At 11:27 a.m. 10/11/2013, Tim Hicks wrote:

>Since it looks like a full server, I tried to connect from my work laptop which is Win32.
>
>On that machine, when I run my script I get
>
>...) failed: [ODBC Firebird Driver]unavailable database (SQL-08004)
>
>
>I had interpreted this to mean there's something blocking access from another machine.

Two possibles:
1. The Firebird service isn't running.
2. You are trying to connect using an illegal path.

>I also installed FireRobin and on my laptop and got it to connect to the server in question.

What did Flamerobin connect to? (Exact host and path).

>So I'm going in two directions, either I have to fix the drivers on the server to run the script there, or figure out why I get "unavailable database" from my laptop.

Forget the drivers. When you get the path string right, any of them will work. If the FB service is actually running then make sure the DSN on the client machine (whether local or remote) points to the native drive letter of a disk that is physically attached to the host machine. Not a network drive (even if it is local) nor any other kind of logical location. For example, if the database is on PHYSICAL drive D: on the MyHost server, the laptop should connect with

MyHost:D:\databases\MyDatabase.fdb
or
\\MyHost\D:\databases\MyDatabase.fdb

Note, too, that if you omit the backslash after the D: part, you'll get the Unavailable database error even if the rest is correct.

You would do yourself a big favour by grabbing the Quick Start guide for Fb 2.1. If it isn't in the \doc\ subdir of the installation, you can download it from the Firebird website.


Helen Borrie, Support Consultant, IBPhoenix (Pacific)
Author of "The Firebird Book" and "The Firebird Book Second Edition"
http://www.firebird-books.net
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