It's probably one of the more frustrating moments in the early hours of the morning; You get into the office, try to get everything ready to go for the day's business, and you can't log into MacPractice. Maybe it's complaining about an invalid password, or you keep seeing a strange error message, and you need to get in!

This resource will give you some basic steps to follow to troubleshoot your log in issues, and will indicate which issues you will require MacPractice Support's assistance, and which steps you can take on your own. Remember that regardless of of your issue, you can always contact MacPractice Support, we're more than happy to help you troubleshoot. Click on the "Have a Question? Ask now!" link in the lower right corner to get in touch with Support.

Before you begin troubleshooting, you should be able to identify which of your MacPractice computers is the server computer.

Incorrect Username or Password

Open

This message simply indicates that the username or password used to log in are incorrect.

Things to check:

• Passwords are case-sensitive, meaning CAPITALS and undercase letters do matter. Check if your Caps Lock key on your keyboard is lit. If it is, tap it to turn it off.

• If another user is nearby, have them try to log in to their account to see if they are able to log in.

• MacPractice Support has the ability to reset passwords. If you cannot recall your password, give us a call.

My Security Password Isn't Working

Open

The "Security Password Required" prompt will appear when first starting up the Server after a reboot. This prompt should only appear if you are on the Server computer. The Security Password is first set up when installing the Server, and it essentially functions as an encryption password so no unauthorized access to your database may occur.

As with a normal log in password, you should check for:

• Passwords are case-sensitive, meaning CAPITALS and undercase letters do matter. Check if your Caps Lock key on your keyboard is lit. If it is, tap it to turn it off.

• MacPractice Support has limited access to the Security Password. If your Security Password *has not been changed* after an installation, it is very likely that we have your security password on file. Contact MacPractice Support and we will access what we have on file to see if we can log out.

• If the Security Password HAS been changed after an installation, MacPractice Support WILL NOT have access to your new Security Password. In this scenario, MacPractice Support will not be able to assist you.

Can't Connect to the Server

Open

This combination of messages will appear in a few circumstances. This most frequently occurs when you are on a client computer and the server isn't running. This can also occur if the IP address of the server has changed due to your network configuration.

Things to check:

• Is the computer you're attempting to log in to the Server Computer?

  • If so, then click on the the gear icon in the upper right hand corner of the login prompt. You can see it in the animated image below. In the field "Server IP Address", confirm that this is set to "localhost" as shown in the image.
    Attempt to log in, and see if that resolves the issue.

  • If this doesn't work, or if the Server IP Address is already set to localhost, contact MacPractice Support for further assistance.

• Is the computer you're attempting to log in to a Client Computer?

  • If connecting to a client, first check to ensure the Server Computer is up and running. Ensure that you can log into MacPractice. If the Server isn't running, no client will be able to connect to the Server.

  • Can another Client Computer connect to the Server?

  • Once you've verified the Server is up and running, you'll need to verify that the IP address the client has for the Server is correct.

    • Move to the Server Computer. Navigate to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Networking.
      Select your connected network device (Ethernet or Wifi, typically), and check the IP Address field.

    • Is this the same IP Address that's plugged into the Client's Connection Drawer? If it is, then this is pointing correctly.

    • If it isn't, change the client's IP address listed in the Connection Drawer to match. Then try to log in again.
      
      

      Open

      
      Open

      

• If you are still unable to connect, the next step is to establish whether the network connection between the server and the client computers is available. The best way to do this is to "ping" the Server IP Address to determine whether there is a network connection between the two computers.

  • To ping, navigate to the Spotlight Search (the magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of your desktop). When you click on it, a prompt will appear. Type in Network Utility into the prompt.

    Open

    
    Open

    

    • Double click Network Utility to open it. From here, click on the "Ping" tab. Type in the Server IP Address into the field, and click Ping.

      Open

      

      • There are two kinds of results you'll get.

        • "Request Timeout" indicates that the client tried to reach the server, but never received a response at the address given.

          Open

          

          If you see results like this, and the Server IP Address is correct, you're having some network issues. MacPractice Support can't necessarily help in this situation, as we don't know how your network is configured and troubleshooting would almost certainly require an on site presence and falls outside of our support boundaries.`

        • Receiving response times will look like this:

          Open

          

          Each line indicates how long it takes for a packet of information to be received from the pinged computer. If you’re receiving these at all, that indicates that you have a connection with the pinged computer.

      • If you have a connection and you’re still unable to log in, reach out to MacPractice Support for additional assistance.

MySQL isn't Starting

After a power outage, or in other rare circumstances, you may encounter this error. MySQL errors indicate that the database where all of your MacPractice data is stored has encountered some issue that needs correction.

In most cases you will need to consult with MacPractice Support to resolve the issue.

Things to Check Before Contacting MacPractice Support:

• Restart the Server Computer. This may resolve the problem outright.

• If a restart doesn't work, there is an issue on Servers running macOS Sierra where you may see an issue with the MySQL server not starting due to a file integrity check that can occur when the server is suddenly shut down. This results in a very long time for the MySQL server to start, as it needs to finish this check before completing. A user will see the "MySQL Server timing out" error in this circumstance.

  • To confirm whether this issue is impacting your server, you can check the Activity Monitor (accessible from the Spotlight Search), and search for "fsck_hfs". If this process is running, you can be relatively certain that the integrity check is running. This can take between 30 minutes to an hour to complete. 
    If you are encountering this issue, contact MacPractice Support for a workaround, or to speed up the process.

• If neither of the above steps work, it's likely that you'll need the assistance of MacPractice Support. Please call, we'll be happy to assist you!

Login Items (Ventura and up)

Open

There is one important thing to note about MacOS Ventura. Any installation of MacPractice on Ventura, whether it is a full installation or an update installation will trigger this notice: 

This is a new security setting in MacOS Ventura that can control what processes are permitted to launch with software such as MacPractice. No action needs to be taken, as the installation grants these permissions.

However, a user can navigate to System Preferences > General > Login Items and manually disable items in here, which will prevent MacPractice from launching or running successfully the next time they try to open it. Therefore, on Ventura, if you encounter issues launching MacPractice or logging into MacPractice, you should check Login Items to ensure that MacPractice is enabled here.

Local Network (Sequoia and up)

In MacOS Sequoia, there’s a new Privacy & Security > Local Network option in System Settings that controls whether applications can find and communicate with devices on the local network.

Open

You’ll want to make sure that MacPractice is enabled in this section. Local Network access will need to be granted on both the Server computer and any client computers running Sequoia.