> I am wondering what you are telling it to connect to. Obviously
> something is listening on 3050 (presumably FB, but make sure
> especially if IB is installed). I use components that wrap the API
> itself, and you can not attempt to connect without providing a
> connection string (so perhaps we are on different wavelengths).
>
> Can you connect using iSQL? It should be using the form
>
> [hostname]:[path to database]
>
> eg
>
> Localhost:c:\data\mydb.fdb
>
> I know that if you forget the hostname, then you will have problems
> with terminal services, but I have not experienced this problem on XP
> or 2K desktop varieties.

Oh my!!!
It's true... if I run this having administrative rights:
C:\Programmi\Firebird\bin>isql d:\cvs\OA.FDB -u artin -p whatever
Database: d:\cvs\OA.FDB, User: artin
SQL>

And it obviously works with the explicit host specification:
C:\Programmi\Firebird\bin>isql localhost:d:\cvs\OA.FDB -u artin -p
whatever
Database: localhost:d:\cvs\artin\artinoa\data\OA.FDB, User: artin
SQL>

But, if I run it from another user, with no admin rights:
C:\Programmi\Firebird\bin>isql d:\CVS\OA.FDB -u artin -p whatever
Statement failed, SQLCODE = -904
unavailable database
Use CONNECT or CREATE DATABASE to specify a database

And now, thanks to Mr Adam:
C:\Programmi\Firebird\bin>isql localhost:d:\CVS\OA.FDB -u artin -p
whatever
Database: localhost:d:\CVS\OA.FDB, User: artin

Thanks a lot!!!
Rony