NIC card new install causes lost Labview license

[isems]

We changed out two PCI bus NIC cards on our PC that had LV loaded on them.

We lost both licenses on those PCs saying… backup license 6 days left. NI license manager said activated for another PC.

It was explained to me that the computer ID (NIC card MAC address?)that’s used to generate the activation codes via NI.com activate caused this.

Which card generates the computer ID for LV activation codes?

The default network interface port on the mother board? The other PCI bus NIC card we had installed?

What if you have 3 cards installed?  This sounds like an issue moving forward with code development & changing NIC cards.

Am I understanding this right?

Thanks for your support.

Bill

[Hooovahh]

Contact NI.  If it says it was activated for another PC, and it really wasn't, they should be able to help you get this resolved.  Do you plan on changing PCI NIC cards often?  This is generally something that doesn't change regularly which I'm guessing is why NI is using it as part of the PC identifier information.

[isems]

So why doesn't NI use the mother board NIC since that doesn't change?

We discovered this by interchanging 2 PCs NIC cards with each other to see if another issue (UDP packetdata) was resolved.

When we did this thats when we lost the licenses.

Thanks,

Bill 

[Hooovahh]

I do not know NI's strategy but I wouldn't be surprised if NI uses all network based hardware to identify the PC.  This may have something to do with the MAC address of each network card, so changing any of them would cause a new PC ID to be generated.

[TBirkulosis]

One easy step to try is checking that the latest version of NI License Manager has been installed. I have version 3.7. You can check for the latest version at ni.com/downloads. You can check what version you have by selecting Help>>About NI License Manager.

The computer ID is based on one of two sources: an Ethernet card's MAC address or a hard drive’s disk volume serial number. By default, desktop computers are based on an Ethernet card and laptop computers are based on a hard drive. Disabling or removing a device can lead to the computer ID changing. This will cause issues with activated National Instruments software on the system.

It is possible to lock your license file to a hard drive’s disk volume serial number. This can be necessary if your computer ID is based on an Ethernet card’s MAC address and keeps changing. The hard drive chosen should always be connected and detected in the computer. If you would like to lock the license file to a hard drive's disk volume serial number, you can contact NI (ni.com/support). There is an option available for an NI engineer to generate an activation code for the computer ID generated from the hard drive. This may only be for volume serial numbers and is decided on a case-by-case basis, but it could be worth a try. More information here: How Can I Change the Hardware Used for Activation of NI Software? 

If you need the computer ID to be based on a hard drive for ghosting purposes, see Developer Zone Example: Create an Image Containing NI Software Without Activating on Each Computer.