Learn debugging techniques to resolve common problems when installing Alias software and licenses.
Online help and support information
Adobe Acrobat PDF files of the manuals are available for download on the Alias Design Community web site (http://aliasdesign.autodesk.com/. The Installation Guide can be found at the top level of the software DVD:
How to contact Global Support Services
If you still cannot resolve the problem, contact Autodesk Technical Support.
The North American Support Center provides support for different geographic areas.
Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand
The North American Support Center also supports Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Australia, Toll-free: 00 11 800 8708 7087
France, Toll-free: 00 800 8708 7087
Germany, Toll-free: 00 800 8708 7087
Italy, Toll-free: 00 800 8708 7087
New Zealand, Toll-free: 00 800 8708 7087
United Kingdom, Toll-free: 00 800 8708 7087
All other European countries, see http://www.autodesk.com/services.
Platinum Options
Platinum members login for additional options.
What information is helpful to send to Global Support Services
Before calling for Customer Support save examples of the following:
On Windows
On the Mac
Do one of the following:
Apple System Profiler provides information about your computer, operating system, disks, and applications.
launch the application called Paint
Refer to http://www.autodesk.com/qual-charts to confirm if your graphic card is qualified.
| Brief description | Question | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Exit prematurely | Q. What happens if I exit from the installation program prematurely? | A. If you installed a prior version of Alias, exiting from the installation program returns Alias to the state it was in before you started the installation program. If you are installing Alias for the first time, exiting from the installation program leaves your system in the state it was in before you began installation. |
| Hardware lock | Q. Can I move the hardware lock to another computer? | A. Yes. To move the lock from one node-locked computer to another, attach the lock and install Alias on the other computer, then copy the previous computer’s aw.dat file to the new computer. To move a lock from one floating license server to another, attach the lock to the new computer and do the installation and licensing procedure over. |
| If the hardware lock does not appear in the list of hardware IDs, check the following: | Ensure the device is properly connected to your computer.If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2, in certain cases you will not be able to install the HASP device drivers that support the new USB hardware locks (USB dongles). If you encounter this problem we suggest that you download and install the latest HASP4 drivers directly from the Aladdin support pages at http://www.aladdin.com/support/hasp/hasp4/enduser.asp. It is recommended that you use the Command Line Installation method to ensure proper installation of the HASP4 driver. | |
| If your hardware lock suddenly won’t work... |
Ensure you install the driver (Sentinel® for parallel port, HASP for USB port) for your hardware lock when you install Autodesk Alias. If you accidentally remove this driver, the hardware lock won’t work and you will need to reinstall the driver using the installer provided on the Alias CD. To install the Sentinel driver:
|
|
| Uninstall | Q. Can I manually uninstall Alias? | A. No. On Windows, use the Windows Control Panel to Add/Remove Programs. On Mac OS, use the Uninstall Alias 2010 program in the Alias2010 directory. |
| Windows Registry | Q. Does Alias affect the Windows Registry? | A. Yes. Some configuration data is stored in the Registry; for example, the top-level folder of the Alias installation. |
| Brief description | Question | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Run two copies of Alias | Q. Can I run two copies of Alias at the same time on the same machine? | A. Yes. If your computer gets its Alias license from a license server, it uses only one license even if you run multiple copies of Alias on the same machine. Note that on Mac OS, to run two copies of Alias at the same time, use AppLaunch in the Alias2010 directory to start Alias. |
| Kill Alias | Q. How do I kill the Alias program when I can’t exit? | A. The Windows Task Manager lets you kill a task that
for some reason no longer responds to your commands. To display
the Task Manager, press the  +  +  keys. On Mac OS, use Force
Quit Application to kill a task. To display Force Quit Application,
press the Command  + Option  + Q + Esc keys. If possible, do not quit Alias in
this way, because you are likely to lose some of your work. Instead,
click File > Exit. |
