Appears that File Open Failed is just another overloaded server error.

Danny Yavuzkurt (ady1@psu.edu)
Fri, 28 May 1999 13:51:44 -0400

Just checked whether the File Open Failed error was related to my computer or SETI@Home's computers, by attempting to connect about once a second for a couple of minutes. And eventually the program DID connect, and didn't display 'File open failed'. So it is most likely simply a server overload error. Just wait for a while and try again if you get it.