Quickbooks not switching to multi-user mode

If it wasn’t so late at night, I’d be dancing. You ever spend a bunch of time on a problem that turns out to need a simple fix?

The Issue

I’ve been dealing with a Quickbooks problem with a client of ours off and on for a significant period of time. Quickbooks failed to switch to multi-user mode whenever a network client opened the company file first. If I opened a session from the server, the clients opened in multi-user mode without error. If a client opened the file first, I got the H202 error when trying to switch to multi-user mode.

What I tried

A Google search showed numerous instances and solutions for the error. Apparently, H202 is a generic network error with no specific references. I ran through the list, removed the QB database manager, reinstalled the manager, deleted the ND files, turned off and on firewalls, uninstalled all QB related services and files, reinstalled, updated all QB files on all clients. I covered most of the list and as I could only work on the problem at night, never got around to calling Quickbooks tech support. I continued to work around the issue by opening the company file on the server first, then a client, then logging off the company file on the server. As long as one client was logged into multi-user mode, all other clients worked.

The Solution

I am feeling a bit silly with this one. I came across a reference to the H202 error when using a Linux host. The Windows-based clients needed an adjustment to the Hosts file for the FQDN of the server. When I looked at the page I felt the hamster who lives in my head kick his exercise wheel into overdrive. While the company hosted the file on a Windows 2003 server, all network clients connected in a peer-to-peer environment. As soon as I adjusted the hosts file, the clients could switch back and forth without a problem.

I feel like dancing but it’s late and I need sleep.