| Version info | Q. How do I find out which version of Alias I have? | A. In Alias, click Help > About Alias; or on your Windows desktop, right-click on the icon and choose Properties. |
| Start time | Q. How long does it take Alias to start? | A. This depends on the speed of your computer. In any case, Alias should start within ten seconds. |
| Operating Systems | Q. Can I run Alias for Windows on Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows 2000? | A. No. Refer to http://www.autodesk.com/qual-charts to determine which operating systems are qualified to run Alias. |
| Error messages | Q. What do I do if I see errors when I try to start Alias? | A. See troubleshooting license problems. |
| Hardware lock | Q. What do I do if I lose the hardware lock? | A. You must buy a new lock from Autodesk. Consider buying insurance for your lock as you would for any valuable business property. |
| Hardware lock | Q. What do I do if the hardware lock falls off or is removed while Alias is running? | A. Reconnect it immediately after disconnection and Alias operation should continue undisturbed. If the lock is off for more than five minutes, Alias quits and displays:Lost connection to dongle or License manager, exiting.... Your work has been saved to the file lostlock. Look for a file called _m.saved or _checkpoint.saved. For a node-locked license, reattach the lock, restart the computer, and start Alias again. For a floating license, reattach the lock to the license server computer, use FLEXlm License Manager to stop and start the license server software, then have all users on the network start Alias again. |
| Network license problems | Q: When a Windows machine is not connected to a network (or a laptop undocked), the operating system tries to unload the TCP/IP protocol. Why?This is useful to disable network login dialog boxes, unfortunately, it also disables the network card which your license is based.For this condition to exist, you must have: Node-locked license to the network interface card (NIC) - Machine does not have a physical connection to a network TCP/IP protocol installed and (or tries to) bound to card A red “X” over a network card icon in your system tray | Under Windows XP Professional
|
| Pathnames | Q. How do I specify pathnames? | A. Windows does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters in file and directory names. It also uses back slashes (\) as path separators.However, in many cases Alias for Windows allows forward slashes and translates them for Windows. Alias for Mac OS X uses forward slashes as path separators. |
Advanced license troubleshooting
If you think that you have already installed a valid license, but continue to receive
No valid license found
or the system can’t find aw.dat or aw_servername.dat, try these steps:
If this file doesn’t exist, re-install licences as described in Installing a license
Do the steps in To check license errors with lmtools.
To investigate further: errors for floating licenses
If you are running a floating license, try these additional steps:
To investigate further: errors for hardware locks
If you are using a hardware lock, try these additional steps:
Be careful not to force the lock into the USB port incorrectly. Secure the parallel connector with the thumb screws so it won’t fall off and interrup an 2010 session.
If you still have trouble with licensing, you can create a licensing log file to learn more about the error:
To examine the license error log file (Windows)
set FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS=2
Alias.exe
Because you set the environment variable FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS, the attempt to start Alias creates a licensing log file that you can open and examine.
dir /p
The licensing log file is named flexnumber.log file, where number is the process identification number defined by the operating system. If more than one flexnumber.log file is present, choose the file with the latest time stamp.
notepad flexnumber.log
The log file reports each license failure for all Alias products, so it can be quite long. For each product (whether available to you or not), an error message is logged beginning as follows:
FLEXlm checkout error:
Ignore other information in the file. If the message isn’t listed, call our Support Services department.
del flexnumber.log
where number is the number of the file.
Understanding log file error messages
When you create a licensing log file as described in the previous section, you can browse the file to find error messages to help you identify a problem.
The most common error messages are explained below. If multiple errors exist, only the first one found is listed in the log file. In these explanations, the term license file refers to the aw.dat file for node-locked licenses or aw_servername.dat (on the server) for floating licenses.
