Allen Bradley RSLinx activation

Cryogen

Member
Join Date
Oct 2005
Location
NH
Posts
151
I recently purchased Allen Bradley RSLinx single node software. When I received it, I did not find a master disk I was used to but found a procedure for web activation. The computer I wish to install this does not have internet access. I see a procedure for such situations, but wondering if anyone of you have tried that?

Also, if I activate the software with the Host ID of a computer that would be using this, what if the computer fails and I need to install this software on another computer?

I hate the fact that I cannot call AB and ask these questions. Nothings free with them.

Thanks for your time
 
Call the distributor you purchased the software from. They get their commission for answering this kind of question.

I rarely go to A-B direct support - our local distributor is better and faster and cheaper.
 
Recently been through a similar 'pain' myself....the web activation is fairly straight forward (i just followed the prompts from the registration wizard).

When i returned to my customers site six months later, they wanted to re-configure their intranet a little and move the RSLinx/DDE that we had set up. We basically had to ring AB tech support to initially cancel the original activation (you do it whilst on the phone, then read out a generated code off the screen to them), then they wipe the account clean and re-register a new activation. You then either activate locally or transfer the Host ID details etc to a remote pc without internet etc.

Plain sailing it aint (IMHO) :rolleyes:

Hope this helps!! (y)
 
Tom Jenkins said:
Call the distributor you purchased the software from. They get their commission for answering this kind of question.

I rarely go to A-B direct support - our local distributor is better and faster and cheaper.

LMAO! Just found this out yesterday. I needed firmware for a L43 and because I hadn't visited the web site in 3 months, my user was deleted. Tech support refused to e-mail me a copy. Had my dist. send me a copy. How much do I pay for support?
 
Don't know if this only applies over here, but i was told by our distributor that it was something they couldn't do and i had to go directly to Rockwell technical.....o_O
 
I absolutely despise this new activation scheme the RockSoft has started using... and I'm going to take every opportunity I can to dump on it!! Hopefully someone there will observe this and listen!

I provide tech support to >40 facilities. Very few, if any, have outside-access of any type out on the plant floor... Some don't have any type of outside-access other than phone line even in the office! So this new method is extremely difficult for me.

But I've been through all of this recently and can provide some guidance.

Cryogen said:
I recently purchased Allen Bradley RSLinx single node software. When I received it, I did not find a master disk I was used to but found a procedure for web activation. The computer I wish to install this does not have internet access. I see a procedure for such situations, but wondering if anyone of you have tried that?

It's a bit of a mess to do "offline" You'll go through the installation and activation process. It will get to the place where it's looking to activate it online, but can't. One of the options will be for no internet connection (I'm not in front of one where I can try it right now, so don't remember exactly what it says...) It will then generate the HostID that you'll need. You take that HostID, plus the 10-digit Product ID and the serial number from the package. Then call RockSoft Tech Supp with this information and they will generate the activation file and email it to you. Then you move that file from your email to the computer you're installing RSLinx on, using a floppy, flash drive, network connection, whatever... Again, I'm not in front of a computer with that software on it right now, so I can't remember the exact path to move it ... I can possibly check tomorrow if you can't find it. Reboot and you're done. Easy as pie... (yeah... right...)

Cryogen said:
Also, if I activate the software with the Host ID of a computer that would be using this, what if the computer fails and I need to install this software on another computer?

If you're lucky enough to be able to still access the computer, you can do what's called a rehost. You'll go through the process on the original computer to generate a rehost code, then during the reinstall, you'll take that rehost code and use that where prompted.

However, it never happens that way... so you get to call RockSoft and explain that your computer failed and you need to have that particular package released. They can do that, then you'll go through the above described, easy-as-pie routine to reinstall the package again into the new computer.


I've been through all of this lately when an HMI computer failed. I sent the computer back for repair -- they had to replace the motherboard. Unfortunately, I had used the HostID of the motherboard -- so even though it was the same computer, I had to go through all of this to reactivate the same package of RSLinx of the same computer...

