Symptoms
The service appears not to start when the system is rebooted but will start if manually started from the services console once the system is running.
Cause
On some systems there can be a delay before the database becomes available to Softalk Share Server. Windows can sometimes time out while attempting to start the Softalk Share Server service, which is waiting to connect to the database. In this case the service fails to start successfully.
Resolution
Note: This FAQ applies to Softalk Share Server v1.3 and above. Before proceeding you should update to this version. For this you will need to have a current maintenance agreement.
Softalk Share Server now starts on bootup and notifies Windows of this before attempting to connect to the database. It then makes a series of attempts to connect to the database before notifying Windows of a connection failure. The initial delay before connection, the number of retries and the period between retries can now be set in the registry. These parameters may need to be adjusted to suit startup delays on your system.
More Info
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it should a problem arise.
Detail
Open the registry editor by clicking Start >> Run, typing regedit and pressing enter.
Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARESoftalkSoftalk Share Server
If an Advanced key does not already exist, create one by right clicking and selecting New | Key and typing the name Advanced. Select to open the Advanced key.
If you do not currently have an initialDelay registry value, then create one. If one is already in existence then that value should be edited.
initialDelay should be created as a REG_DWORD value
The data in the initialDelay value is the delay in seconds from startup of the service until Softalk Share Server first attempts to connect to the database.
Double-click on the initialDelay value, set the decimal radio-button and enter a new delay period. Enter a value of 30 for a 30 second delay. Trial and error my need to be applied to find an appropriate value.
Repeat the above for the following registry valaues, both created as type REG_DWORD.
HKLMSOFTWARESoftalkSoftalk Share ServerAdvancedinitialDBRetries = 5
HKLMSOFTWARESoftalkSoftalk Share ServerAdvancedinitialDBRetryPeriod = 15