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laptop license failure

M

miked

New member
I just loaded wf2 m080 on my new laptop (tecra m4, 128 video, 2gig ram xp sp2) and noticed that when I am not connected to the network I get a license error and it wont run. I have checked that it is referring to the correct license and that it refers to the right device (wireless). It is installed with a flexlm server on my cdrive
C:\Program Files\flexlm

Is there a config option to prevent it from needing the network?
It works regardless of what network I am connected to so it cant be referring to anything that isnt installed locally can it?

Thanks,
miked
 
Hi Mike,


I think there are 2 options in the flexlm to access the license..


one is giving a network IP address of the license server


and other is using and reading the license file directly(your case)..so are you sure that you used this option ??


good luck
 
To have FlexLM to work properly your network cad must be active.
The Laptops normally shut down the network when nothing is connected to save power.


Try to change the power saving settings or connect your computer to a router or a switch or similar device to keep your network card active.
 
It is usually best to attach your license to your wired network card, not you wireless. The problem with a wireless card attachment is that if you drop your network in the middle of working you will have to exit pro. Not to say you may not drop your wired network as well, but there is less of a chance. The problem with doing this is that you need to rename the folders in the registry. The location to them is...

Hkey_local_machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > Current Version > Network Cards

Here you will see at least two folder entries. You need to make sure that the ethernet card (not wireless) is on the top of the list. Typically you will need to rename the folder to 11 and the wireless to 88 or 99 or etc.

The other problem then is what was mentioned before. Some laptops turn off the ethernet (wired) card when they are running on battery. You typically change this in windows or the laptop BIOS.

Hope this helps.
 
Allen

Its easy for me to switch my license to the wired card but what if I am
not near a network and still want to use pro. I often meet with clients
offsite and I cant always be connected.
 
As long as you don't start pro/e with a cable plugged in and then try to unplug and keep using pro it should be fine.

If your machine has media sensing then yes you can tweak the registry in XP to disable that. I did not do anything to my laptop except make sure that Pro was using the ethernet card rather than wireless.
 
I had this same problem on my laptops and it was always a pain to figure out the fix. If the license is dedicated to that laptop, there is a much simpler work around that let's you bypass FlexLM completely!

Go into ptcsetup and click "Add" to create a new "FlexLM License Server". In the pop-up window, select "Locked license file (no server running)" rather than the default "Single license server" and then select the location of your license file. Hit ok and finish the setup process as normal. (if you have a license server entry pointing to a flexLM server on the laptop, you can delete it to avoid confusion.)

Now, unless you need to serve that license to other computers from the laptop, you can just uninstall the FlexLM server. Just make sure Pro/E is can load up fine first!

I've done this on a couple laptops and have never had a problem.
 
Brian,



I tried that but when I browse to find the license I get an error saying that "there is no valid license file".



Does this mean that there is different kind of license required if you run a locked license file?



miked
 
Strange. I don't get that error. Check your network interface ("ipconfig -all" from dos prompt) and make sure the Ethernet address (also called "CPU id" or "MAC address") specified in the license file is listed.

Thinking about this more, I suspect that the problem could be the same as with FlexLM. Namely, that Windows XP disables any network interface which does not have a static IP and is not being used. My workaround was to configure my laptop to use the wireless MAC address in the license file and give the system a static wireless IP. (If I need to connect to a public WiFi network, I just go in and reset the wireless interface to DHCP.) I think you could also do the same with the wired network interface though you may have to tell windows power management to leave your network card turned on all the time.

Hope this helps.

-Brian
 
The mac address in the file is the same as on the machine.

Ill have to look at it over the weekend, it hasnt been an issue because
I have been working from my desk for the last couple of days.



Thanks to everyone for the advice, I should be able to get this sorted out now.



miked
 
I had this problem a while back.


I had to edit the registry to make sure that my wired network adapter was listed first in the registry.


TJK
 
You can set up the pro borrow license with your flex license. We did this for the same purpose of needing access to pro when offsite without a connection to the server system. We can check out a license for up to 5 days at a stretch. The downside is if you run out of licenses while one is checked out you are not able to manually put it back. You have to wait till it expires.
 
Directly from the microsoft pages this should work fine for the laptop:
DisableDHCPMediaSense
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Data type: REG_DWORD
Range: 0 or 1
Default value: 0
Description
Directs the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client to ignore Media Sense events from the interface.
Media Sense provides a mechanism for network adapters to notify the protocol stack when network media is connected or disconnected. The protocol stack can then update its network configuration parameters. Media Sense is especially useful on portable computers, which are commonly disconnected from one network and connected to a different one.
Media Sense events direct the DHCP client to take an action, such as attempting to obtain a lease when media is connected or invalidating the interface and routes when media is disconnected.
Value Meaning
0 Enables Media Sense on the DHCP client.
1 Disables Media Sense on the DHCP client.
Works on all our laptops using Flexlm and you can still switch on/off your wireless card without disturbing the PTC license.
 
Try setting up the loop back adapter in windows XP ... it is a little known ap that they put in there for mobil computing. It will enable you to show a network adapter that is active when you are not plugged in as well as not on wireless. It works great on my install on the road ... see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839013How to install the Microsoft Loopback adapter in Windows XP .


When you do the instal ... just point to that mac address and it should work. There is one more way ... that is to wire up a loop back adapter ... see http://www.ossmann.com/5-in-1.html... do this with left over cat-5 ... this works on other OS that dont have the loop back built into the OS





Good Luck


GM
 
miked said:
Brian,

I tried that but when I browse to find the license I get an error saying that "there is no valid license file".

Does this mean that there is different kind of license required if you run a locked license file?

miked
Click to expand...

You need a different liscense file to run it as a locked license. I believe if you call PTC support and ask for a locked license they will give you email you one. I have tried converting people's licenses through the Reconfigure Software Licenses link at PTC.com but this is not an option in there.

Futhermore, if you run a locked license you dont have to have flexlm or worry about network card order and such. It just takes all of that out of the equation.
 
Try the following I use a HP nw8000 lap top and had the same problem:


the following is the procedure to disable the media sence capability. It is obviously advisable to first export your Registry to a file as back up before making changes to it.


* Edit your registry ie Start ,run, enter Regedit, and OK


* Browse to


"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current ControlSet\Services\Tcip\Parameters"


* Right Click in the Right Hand Column And select: "New->DWORD Value,enter DisableDHCPMediaSense"


(The registry seems to be case sensitive. Rather stick to the use of uppercase and lower case charicters as above)


* Right Click on the entered string and Modifiy the Value Data thereof to 1


* Select Registry, Exit and reboot the System.


* As previous posts make sure the lan network card is set to 1 as it then reads the network card first.


regards


from South Africa
 
License is linked to the fixed network card. Other laptops here are on the wireless network card MAC adress. Indeed when running on battery they disabled the card making pro lose it's license. Plug in the ac adaptor and it was activated again. Making sure the network card was not disabled when running on battery solved the issue, no alterations in registry were made ....
 
Hi everybody,

I think the better way and simple is to change the windows settings in order to keep the network cadr active even your computer is not connected to a network,for this setting go to the powersave setings and disable any swich . Go for that on Device mannager, to the line of the network card, click the right button of the mouse and go to Properties, than to the tab called Power Management, see also the picture below.
View attachment 2828
 
violin2005
My power management settings dont have a switch only a slider to go from minimum to max power consumption based on type of power available.
I have tried moving the slider to different positions but it doesnt make a difference for me.

miked
 
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