Fidelity Update Error OL-220-A

GregSBurns

I'm so tired of screwing with this. Googled endlessly, tried deactivate/reactivate (another tale of failure of Quicken), reset, repair and validate, super-repair and validate, downloading new FI profiles, ad nauseum. Nothing helps.

Have several Fidelity Investment accounts. Starting a few months ago started getting errors. Cleared up for a week about a month ago, and then started again. "OL-220-A", same thing, every time.

Direct Connect connection method. I don't want to hear that Fidelity has a problem. Quicken has their IT phone numbers and emails. And "sometimes work but mostly doesn't" isn't a Fidelity problem. It's a Quicken problem. Been using Quicken for around 30 years at this point (early 1990's), and mostly very happy with it, but this is driving me absolutely buggy.

Has ANYONE ever fixed this problem, or does it just sometime go away on it's own? It's now been several months for me, and I now have out-of-balance accounts; very frustrated.

Boatnmaniac

Have you read this Support Article?:

https://www.quicken.com/support/error-message-ol-220-ol-221-ol-222-ol-223-ol-224-ol-225-or-ol-226-when-using-online-services/

GregSBurns

@Boatnmaniac, yeah, gives the same whiney "go talk to someone else" answer I've seen in the explanations for the error code. Quicken apparently can't manage the process of getting accounts updated, though that's obviously one of the main selling features of what I've been paying for for 30 years now. Quicken has a relationship with all of these financial institution, and when their planned approach doesn't work they simply seem to throw up their hands and say "go elsewhere". I'm SO tired of this approach in the IT industry.

Boatnmaniac

Have you reported this issue to Quicken Support? What was their response?

Have you done what the Support Article suggested?

1. If you have a VPN turned on, turn it off and try downloading, again.
2. Try to download from Fidelity via Update Now (not OSU).
3. Have you contacted Fidelity to discuss this issue? What was their response?

NotACPA

I'm a Fidelity Investments client also … and I've had NO PROBLEMS with the download from them. 7 accounts updated daily and 1 updated twice a month. No problems.

Which suggests that a portion of the error may reside in your Q data file.

Boatnmaniac

Since Oct 2024 there has been only one other discussion thread about Fidelity and this particular error code. That one was about an issue a person who had switched from QMac to QWin had where the account type of investment account was incorrect. Once corrected the error went away.

I was thinking this might be a data file issue, too. One way to find out if it is is to create a new Quicken file (File > New Quicken File…give it a unique name…TEST would be good) and to try setting up just the Fidelity account in it for DC download. If successful, it pretty much confirms that there is an issue inside the current primary data file.

GregSBurns

Yeah, looks like it's some type of error in the data file. Verified by downloading new file info to a temporary file and works fine. Ran validate and super-validate to see if I could figure out what the error was so I could fix it. They report four errors in the file, but anemically and unhelpfully simply say:

QDF:
Damaged data record.
Damaged data record.
Damaged data record.
Damaged data record.
Validating your data.

Can you believe that? No info on what the damage was, where it was located, what date it might be entered as, what account is involved, just "damaged". Zero identification of the applicable data record that resulted in the error message. Hard to believe the programmers who worked on that couldn't have included helpful information. Piece of junk.

Soooo…. I've deactivated the auto-download feature (direct connect) and will simply manually enter all transactions hereafter. PITA, but better than endless frustrating hours trying to get this fixed.

Thanks to those who tried to help!

Boatnmaniac

@GregSBurns - There can be any number of reasons for the error messages you have gotten from validation. You might want to try doing the following. This process can resolve some data file and connection corruption issues. It would be worth trying to do because if it works you won't need to manually enter transactions going forward.

1. If you have not already done so, in each of your Spending accounts (i.e., checking, savings, credit card, etc.): Enter and save the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount into the Memo field. (This is not a necessary step but it is something that can be a very helpful troubleshooting step if/when the dollar amount gets changed when setting up new download connections.)
2. Back up your data file.
3. File > Copy or Backup File > Create a Copy or Template (under Advanced Options) > Next > review the following picture and when done click on Save > be patient…the copy process might take several seconds to complete > if you have a PW Vault in your primary data file you will likely be asked to create a new PW for it in the copied file…you can use the same PW if you wish > use the New Copy > OK.
   
4. When the copy process concludes be sure to open the copied file, not the primary file.
5. This process creates a copy of the primary data file that is completely separate and unique so it is not connected in any way to the primary file that was copied.
6. Because it is a unique file, it also has a new Cloud Account and runtime.dat file that is dedicated solely to the copied file.
7. The copied file includes all of the data, preferences, account settings, saved customized reports, Tax Planner, Lifetime Planner, etc., that are in the primary file. The primary data file will have been totally unaffected by this copy process.
8. But all online services in this copied file will be disconnected so they will need to be set up, again. Also, if you have any Bill Pays set up they will still be shown in the register but they will no longer be connected so edits made to the Bills Pays will only affect the register, not the actual Bill Pays that had been previously processed.
9. In the copied file…to set up transactions downloading: Start with your Fidelity account. It is recommend to do this via Add Account instead of Set Up Now. When the data is downloaded be very careful to make sure it is Linked to the appropriate accounts in Quicken and not Added as new accounts.
10. If your Fidelity account set up and downloaded correctly you can proceed to set up your other accounts for downloading. If the Fidelity account still returns the error code, you might as well stop here, delete this new copied file and go back to using the original primary file.
11. Check the account balances of the account registers. If they are OK, then you are done.
12. But if they are not correct, check the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount. Make sure that it matches what you had previously entered into the Memo field. If it does not, edit it so that it matches what is in the Memo field.
13. If the account balance still is not correct: Scroll backward through the account register looking for and deleting any duplicate transactions. (If there are any duplicates they will likely be within the most recent 90-days window.)
14. When done, this copied file will be you primary data going forward.

Did this resolve the issue?

GregSBurns

@Boatnmaniac this is good scoop, and a great suggestion. It'll take a while, but over the next week or so I'll give it a try and report back. Thanks so much for your help!

Boatnmaniac

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20480879#Comment_20480879

Yeah, depending on how many accounts you have it can take a bit of time to complete but it's not a complex process. Still, once done, assuming the Fidelity connection issue is fixed, you won't need to do manual transactions and that can be a real time saver over time.

Let me know if you have any questions.

DelawareTim

@gregsburns If it makes you feel any better, I've also been using Quicken for over 20 years. For the last 10 years+, this OL-220-A has been a problem, with Fidelity accounts only (I have 2 banks, 3 brokerages, numerous credit cards, never a problem except Fidelity).

9 out of 10 times I'll get this error - for days or weeks. Then, miraculously, it works fine - sometimes just once, sometimes for a week. Then, back to 9 out of 10 times. PC Reboot has no effect, Quicken restart has no effect. I've spent hours on the phone with Fidelity and with Quicken, with no long-term success. To the comment that nobody has reported this issue recently, I've simply given up.

However, this thread offers some potential fixes that I don't think I've tried - thanks @Boatnmaniac