Can Not Save File - Drawing Open in Another Session

I'm going to try and do this as succinctly as possible.

1. New guy at company installs AC 2017.

2. New guy (NG) can't save any files. He has problems both with files he creates and files he modifies from other people.

2.a He gets an error message: "Unable to save drawing XXX.dwg as it is being accessed be another session."

2.b It is NOT being accessed by another session. We've rebooted the entire server to make sure of this.

3. We've had our IT people look at it, and they find nothing wrong. (I'm not convinced they looked really hard though, so I'm not discounting a network permissions error or something.)

4. If he creates a file and starts having this problem, the FILE retains the problem. I.e. I can't open it and save it to the server either.

5. I was troubleshooting yesterday, and was able to create a file and save it to the server, in the location he's having problems successfully.

5.a I was also able to open a file he'd previously modified and then couldn't save on MY computer.

I realize all of this is very confusing. Trust me, I'm confused. Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? I've been using this thing for a decade and a half, and have NEVER had a problem this convoluted.

We have both repaired and reinstalled AutoCAD. No help. The computer he's using is refurbished from the factory, but new to us and recently set up.

Take a look at this.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-Cannot-save-the-drawing-path-filename-dwg.html

Tried all of those yesterday. All our folders are marked READ ONLY, and no one else has ever had this problem.

None of the other steps were relevant.

UPDATE: Second new guy is ALSO having this problem. Both of these computers were set up in the last month. No one else has ever encountered this.

That was yesterday. Today is a new day.

Have you checked for the presence of .DWL and .DWL2 files in the location the NG is saving to?

Can the NG save files locally?

I have both of those in some of the locations we've had trouble with. What does that mean? Those are the files AutoCAD opens when you have the file open, right?

.DWL is a drawing lock file. It should be automatically deleted when the drawing is closed.

Same issue but references remote access. Is that the case with the new guy (he is working remotely)?

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/DWG-files-unexpectedly-become-Read-Only.html

Ok, but the problem doesn't only occur after we've closed the drawing? Say he opens a file and can't save it?

I had the same issue a while back:

https://www.theswamp.org/index.php?topic=50185.0

Cheers

Interesting BB. So it ended up being your domain clock on the server? There were a lot of "solved!!! Wait, no, happening again" posts in there! Want to make sure I'm really at the end!

Also, was RKMCSWAIN's last comment relevant? It doesn't seem to have been responded to.

Too many variables. First have the NG sever any network connection. Next have him create a new drawing and save it to his hard drive. What happens? Does the problem occur? Yes/no?

If yes, have him disable the anti-virus program. Reboot. Do not connect to a network. Create a new drawing and save it to the local hard drive. What happens? Does the problem occur? Yes/no?

Has there been a resolution to the problem or are you still in troubleshooting mode?

They were troubleshooting overnight... sorry!

Neither of them have problems when NOT saving to the server.

That right there tells you two things. 1. It is not an AutoCAD problem per se. 2. The problem is on the server end.

Yup... I am agreeing with that... and have been yelling at the IT guys the whole time that this isn't an AutoCAD thing. I'm checking to see if we have any type of SYNC running on the server. That might help explain some of it. Haven't heard back yet.

Somewhere yesterday I read that the solution was to increase the throughput. Did you see that as well?

I read BB's entire thread on the other forum... and it seems there were a lot of possible solutions, but only the DC fix didn't come back with a negative.

Can I ask the IT guys what the server throughput currently is? I'm not even sure how one would go about doing that? And I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but NG1 is sitting in the Cypress, CA office, connected directly to the company LAN. The server there is synced automatically to the server in Phoenix (I'm trying to see if they changed the way they do this, as that was also a possible solution on the other thread). Everyone THEORETICALLY works from the Phoenix server. NG2, who is also having this problem, works from his home in Arkansas, and is using a VPN program to connect to the Phoenix server.

And someone thought all this was going to work flawlessly. Technology will be the brain-death of all of us.

So couldn't both guys work off-line saving locally until such time as they can go online, connect up with the main server then upload the drawings to the proper folder?

Yes, and that's what they're doing for today. And that's how I've worked for a long time. However, frankly, I don't trust them to maintain proper files and updates. And while that may be an eventual solution for the Arkansas guy (cause the VPN is just SLOW), the guy sitting in the office should be able to work from the server. `

Well it's not like you are all working out of the same physical office so I guess you'll have to constantly remind them to maintain proper files and updates until such time as this whole mess gets sorted out. Ah, the joys of being a "manager". Although I have the title CAD Manager all I manage is me, myself and I and that isn't as easy as it sounds. Some days I'm a bear to handle. LoL