[ericks]

Hi guys, i just received my UC300ETH and license file. I am having trouble with the license file. It has been copied to the UCCNC file but when i open UCCNC and check it shows no license installed...can anyone advise me on this please?

Many thanks
Erick

[ericks]

Oops...sorry guys, looks like it's working now not sure what happened before

[Bad Wolf]

Oops...sorry guys, looks like it's working now not sure what happened before

I've been having problems with my license files of late. I don't know if the later software has been played with, but the later versions of the software seem a little more prone to telling you that you don't have a valid license key.
I have both a UC100 and UC300ETH license keys (yet to install the UC300ETH in place of the UC100).
Since I have run so many previous versions of the software I copy a license key from one of the previous installs, and sometimes that works. So I don't know if the license key gets corrupted or what the heck is happening.
But I do know lately it has taken a few goes for it to pick it up properly.

[ericks]

I've been having problems with my license files of late. I don't know if the later software has been played with, but the later versions of the software seem a little more prone to telling you that you don't have a valid license key.
I have both a UC100 and UC300ETH license keys (yet to install the UC300ETH in place of the UC100).
Since I have run so many previous versions of the software I copy a license key from one of the previous installs, and sometimes that works. So I don't know if the license key gets corrupted or what the heck is happening.
But I do know lately it has taken a few goes for it to pick it up properly.

Sorry to hear about that. Mine seems to be just during installation....its been good since, however i have not really done much. Just trying to get everything sorted

[Bad Wolf]

Sorry to hear about that. Mine seems to be just during installation....its been good since, however i have not really done much. Just trying to get everything sorted

Most of the issues I have had have been during installation. Once in a blue moon it will have a hissy fit after install, but most issues have been at install time. Installed again today and had same problem, copied the license file from a different back up copy and it was happy again. The problem isn't a major one.

[ericks]

In my case it was most likely me that did something wrong....never been great with computers

[ericks]

Will have to see how it goes....i have only experience with mach3 and the old printer port setup. Hopefully my new machine will be up and running by end February and i'll get to know the new software.

[Bad Wolf]

Now it's sorted you should be fine. At first I had a bit of a love / hate relationship with UCCNC, but I think over version after version we have come to a place of understanding. The people in the know seem to think it is a superior product to M3. You can run in demo mode without the machine connected to get familiar a check out the settings.

[ericks]

Thanks for the info

[ger21]

I've installed lots of different versions and have never had a license issue, But I always reinstall right over the previous versions, and have never re-copied the license file.

[Bad Wolf]

I've installed lots of different versions and have never had a license issue, But I always reinstall right over the previous versions, and have never re-copied the license file.

I think the issue revolves around the initial license lookup during installation. When you do a clean install the directory hasn't been created yet, therefore there is no way to put the license file in a folder which doesn't exist yet (unless you create C:\UCCNC first, or create a license file lookup option during the install process). Therefore if you launch UCCNC.exe at the end of the install process it won't find the license file, and will need to look for it after a reboot.

The software also checks for the license key every time, instead of just the once at install time. So this adds additional unnecessary complexity. The license text file is decrypted every single time, and compared against the statically (or dynamically) created key inside the software. All you need is a glitch in the reading of the file for it not to create the right match and throw an error.

[OlfCNC]

Why would be there a "glitch" in the file reading process? If computers were to have glitches like that then you could not safely CNC-machine with them, because then what would guarantee that reading your g-code files will not glitch?!

[Bad Wolf]

Why would be there a "glitch" in the file reading process? If computers were to have glitches like that then you could not safely CNC-machine with them, because then what would guarantee that reading your g-code files will not glitch?!

Same reason any file glitches, numerous reasons... they are sitting on a buggy OS, which has dodgy patch upon dodgy patch. A HDD that misses a beat. An underlying bit of software that doesn't perform the algorithm check properly. There could be a dozen reasons for a algorithm check to glitch.

Have you not ever opened a document or an image and it not open properly, or take a ridiculously long time to open because something hung or glitched, even though it has open perfectly a dozen times before?

Even accidentally opening and closing the license key text file (a miss placed double click) could accidentally corrupt the contents and cause it not to be decrypted properly. Windows can auto save when you don't want it to, and often add null characters into the format (depending on what it is opened with).

A space or null not intended to be there could easily stop the string being read in properly resulting in it not being translated into a match. Then you have Windows just being Windows.

Once a file is open like a G-Code text file, the chances of it being misread is highly unlikely unless there is a problem in the program code itself like parsing in the data wrong, or the file is being read over a network and loses connection. Other than that very little chance.

[OlfCNC]

Oh so you have your license key on a network?
No, I do not remember a single case when I had a corrupted document or image load like that. If the file was corrupted then it was premanently corrupted, the file damaged, I've never seen a document to once load BAD and the next time load OK.

[OlfCNC]

In other words you sad that the file got magically corrected which I don't think can happen.

[Bad Wolf]

In other words you sad that the file got magically corrected which I don't think can happen.

Have you never open a document and it be blank, closed it and reopen for it to open fine, not corrupted but not read?
A document doesn't need to be full blown corrupted for it to not read data in properly. Only needs the slightest thing to go wrong anywhere along the path from the HDD to the software for it to go wrong.

[ger21]

Have you never open a document and it be blank, closed it and reopen for it to open fine, not corrupted but not read?

No, I haven't either. It sounds like your experiences with Windows is very different from mine.

I would put "failure to read a CD or DVD" in an entirely different category.

The software also checks for the license key every time, instead of just the once at install time. So this adds additional unnecessary complexity. The license text file is decrypted every single time, and compared against the statically (or dynamically) created key inside the software. All you need is a glitch in the reading of the file for it not to create the right match and throw an error.

Checking the license file probably takes a small fraction of a second when running UCCNC. If you are repeatedly seeing glitches in file reading, I'd suspect failing hardware. Windows 8.1 and 10 have been rock solid for me for the last 3+ years. And XP was as well before that.
Our $150K router at work is still running just fine on an 11 year old XP PC. No glitches there either.

[Bad Wolf]

If you are repeatedly seeing glitches in file reading, I'd suspect failing hardware.

I wouldn't call it "repeated" glitches, but I do a clean install every time a new version of the software comes out, so I am guaranteed to see it at least once every time I do a fresh install for the reasons I mentioned above. Let's call it a "feature" of the UCCNC software. Actually glitches are very few and far between but they have happened on the odd occasion, what exactly caused them is anybody's guess, but random stuff like that which occurs once in a blue moon is something I put no effort into finding out what went wrong.

I would need to spend far more time going through the software to find the random cause, then it would take to simply crack the software and make it not look for a license file.

An error that pops up every single time I use the software, or one that crashes the program is something I can't live with. Fortunately UCCNC has become more stable as time goes by. I have yet to see how it goes on Windows 10 as I have only just loaded it back on today.

[ger21]

I wouldn't call it "repeated" glitches, but I do a clean install every time a new version of the software comes out, so I am guaranteed to see it at least once every time I do a fresh install for the reasons I mentioned above.

There's no reason to do this, and it just adds unnecessary complication. Just install over the previous version, and all of your "issues" should go away.

[Bad Wolf]

There's no reason to do this, and it just adds unnecessary complication. Just install over the previous version, and all of your "issues" should go away.

Carry over from tech support days... Rip out all traces of a previous version of the software for a clean install. Doesn't worry me that I see the message since I know why it happens. Was just reassuring eriks that it wasn't him doing something wrong, and is completely normal for a clean install.