FAQ - Hardware and Operating System
What is the recommended hardware for running Motive Power?
How do I find out if my hardware is certified to run any given version of Windows?
What is the recommended hardware for running Motive Power?
Motive Power uses the Microsoft SQL engine which is fairly hardware intensive. We recommend Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, or Windows 8, a dual core processor, at least 2GB of RAM and a fast hard drive with at least 4GB of free disk space for the server machine (the computer where your database resides). For the workstation computers, we recommend Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, at least 1GB of RAM and 500 MB or 10% free space on the hard drive. All hardware should be on the Microsoft approved list for the version of Windows you are running.
How do I find out if my hardware is certified to run any given version of Windows?
Go to www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx to check your hardware. If you have a brand name computer you can look under Systems to see what versions of Windows have been tested on that machine. If you have a homemade or locally built computer you need to look up each component separately.
I just upgraded to Windows XP SP2 and now my Motive Power stations will not connect to the server. What do I do?
XP Service Pack 2 tightens security in Windows. It does this by turning off ports and protocols via the firewall. You need to turn on the ports required by SQL server in order to access the Motive Power. Motive Power uses a named instance of SQL server. The name is MSSQL$CAI3 (or MSSQL$CAI2 for Motive Power 3.0). Follow this procedure to enable SQL access for other stations on your network. The commands have been excerpted from Microsoft documentation and edited to match Motive Power.
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Run dialog box, type Firewall.cpl, and then click OK.
- In the Windows Firewall dialog box, click Add a Program on the Exceptions tab.
- In the Add Program dialog box, click the Browse button to locate the instance of SQL Server that you want to add to the exception list. The default installation location for the Motive Power instance of SQL Server is:
for Motive Power 3.5:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.CAI3\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe
for Motive Power 3.0:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe- Select the name of the instance, and then click OK.
- Under Programs and Services, select the check box that is next to the name you selected in step 5, and then click OK.
- Add another exception for the SQL Browser service by browsing to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Shared\sqlbrowser.exe then click Open, and then click OK.
- Be sure that both of these new exceptions are limited to the local network.
You can read the entire Microsoft article at support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=841251
I can't connect to my Motive Power files from Word or Excel or Crystal or other report writer. What do I do?
By default, Windows XP SP2 and later closes all ports. You have to open them explicitly. Motive Power 3.5 uses CAI3 (for Computer Assistance Inc.) as a "named instance" of SQL server. (Motive Power 2.x and 3.0 use the named instance CAI2). You have to take action to allow other programs to look at the Motive Power data. Depending on the version of Windows and the kind of anti-malware software used you may need to allow for security exceptions on the computer hosting the CAI3 (or earlier) instance of SQL Server. You may need to add an exceptions in addition to those already set to allow multi-user access to Motive Power itself.
Go to Control Panel | Security Center and click on Windows Firewall under Manage Security Settings. If the firewall is OFF then this is not your problem. If the firewall is ON, click on the Exceptions tab. Make sure these two programs appear in the list of exceptions. SQL Browser gets added by navigating to Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Shared and adding SQLBrowser to the list. If you are running Motive Power at more than one station this has already been done.
SQL Server gets added by navigating to Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.CAI3\MSSQL\Binn and adding sqlservr.exe to the list. For Motive Power 2.x and 3.0 go to Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL1\MSSQL\binn and add sqlservr.exe to the list. If you are still running a 32 bit version of Windows there is no (x86) after program files.
IMPORTANT- If you are still running Windows XP you must specifically limit the scope of these exceptions to your local area network or you open up your network to the world. Windows 7/8/Vista default to allowing local network access only.
If this does not solve your problem you will need to open an additional port. First you need to know the port number. Click on Start and then Run and enter SVRNETCN.EXE. If you have more than one SQL server program or instance on this machine, use the drop down and make sure you are looking at the correct data. Under Enabled protocols highlight TCP/IP and then click on Properties and note down the default port number. (Note: If SVRNETCN.EXE is not available on your computer you will have to look at the SQL server log to find the port number. Navigate to the SQL server folder as above. Once you see the MSSQL folder open it and search for the string "listening on". The port number is the next item.)
For Windows XP SP3 go to Control Panel | Security Center and add another port. Call it SQL TCP Access and give it the same port number you noted down. Change scope to limit access to My network or set a custom address.
For Windows 7/8/Vista enter firewall in the Windows search field and pick Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. Click on Inbound rules, then new rules. Pick port as the rule type. Next pick TCP and specific local port and enter that port number you got from the log file.