Connecting CR 2011 to Oracle - various issues

Question

I've had a number of issues connecting CR 2011 to Oracle using native driver. I'll detail as best as I can the config, issues, and actions we've attempted.
In Crysal:
I am able to 'see' tables/views when opening a new report and selecting DB with Oracle (native driver).
I am able to select smaller tables and insert them into report.
ISSUE: I am not able to select larger tables (100+ columns and 10000+ rows - these are tables copied from SAP R3 production). On some rare occasions, I am able to select the larger tables, but CR2011 stops responding when at about 5000 records.
I am able to select smaller tables and group, re-group, join with other small tables. But on occasion I will also experience CR2011 stop responding.
I have the issue whether using Oracle or ODBC connection.
I have uninstalled Oracle 10g (HOME) and Oracle 11g (HOME) and all BOBJ products, reinstalled Oracle Instant Client and Crystal Reports.
I have checked 'perform grouping on server' and have unchecked all 'verify' boxes in options.
I am able to run queries in SQLPlus and SQL Developer (although on occasion I will experience connection reset issues in SQL Developer)
DB: Oracle DB 10g(10.2.4) - 32bit Win 2003 server
Local machine: 32bit Win 7 - have used Oracle 11g Client and Instant Client with same results (Had to upgrade client from 10g to 11g on machine to use with Crystal).
I had similar issues with Crystal Reports 2008 running on local machine (a different local machine - I have not installed other versions of Crystal on this machine), which prompted us to do report development on the DB server. This leads me to believe this is a network issue.
Having the intermittent issues in SQL Developer ability to run Crystal on server but not on local machine leads me to believe it is a network issue. But are there any other config changes I can make within Crystal Reports to resolve this? Or - for those who use Oracle connection, any quick fixes on the DB side?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Aaron,
I highly recommend that you only have ONE oracle client installed. Oracle tends to have problems finding the correct dependency versions of their runtime. One way is to change your PATH statement so it only has the one Client listed but I highly suggest you uninstall both and then install just the 11G client.
Also, when CR connects to Oracle we query the DB and load all tables, SP's Views, etc. and when the local resources are filled up we stop. So when connecting be sure to check off the options not being used and add filtering in that UI also for your schema as well.
One last change, close the designer down and then go into regedit and this location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\DatabaseOptions - DoAutoSmartLinking and set the default value to No if it's not already.
Thanks
Don