.0.170
EngineName=QB_QBSERVER_23
ServerPort=55353
FilePath=C:\QB\TestCompany, LLC.QBW
ServerMode=1

FileConnectionGuid=26cf2cf47dcf46e2b8baded2b92bad14

Friday, July 17, 2015

Installing a Netgear 341U Sprint Mobile Broadband Card on a Mac

I've had some trouble getting a Netgear 341U to install on a Mac.  Here's what I've found to work and also what you're looking for.

The proper Netgear 341U setup shows WWAN LTE as an option as a network to connect.  When the Netgear 341U is plugged in, the WWAN LTE will show as connected.






















I've let the drivers install when you first plug the card in, but this did not work for me.  Somehow, they just didn't show the WWAN LTE connection.  The solution seems to be go to Sprint's site and download the drivers from there with the card plugged in.  Download the drivers.  Install the drivers and reboot - all with the card still plugged in.

Drivers located here:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27019


Thursday, July 16, 2015

Disabling WSUS on a formerly SBS 2008 network

Windows SBS 2008 networks define the Windows Update server as the SBS 2008 server.  This works well until you decommission the SBS 2008 server, and you need/want your computers to start searching for updates on the internet again.  Personally, I've found that as long as you have sufficient bandwidth, I prefer getting updates from the internet over managing/maintaining an internal WSUS server.  I'm sure many disagree with me.

The WSUS server is defined in Group Policy.  The Group Policy Object on an SBS 2008 network is called "Update Services Common Setting Policy."  Here's a screen shot of where you disable the setting (change the value to disabled):


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Set up for a new Mac on a PC network as of 7/15/15


  1. Boot up laptop and log in as admin and create a local password with the domain admin password
  2. Install all applicable Apple updates and make sure the system is on the latest OS and OS patch
  3. Create new user as local administrator that matches (though doesn't necessarily need to match) the user's login name on the Windows domain with matching domain password
  4. Log out and log in as user
  5. Install newest applicable version of MS Office
  6. Set up VPN
  7. Set up all applicable printers
  8. Install applicable antivirus
  9. Set up network drives
  10. Test VPN and ability to access network drives over VPN
  11. Configure Outlook and let email download completely
  12. Configure any applicable broadband card
  13. Add VNC/screen sharing password
  14. Add serial number and computer specs to inventory spreadsheet

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Moving Hyper-V from Windows 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2

You can't import a virtual machine created on Windows 2008 R2 into a server running Windows 2012 R2.  There's some aspect that's incompatible.

Here's what worked best for me:

Stop the old VM on the Win 2008 R2 machine
Copy the VHD file to the Win 2012 R2 machine
Create a new virtual machine and tell it to connect to an existing virtual disk
Choose the VHD you moved




















If you get error 0×80070569 like I did when you try to complete the new VM wizard, restart the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management per this page:
http://www.wolffhaven45.com/blog/hyper-v/hyper-v-error-0x80070569/

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Downloading symbols for use with windbg when analyzing BSODs with windbg

99 times out of 100, I use BlueScreenView to analyze BSODs.  It's a great program for initial analysis.

If I need to go more in depth, I use windb from here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852365

However, when you run windbg, you get errors about missing symbols. I read about the fix for the symbold problem here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2008/11/01/how-to-debug-kernel-mode-blue-screen-crashes-for-beginners.aspx

The fix for the symbol error is to type this command at the bottom of the window (part to type in bold):

0: kd>  !symfix
then save the workspace and close and reopen windbg

Now you get no symbol errors when you open the minidump.  Now, you can get get more detail about the BSOD with this command:

0: kd> !analyze -v

Thursday, July 9, 2015

DOS commands to view WLAN status

I found this command to be very helpful in giving me details about my WLAN and all the WLANs around me.  It allows you to get the channels of all the WLANs around you and their signal strength relative to you.

netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid

For info just about your current connection, enter:

netsh wlan show interface