SharePoint 2013 Site collection Launch page – Access Denied error

Recently I got an issue while login to one of the host-named web application. All of sudden when I try to open the site, it shows me access denied error. I have removed and added myself as Site collection Administrator and still same error. I have added myself in Super reader and Super User in Web application policy. But still same issue.

After checking for some more time, I found that I am able to access all the pages and libraries by entering the URL directly (Eg: /SitesPages/Home.aspx , /Pages/Default.aspx) . I have verified if this is issue with DNS entry, but I am able to navigate to the site but it is throwing access denied error. I have verified Authentication providers, if there is any issue with Claims authentication.  But nothing worked.

After some time I found this post on the issue. We got the issue due to Authentication settings got corrupted. After enabling and disabling the Anonymous access for the web application my issue got resolved.

Here are the steps to fix the issue,

Open SharePoint 2013 Central Administration site, click on Manage web applications.

Select the web application that has the issue and click on Authentication Providers from the ribbon bar.

Open the authentication provider zone we are using, We can see it as default.

Check the Enable anonymous access option and then Save the Authentication settings. It can take some time to save the settings, so after click Save just need to wait for the Authentication Setting window to close.

After the Authentication settings window closes we should be able to get to the home page without any Access Denied errors.

Now we don't want to leave anonymous access enabled so once again open the authentication provider zone and un-check Enable anonymous access and then Save the Authentication settings. We should now still be able to access the root site of web application and the issue has been fixed.

SharePoint 2010 – Unable to edit cell in Datasheet view – “This cell is read only”

When I try to edit the excel in SharePoint 2010 list in Datasheet view, I see an error saying that “The Selected Cells are Read-only” as shown the image below.

• I have verified user Permissions to the list. User Having Full control permissions to the list
• Checked-out by any one (It is not document library)
• Any Attachments having read-only – NO
• Is current column is default system column? (Like Created, Modified Etc..) – NO

After checking all these details, I found Microsoft Support article about the fix. We have Content Approval enabled in the list and that is blocking DataSheet View edit. By Turning Off the Content Approval, We can fix the error.

Here are the steps to turn off content approvals,

• In the List select Settings
• Select List Settings
• Select Versioning Settings
• In the Content Approval section select No for "Require content approval for submitted items"

Now we can able to edit the items in DataSheet view.

Hope this helps.

SharePoint 2013 error – Unexpected response from server, The status code of response is '500'. The status text of response is 'System.ServiceModel.ServiceActivationException'.

One of my client using SharePoint standalone machine for 400 people for their internal applications. Everything working as expected but one day all of sudden got an error message saying that,

Unexpected response from server, The status code of response is '500'. The status text of response is 'System.ServiceModel.ServiceActivationException'.

This error cause due to high memory usage in the server. Verify task manager and check what service taking more time. In my case Search service taking much time. We can fix the issue using options below,

Option 1: Search Service Node Runner.exe

Reduce the Search Service Performance Level with

Set-SPEnterpriseSearchService -PerformanceLevel Reduced

As NoderRunner.exe is the process working on search service, we can limit the memory for NodeRunner.exe. But this is not recommended. We can change the configuration located in “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Search\Runtime\1.0\noderunner.exe.config”

Option 2:  Restart servers

For Temporary solution like users wants to make SharePoint up and Running, Restart the server, so that you can see the error temporarily (You get some time to increase resources or restrict Services to specific value)

Hope this helps to resolve the issue.

Excel Online error - we are sorry we couldn't open your workbook it is possibly corrupt or using a file format is not supported

I am seeing an error when I try to open Excel file in SharePoint Office Excel with error message “Excel Online error - we are sorry we couldn't open your workbook it is possibly corrupt or using a file format is not supported” as shown the image below.

I have verified excel file is corrupt and external data is loading from anywhere. But File looks good and there is no external data loading to the site.

After checking some posts, I found that it is due to protected mode enabled in the excel file. To fix the error, we have follow the steps below.

Download the document and open it in excel

Open the document in excel and uncheck all the options under Protected View. Go to file->options->Trust Center->Trust center settings->click protect view and uncheck all options under protected view. Then upload the document to the library to check if the same issue will occur.

By default, it will open excel file in excel online when storing the excel file in SharePoint online. Save and upload the excel in the Library. Try to open the file in Excel web app.

SharePoint 2013 security patch issue – AccessKey too long, cannot be more than one character

After installing SharePoint 2013 march updates, when I try to configure User Profile Service Application I got an error saying that - AccessKey too long, cannot be more than one character. By seeing the SharePoint logs, I found an error saying that

Application error when access /_layouts/15/ProfileSynchronizationServiceProvisionPage.aspx, Error=AccessKey too long, cannot be more than one character. Parameter name: value

 at System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebControl.set_AccessKey(String value)

 at Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.InputFormButtonAtBottom.set_AccessKeyLocId(LocStringId value)

 at ASP._layouts_15_profilesynchronizationserviceprovisionpage_aspx.__BuildControl__control11()

 at ASP._layouts_15_profilesynchronizationserviceprovisionpage_aspx.__BuildControlProfileSyncProvisionSettingsForm()

 at ASP._layouts_15_profilesynchronizationserviceprovisionpage_aspx.__BuildControl__control4(Control __ctrl)

 at System.Web.UI.MasterPage.InstantiateInContentPlaceHolder(Control contentPlaceHolder, ITemplate template)

 at ASP._admin_admin_master.__BuildControlDeltaPlaceHolderMain()

 at ASP._admin_admin_master.__BuildControl__control27()

 at ASP._admin_admin_master.__BuildControlSPHtmlTag()

 at ASP._admin_admin_master.__BuildControlTree(_admin_admin_master __ctrl)

 at System.Web.UI.MasterPage.CreateMaster(TemplateControl owner, HttpContext context, VirtualPath masterPageFile, IDictionary contentTemplateCollection)

 at System.Web.UI.Page.ApplyMasterPage()

 at System.Web.UI.Page.PerformPreInit()

 at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)

I have verified the details about the issue I don’t see any clues about the issue. Some suggested to replace the /_layouts/15/ProfileSynchronizationServiceProvisionPage.aspx file from Stage/Dev. But I cannot risk that with my production environment. I have seen same issue few other people and they have the same error after installing March 2018 updates as the TechNet forum.

After two days Stefan Goßner posted the fix for the issue.  Here are the steps to fix the issue,

1. Delete the content of the following folder:
   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files
2. Restart IIS . This will allow aspx pages to recompile.