| Error | Possible solutions |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Invalid (inconsistent) license key. The license key and data for the feature do not match. This usually happens when a license file has been altered. | Check the license file against the license file that you received. There may be a typing mistake in the password, expiration date, or license version. If it is a floating license, check to see if the HOSTID is spelled correctly. If you obtained a pre-release license for Alias, also check the spelling of eval in the VENDOR_STRING. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Feature has expired... | Either the current machine date is later than the expiration date or there’s a typing mistake in the expiration date. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Invalid date format in license file | Check the license file’s expiration date for an incorrect format, for example, may-4-2006. The correct format is 4-may-2006. The license count digit may be absent: uncounted for node-locked, a number greater than 0 for floating. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Invalid License File syntax. | Check the license file against the license file that you received. There may be a typing mistake. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: No such feature exists. | Check the license file’s spelling of components, package, and feature lines against the license file that you received. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Future license file format or misspelling in license file. | Make sure you have the newest version of FLEXlm license server (Alias 2010 requires version 11.4.100).Check the license file’s spelling of VENDOR or any part of the string HOSTID number. Check that you typed \ instead of / at the end of a line. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: No SERVER lines in license file. | For a node-locked license, check that the license file’s License Count is uncounted.For a floating license, make sure the appropriate SERVER and VENDOR/DAEMON lines appear at the top of the aw_servername.dat file (in the license file, the value of servername has to be replaced with the machine name). |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Alias license in file appears to be corrupted. | Check the entire license file for a typing mistake. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: Invalid host. orThe hostid of this system does not match the hostid specified in the license file. | Check that the machine possesses the right hardware ID/HOSTID number, and that it is correct and not misspelled. To check the hardware ID of the current machine.Check that the hardware lock (dongle) is plugged into the parallel port or USB port correctly. |
| FLEXLM checkout error: No server for this feature. | sgiawd in DAEMON (Linux) or VENDOR (Windows) line may be spelled incorrectly. |
FLEXLM checkout error: License server does not support this feature. |
Check the license file to see if the feature has expired, the license server has not yet started.Check if there is a mismatch between the version of Alias and the version of Alias identified in the license file. Try using the computer’s IP address instead of the hostname.Make sure the USE_SERVER lines on the client machine are in the right order. |
FLEXLM checkout error: Cannot connect to license server. |
FLEXlm floating license software has not been installed or an older version of FLEXlm floating license software is installed. Alias 2010 uses FLEXlm version 11.4.100.The license server daemon has not been started.SERVER servername has not been changed to reflect the name or IP address of the server.DAEMON or VENDOR is not spelled correctly.(Linux) The sgiawd path is not right. The default should be: /usr/aw/COM/etc/sgiawd Check the network connection on your client machine.Check that the sgiawd path is right. The default should be C:\Program Files\Common Files\Alias Shared\Licensing\etc\ (where C: is the drive where Alias is installed).As a last resort, reboot your license server. |
FLEXLM checkout error: Clock difference too large between client and server. |
Make sure the time and date on the client and server are correct and synchronized. If the time and date of the client differs from the server by more than a half hour, the client may not be able to get a license. |
Licensing diagnostic tools (Windows)
To check your system configuration with winmsd
Windows Diagnostics panel providing system configuration information. To run this program see On Windows
To check license errors with lmtools
Licensing sometimes fails because your licensing software is using the wrong Flex ID / host ID (or server host ID). To verify that this is the case, you can use the lmtools program.
For floating licenses only, you can also use the lmtools program to check for errors not listed in Understanding log file error messages.
If the license file is not in the default location, specify where it is. Choose the Configure Services tab, enter the license path under Path to the license file field, and then choose Save Service.
On some Windows systems lmtools.exe and lmutil.exe may fail to retrieve the ethernet HOSTID, returning a value of ffffffff and causing pre-keying to fail. Obtain the Physical Address of your system by running the ipconfig /all command from the Command Prompt window.
Convert the Physical Address to an Ethernet Address by removing the dashes and converting all letters to lowercase.
For example, a Physical Address of 00-C0-4F-8E-F6-C6 becomes an Ethernet Address of 00c04f8ef6c6.
Contact Autodesk Sales Support, request a license, and provide them with the Ethernet Address.
Use this table to find out which field to look at, and what to compare it to in the license file. The license file can be found at these default locations:
(where servername is the name of the license server computer).
