Terminal Server Ended the Connection

[M Faulkner]

Hi there:

We run a small thin client network onto a Windows 2000
Server with Terminal Services. Licenses are 100% up to
date and everything seems to be okay. From time to time,
we have an issue with someone connecting to the server.
It is not profile related, as that person can connect from
a different client. When you click to connect, the error
message "The Terminal server ended the connection or a
network error occurred. Please try to reconnect."

It seems like it's the thin client, not the port, because
when I switch the box to a new connection, it still
doesn't work. Everything I've been looking up keeps
saying to update to SP4, and I really don't want to do
that. Things are working pretty well, and I really don't
know enough about networking to be able to fix things if
they go south.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Mary

 

[M Faulkner]

UPDATE:

Event Viewer shows that "The terminal services client has
been disconnected because its temporary license has
expired." Which is silly, because we have plenty of
licenses. Help!!!!

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

There are some specific problems with thin clients and licenses.

813508 - Cannot Connect to a Terminal Server From a Windows-Based
Terminal
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=813508

This is fixed in SP4. But the article also describes a workaround,
so you can test if the problem goes away and buy some time before
doing the upgrade to SP4.

Also: assure that there is *not* an EventLog warning stating that
the TS cannot locate the Licensing server. If there is one, you
have a different problem and should try to hardcode the address of
the LS into the registry of the TS:

239107 - Establishing Preferred Windows 2000 Terminal Services
License Server
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239107

 

[M Faulkner]

Vera:

Thanks for the workaround tip! I did get the client to
connect - I called support and had them help reinstall
stand-alone CALs that had mysteriously disappeared. I'm a
little concerned, however, by the fact that this should
never have been issued a temporary license in the first
place. In addition to this little client, two Windows
2000 PCs also on the network have been issued temporary
licenses. Now, Windows 2000 is supposed to have a built-
in license for Terminal Services, isn't it? Why would
these show up as temporary? I'm having some trouble
figuring out how to search for that.

Mary

 

[Daniel Hodous]

Just to let you know we were getting this problem and
found that when we moved all the terminal server users off
of our HP Switch and onto a less efficient hub it fixed
the error .. I think the backplane was too fast for the
terminal server and it kept dropping the connections

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

If the W2K clients are W2K Pro and you have a TS Licensing server
installed and activated, and the W2K Pro client still gets a
temporary license, then the only conclusion is that the TS cannot
locate the LS.

Have you checked your EventLog? That should make things rather
obvious. If this is the problem, you have to hardcode the address
of the LS into the registry of the TS.

239107 - Establishing Preferred Windows 2000 Terminal Services
License Server
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239107

Note: *no* OS had a build-in license! W2K Pro and XP Pro clients
get a free TS CAL from the Licensing server. If the LS is
unavailable or unreachable, then they get a temporary TS CAL from
the TS.

 

[M Faulkner]

Vera:

Thanks again! As I mentioned, I'm not terribly familiar
with all things network-y. I'm not really worried about
editing the reigstry, but I was curious - how do I go
about figuring out what is my licensing server? Is that
just my main server?

Mary

 

[M Faulkner]

Oh, I needed to add something!

After reading that article, I'm pretty sure that my
license server is in a different domain than the rest of
the network. We had a nasty crash about a month ago, and
when the guys re-created the network, they gave it a new
domain name. I navigated to key indicated in the article
you listed, but I haven't the faintest idea what to do
with it. There is a defaul key with the REG_SZ type, but
then there are a bunch of values like "UseLicenseServer"
with a REG_DWORD type. I'm pretty much lost at this
point.

Thanks!

 

[M Faulkner]

OK, yet another update -

I did some searching and found this info -
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.aspx?
NewsGroup=microsoft.public.win2000.termserv.clients&SLCID=
US&ICP=GSS3&sd=GN&id=fh;en-us;newsgroups -

which helped me find what I believe is the licensing
server - and it's in the correct domain. Hmmm....