I just thought I'd add my two cents that going to a real server may not solve the problem either. We have the exact same problem now on a Netware 4.11 server and as far as I know that qualifies as real.

We believe that this is caused by network connectivity. The question is how do we test and fix that? Without much insite into the VFP backend and how it handles the connections I'm a little lost. I've tried changing many of the settings on the client such as "use extended file handles", "Net Status Busy Timeout", "Netstatus timeout", and "close behind ticks" without much success. Currently I'm thinking of building a stripped workstation with just the core OS components and core VFP/App components. This will help to rule out the possibility of software conflicts. I've seen multiple references to virus software causing problems (especially MacAfee) so if the stripped station is too much work maybe start by removing unessential or likely problem software. If that isn't enough, I've seen further reference that it can be a hardware problem ranging from a bad NIC to bad network components (server, hub, cable etc.) which just opens another whole casm of testing. The most unfortunate thing about this error (and I've found with "invalid seek offset") is that no one, even those who get a fix, really knows what the problem is. I've seen people say that they reloaded software/OS and it didn't work, tried again and didn't work, and then tried again and it did work!

Please let me know what other thoughts you can come up with. This is a critical problem at one of my clients and I am spending huge amounts of time trying to find answers.

Thanks to all..
Shawn Burke
DRI Management Systems