If the value in the system settings doesn’t match the value in the aw.dat or aw_servername.dat file, either:
| For the security type... | The value in... | Should match... |
|---|---|---|
| Ethernet | the System Setting’s Ethernet Address field | the HOSTID value in the license file, which should look like this:HOSTID=00c04f8ef647 |
| hardware lock | the System Setting’s FLEXID7 field; also printed on a sticker on the hardware lock itselfIf the FLEXID7 field contains the value “FLEXID=7-0,” the hardware lock is not plugged in to the parallel connector correctly. | the HOSTID / FLEXID value in the license file, which should look like this for a USB dongle: 9-12345678 or this: HOSTID=FLEXID=7-b2857e57 |
To check for additional floating license errors
To customize and view a status report on the floating licenses:
It shows whether
Examine these entries in the status information during the following steps:
License server status: 7111@servername License file(s) on servername: C:\FLEXlm\aw_servername.dat: servername: license server UP (MASTER) v11.4.100\ Vendor daemon status (on servername): sgiawd: UP v10.8
(where servername is the name of the license server computer).
If you see a different number, make sure that you intend for that port number to be used. Otherwise, open the file aw_servername.dat and change the number to 7111.
lmgrd not running: Cannot connect to license server. The server (lmgrd) has not been started yet, or the wrong port@host or license file is being used, or the port or hostname in the license file has been changed...
An example follows:
Feature usage info: Users of Studiof: (Total of 3 licenses available) Users of AutoStudiof: (Total of 3 licenses available)
This example indicates that six licenses are available: three for Studio (floating) and three for AutoStudio (also floating).
If aw.dat or aw_servername.dat has a typing error, you’ll see a message similar to this:
Feature usage info: Users of Studiof: (Error: 1 licenses, unsupported by licensed server) Users of AutoStudiof: Total of 1 licenses available)
Check aw.dat or aw_servername.dat for a typing error in the Studiof FEATURE line.
Confirming FLEXid dongle drivers installation (for hardware locks only)
For hardware locks, a FLEXid dongle driver enables communication between a node-locked or license server computer and its USB or parallel port. The USB or parallel port connector is where the hardware lock is attached.
From the initial installation start up window program choose Install Driver for Hardware Lock to install onto your computer. To make sure the driver was installed, do the following on the computer where the hardware lock is attached.
To check FLEXid dongle driver installation
By default, this install folder is at C:\Program Files\Macrovision Corporation\Macrovision FLEXid Drivers, where C: is the drive where the software is installed.
To install the FLEXid dongle drivers
Starting Alias troubleshooting
| Application Launcher problem | Possible solutions |
|---|---|
| You run appLaunch to start the Application Launcher, but Alias starts without showing it. | If there is only one product available in your license, that product starts. You see the Application Launcher only if more than one Alias product is licensed or if there is a licensing problem. |
| How do I reset the Applauncher to choose another product that I want to launch? | (Windows) Run Programs > Autodesk > Alias 2010 > Application Launcher and choose the product you want to launch. (Mac) Run Applications > Autodesk > Alias 2010 > AppLaunch. |
| When you start Alias, the Application Launcher says that it cannot find a valid license. | Ensure that a valid license is installed in either c:\FLEXlm\aw.dat or c:\FLEXlm\aw_servername.dat (Windows), /var/flexlm/aw.dat or /var/flexlm/aw_servername.dat/ (Mac). Ensure that the license server is running.Check your license file for typing errors. Use the section Advanced license troubleshooting to pinpoint licensing problems. |
| You can start Alias from the Application Launcher, but get a license error if you try to run the Alias executable directly. | Delete the ALIAS_LICENSE variable if you understand licensing and don’t want to run any other Alias products. It automatically starts a particular Alias product: as (Automotive), ss (Surface), or ds (Design). To disable this variable for Windows: 1. From Start > Settings > Control Panel > System, click on the Environment tab. 2. Look for the ALIAS_LICENSE variable. If you see that it is set, delete it by highlighting it and clicking the Delete button.Your default product might be no longer available. In that case, choose another product in the Application Launcher, click Set Default, and click Save. |
