Did NI recently change how Labview's license works?

[old_fart]

I own a fixed license for LabVIEW 2011.   Today when I started up LabVIEW, I got these messages:

11LabVIEW Development System
The license on this computer for this product has expired. (NILM11)
===================================================
Application Builder
The license on this computer for this product has expired. (NILM11)

In this case, I was able to get the PC onto the internet and allow it to reactive.  I've NEVER seen a message like this since I started using LabVIEW in 4.x.   I wonder if NI now requires a PC to phone home now and then and if not, they shut you down.   There was no grace period.  LabVIEW was flat out locked out until I reactivated.  

This is going to be a major problem for me as a lot of what I used LabVIEW for doesn't have access to the internet.   If this is a new policy, what was the reason for the change?  

[rolfk]

Not that I'm aware of. NI has two main license types, one is a fixed one person license that you normally get when buying a LabVIEW software package and the other is a license lease that you get when you make a volume license agreement with NI. The first is unlimited valid but tied to a specific person while the second is limited for the leasing period, usually a year but not tied to a specific person.

What most likely happened though is that the machine key that the license manager uses somehow changed on your system.This machine key is calculated from all kind of identifying markers of your machine including the software identifier of your OS, and various hardware markers. Most likely a recent change of hardware or maybe even a Windows update changed somehow some of these values so that the evaluated machine key changed and didn't match the one with which the software was activated.

So yes it could happen again if you change something on your systems but that is the nature of software licensing. Somehow the license manager has to try to identify your system and it has to pull in enough markers to make the resulting machine key unique enough to make it usable for this purpose.

[_Bryan]

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@old_fart wrote:

I own a fixed license for LabVIEW 2011.   Today when I started up LabVIEW, I got these messages:

11LabVIEW Development System
The license on this computer for this product has expired. (NILM11)
===================================================
Application Builder
The license on this computer for this product has expired. (NILM11)

In this case, I was able to get the PC onto the internet and allow it to reactive.  I've NEVER seen a message like this since I started using LabVIEW in 4.x.   I wonder if NI now requires a PC to phone home now and then and if not, they shut you down.   There was no grace period.  LabVIEW was flat out locked out until I reactivated.  

This is going to be a major problem for me as a lot of what I used LabVIEW for doesn't have access to the internet.   If this is a new policy, what was the reason for the change?  

---

I have not had that happen with 2011 and the machines that are not connected to the internet.  I don't see how it could be something new, I do not believe there has been any 2011 updates in years.  I would guess your license got corrupted some how.  I found the link below. 

NI Software Activation Error: License is Expired, Corrupt, or Lost

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z0000019KehSAE

[_Bryan]

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@rolfk wrote:

Not that I'm aware of. NI has two main license types, one is a fixed on person license that you normally get when buying a LabVIEW software package and the other is a license lease that you get when you make a volume license agreement with NI. The first is unlimited valid but tied to a specific person while the second is limited for the leasing period, usually a year but not tied to a specific person.

What most likely happened though is that the machine key that the license manager uses somehow changed on your system.This machine key is calculated from all kind of identifying markers of your machine including the software identifier of your OS, and various hardware markers. Most likely a recent change of hardware or maybe even a Windows update changed somehow some of these values so that the evaluated machine key changed and didn't match the one with which the software was activated.

So yes it could happen again if you change something on your systems but that is the nature of software licensing. Somehow the license manager has to try to identify your system and it has to pull in enough markers to make the resulting machine key unique enough to make it usable for this purpose.

---

I do remember having issues with a LabVIEW license that would go invalid every time the computer was started.  When I called support they gave me a license that fixed the issue.  It was probably a different issue than this one, but it was still strange.

[old_fart]

There were no hardware changes made to the PC.  No cards were added/removed.   However, the one thing that did happen recently is I allowed Microsoft to update Windows 10.  That was maybe three weeks ago and I have been using LabVIEW daily.   

After the Windows "upgrade"  I have been seeing LabVIEW crash from time to time where it had been VERY stable on this same PC.    

My license fixed to this PC.  I have not purposely installed any updates to LabVIEW nor have I added any features to it.  

[billko]

Since you do have a valid installation, I would ask NI what happened.  They seem to be the best (and official, of course) resource when it comes to licensing issues.

[jamiva]

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@old_fart wrote:

There were no hardware changes made to the PC.  No cards were added/removed.   However, the one thing that did happen recently is I allowed Microsoft to update Windows 10.  That was maybe three weeks ago and I have been using LabVIEW daily.   

After the Windows "upgrade"  I have been seeing LabVIEW crash from time to time where it had been VERY stable on this same PC.    

My license fixed to this PC.  I have not purposely installed any updates to LabVIEW nor have I added any features to it.  

---

I don't think your version of LabVIEW 2011 is compatible with Windows 10. Could be the problem of your corrupted license. See this link (https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabView-Compatibility-with-Windows-10/m-p/3787727#M1068194)

[crossrulz]

With no hardware changes, what I have seen cause this would be a change to your Ethernet adapters.  The main hardware key the license manager uses is the MAC address of your primary network adapter.  So if you messed around with your Ethernet settings, that could cause issues.

[old_fart]

Same Ethernet board.   IP is static and I have not reprogrammed the MAC.  The PC does however have three Ethernet ports.  One built-on to the motherboard.  The other two are located on a single Ethernet card.  

Now that I am thinking about it, there was another change.  After the Windows 10 "upgrade" the PC would blue screen from time to time.  Again, was stable for at least 6 months prior to the "upgrade".    One thing I did was run Dell's upgrade tool.  This ended up pushing new drivers and upgrading the PC's BIOS.   This was about a week ago.  

I would think if the license problem I saw was tied to one of these "upgrades" that the effect would have been immediate.  

[old_fart]

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@jamiva wrote:

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@old_fart wrote:

There were no hardware changes made to the PC.  No cards were added/removed.   However, the one thing that did happen recently is I allowed Microsoft to update Windows 10.  That was maybe three weeks ago and I have been using LabVIEW daily.   

After the Windows "upgrade"  I have been seeing LabVIEW crash from time to time where it had been VERY stable on this same PC.    

My license fixed to this PC.  I have not purposely installed any updates to LabVIEW nor have I added any features to it.  

---

I don't think your version of LabVIEW 2011 is compatible with Windows 10. Could be the problem of your corrupted license. See this link (https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabView-Compatibility-with-Windows-10/m-p/3787727#M1068194)

---

I have been using LabVIEW 2011 with Windows 10 for a little over 2 years now.  I don't use any of NI's hardware outside of a couple of GPIB controllers (which I talk with directly, not with LabVIEW's GPIB library).  Actually, the GPIB controllers are the only problem I ran into as NI dropped support for them.  They work much better now that I use the Ethernet library.

Having LabVIEW abruptly stop working because of any reason and requiring it to be validated is a big deal.  I will use it on a remote PC from time to time with no internet. I was very surprised that it was not smart enough to know it had been validated and at least allow some grace period so I could keep working while I sorted out the problem.