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"The CmAct Licence has to be activated again error 263" [Resolved][again]


Ssnake

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A number of customers of time-based licenses contacted us lately about this issue.

 

We are terribly sorry about this inconvenience, and I can but apologize for this embarrassment.

 

I'm currently trying to collect as much information as possible to make sure that we understand why this happens to so many people, and what we can do in order to prevent it from happening again (for obvious reasons).

 

For that, I need your help!

 

  1. Please  Start  the  "CmDUST" program that is being installed along with the CodeMeter runtime software on every compmuter. After the program is done it will open a window of the Windows Explorer with the file "CmDust-Result.log"
  2. Please go to C:\ProgramData\CodeMeter\logs ... See all the files named "CmActDiagLog.... .log" - please zip 'em up.
  3. Attach the zip file as well as the CmDust log to an email that you send to Support@Wibu.de (and put  me on CC, please). They will analyze the case as soon as possible, and get back to you (and me) with  recommendations. At this  point we want to understand what exactly is going on.

 

A possible source of interference could be an anti-virus program preventing the proper initialization of the CodeMeter service.
Sometimes it is enough to just restart the CodeMeter service.
To  do so, type in "Services" to find the app that lets you review all of  them. Sort by name, locate the CodeMeter Runtime Server, and right-click it, then select "restart" and see if that helps with the virtual CodeMeter container that is currently listed in your CodeMeter Control Center window, probably as "broken" (serial number 128-xxxxxxxxxx, in red color).

 

Which version of Windows 10, if at all, do you have? Home, or Professional?

 

Win 10 only: If Professional, have you selected to be in the fast, or in the slow ring for Windows feature updates? I could imagine that it's the recent "Anniversary  Update"  that  may have ruined things. But at this point it's all speculation.

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Hmm, i have preview builds disabled, can't seem to find my ring, even though it should be on that page...

 

EDIT: I did just install a bunch of updates today though, because SB didn't do anything when i tried to launch it, figured i was missing some of the required updates. Problem started after that.

Edited by kuri
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You'd find it under Settings ... Update and Security ... Windows Update ... Advanced Options

 

(...or in the group policies.)

 

 

These may not be the exact words of each menu item. I'm translating them back from a German Windows version...

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Feedback from Wibu Systems:

 

In all cases so far the licenses seem to be not "broken", but "just invalidated". What that means in terms of remedy is still an open question. This suggests that the files containing the necessary information to validate a license cannot be properly accessed by the CodeMeter runtime software. A possible cause for this could be an anti-virus software / "internet security suite" or whatchamacallit that either blocks access, or because it "inoculated" the files by adding a few bytes.

Maybe an update to that antivirus software has brought us this entertaining event on so many different machines - but at this point it's just an idea of what may have happened.

 

One customer reported that by switching off Avast he could get his license to work again.

Other customers decided to simply keep their PC on standby since the license invalidation only occured to them after a reboot. This might also be a hint that a Windows update may be involved. To be clear: We do not recommend switching off your anti-virus software completely. We also realize that keeping a PC on standby only works for a limited time until a reboot is simply necessary to apply other important updates. But at least the first test will allow us to narrow down the connection between AV-Software and CodeMeter, and the second measure may help us to buy a few more days of time before more licenses are being made invalid.

 

So, we need more information. What kind of firewall/anti-virus software do you use?

We would obviously want to get in contact with the vendors of such software to raise awareness about such incompatibilities.

 

Can you re-validate the license in the CodeMeter Control Center by selecting the broken CM container on the left, and then clicking the "Repair" button which is supposed to appear in the CCC window in such cases? (You may have overlooked it because it was never visible as long everything was OK). Maybe the repair function can only be sucessful with the antivirus software being switched off, or if you set exceptions in the anti-virus software to exempt C:\ProgramData\CodeMeter\CmACT and the CodeMeter.exe program file?

 

It may be that the repair function only appears AFTER you defused the anti-virus software AND restarted the CodeMeter service.

To restart the CodeMeter service, type in "services" in the start menu (Win 8/10), sort by alphabet, then right-click the "CodeMeter Runtime Server" entry and select the "restart" entry in the context menu.

 

 

Last but not least we should not forget that there may be more than one factor at work. Please tell me which Windows version you use, and whether you Windows 10 users applied the "Anniversary update" before or while the CM license container failed to work.

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Hi Ssnake,

 

My OS is Windows 7 64bit, and also using Avast.  Also tried to repair via Codemeter CC but instead I get a pop-up screen that tell´s me "the licence could not be repaird, please try to activate licences instead".

 

On my end, Windows update did run 2 updates in this past week.

 

I tried excluding CmACT from Avast  but with no luck, same thing happens as before.

Edited by Red2112
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Hello Ssnake,

      I am running Windows 7 64bit professional.  I believe there was an update mid week last week, and i also run the Avast antivirus.  I have temporarily disabled my AV while i re-installed everything and ran the codemeter software.  However even with disabling my AV temporarily i had no luck.

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Sent mail with recent report on my end.

 

Other protection software (iLock, eLicenscer) are working on my end, both software based with no dongle, so I don´t think the recent Windows update´s should have something to do with it.  But again you never know with Windows, or pc´s!  Has anybody tried to go back to a restoration point of there OS before the Windows update?

Edited by Red2112
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Wibu Systems sent me some special analysis tool. I will contact selected users about it, so we can collect more relevant information for the CodeMeter software developers. Hopefully they can figure out what happened that way, and fix the issue. I shall post further news in this thread as soon as I have them.

In the meantime I can but ask for your patience.

 

(Just FYI, both Windows updates and antivirus programs were analyzed, and found to be "probably not guilty". It appears to be something Steel Beasts specific.)

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Please stop meddling with your systems. The overwhelming likelihood is that you're making it worse.

 

If Wibu Systems doesn't know what the matter is, chances are you won't find out before them by deleting or restoring files.

Once that we have found a remedy, rest assured that you that your licenses will be reactivated.

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Wibu Systems reported that they found a bug in the CodeMeter runtime software 6.30/6.30a. This bug is responsible for time-based licenses to "go bad" as documented in this thread. Wibu expects to release a new CodeMeter runtime version 6.30b in the coming days, no later than next week. You may want to check their web site for the update.

 

The bug fix should also restore your currently broken licenses ... if the corresponding files have been left intact. I will contact all known customers personally as soon as I know that the new runtime version is available, but I'm out of office on Monday and Tuesday. (That means that I may be a day late in alerting you about this.)

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