Lock Icon Locks Me Out When Connecting From a Networked Mac / PC

There are many reasons why one Mac or PC will loose connection to your server where the 'datafile' is stored. Usually it has to do with a problematic network cable, network card, or faulty wireless network.

Many times, only ONE of your Mac or PCs will get the 'Lock' and there is no way to 'un-freeze' this except by force quitting (control/apple/esc for Mac and control/alt/delete on Windows) the BookingCenter Desktop and starting it up again.

When this continually happens to ONE Mac or Windows, that helps identify the problem and until you fix it, the networking errors are prone to continue to happen. BookingCenter is VERY sensitive to the persistence of a 'byte compatible' connection to the server, whereas websites and email are very fault-tolerant. This means that even a mild issues with a network cable, network card, or faulty wireless connection will manifest in a 'Lock' on BookingCenter but show no problems for other internet use. It can be very frustrating, and hard to deduce.

The advice we give is to situations where the 'lock' continually happens to ONE Mac or Windows is - in no particular order - to:

• wire that Mac/PC directly to the router/hub that connects to the server. Basically, getting rid of a wireless issue.

• replace the ethernet cable (if it's wired already).

• replace the wireless card or ethernet card that connects that Mac/PC to the network

• plug the Mac/PC into a different port on the router/hub that connects to the server in the hope that you have a faulty port.

If the 'lock' occurrence is happening on ALL of your networked Mac PCs (often or occasionally), then you have a larger issue and the problem could be on the server, the router/hub, or other devices making to much traffic in your network. When this occurs, you will need to either considering moving to our web-based MyPMS system or calling in a network administrator who can solve your network problems. This is beyond the ability of Tech Support to solve for you remotely.

For general networking tips and instructions with all variations of Mac and Windows PCs, read here.