It has been recommended now that we use the HardDrive as the HostID. But it's gonna be anybody's guess as to which will fail first, the HD or the Mother Board.
 
OZEE said:
I absolutely despise this new activation scheme the RockSoft has started using... and I'm going to take every opportunity I can to dump on it!! Hopefully someone there will observe this and listen!

I provide tech support to >40 facilities. Very few, if any, have outside-access of any type out on the plant floor... Some don't have any type of outside-access other than phone line even in the office! So this new method is extremely difficult for me.

I have to agree with this one myself. Process machines with internet access are few and far between. I don't think A/B realizes this and they are going to put their customers through a lot of headaches and probably loose a few in the process.
 
I respect a manufacturer's right to profit from intellectual property. They have the right to charge what they want.

They do not have the right to have protection schemes that literally take money from their customer's pockets with arcane, cumbersome, and time consuming protection.

It isn't just A-B. I recently bought a new laptop. I have had to go through this kind of nonsense for A-B (several PLC and HMI packages) GE Fanuc (PLC and HMI packages) Siemens (PLC and HMI packages) Automation Direct (several PLC and HMI packages) and Modicon (PLC and HMI packages).

Even AutomationDirect, the least problematic, was a pain because I needed to get original CDs for Lookout and have both my original DirectSoft and my upgrade CDs. The rest of the suppliers got progressively worse. It has taken days of intemittent effort, and I'm still not done.

The real joke is that the pirate for profit guys are probably not even breaking a sweat to get aroung this stuff. Only honest users suffer!
 
I completely understand why Rockwell has gone to this system for activation. It makes it slightly harder for someone with a Hex Editor to break the copy protection in the short term. More research is required to circumvent the system. I have always had valid licenses through the companies I worked for for all of my programming software, but as a challenge I have always tried to understand the protections used to lock the software for just any emergencies that may pop up.

As many others have alluded to "Locks only keep honest people out".

My favorite method for the protection of software is the hardware dongle that you put on the parallel port of the computer. This was done primarily on the HMI software such as Wonderware, Intellution, and Citect, but if you had a hardware problem, it was very simple to pull the dongle and move it the new PC. I know this is a little different now that laptops are coming without parallel ports but I am sure you could do something similiar with USB hardware.
 
Not to hi-jack this thread but.... Has anyone tried the concurrent activation license on a server? Seems as though that will make the most sense for the company I work for. Right now we transfer licenses between laptops with USB sticks when someone needs to use a Rocksoft app. I was just wondering how easy the server is to set up and licenses are to check-out if anyone has attempted this.
 
Last edited:
I, personally, like this scheme better than the floppy disk method. If you have a telephone and can access the internet and e-mail from any computer, then you can get an acitvation for a computer even if it's a different one.

They email you a simple text file based on your target computer's NIC MAC ID or hard drive serial number...your choice. Then you just copy that file to a particaular location on the target computer and you're done.

I haven't had to do it that way yet, but the instructions were quite simple. Once the activation is created, it's a plain text file that you can copy any way you wish for safe keeping. If your computer dies, as long as the NIC is good, you can move it to the replacement computer. If your computer crashes and is restored, no big deal, just copy that orignal file from your backup location (CD, network drive, or even a floppy if you really want...)

JMHO
Paul
 
Paul,

In theory that's fine. (And for the record: I have absolutely no problem with RockSoft, or anybody else, doing whatever they need to do to prevent software piracy) You're right, it's really not too difficult -- it's just a huge pain in the gluteus maximus[size=-1]. It requires several different, unrelated steps that - at least in my case - cannot happen in the same location. There have literally been times where I've had to go back to the hotel to be able to get online to download the file from RockSoft. If I had ways to communicate to the PLC other than RSLinx, I would!

Yes, it's just a text file. But it will only work with that particular (NIC, HardDrive) In my case described above, the NIC was changed when they replaced the mobo. (another good reason to never use the on-board nic... That would have made my life soooo much easier this time!) The text file would not work with the new mobo/nic.[/size]
 
OZEE said:
...[size=-1](another good reason to never use the on-board nic... That would have made my life soooo much easier this time!) The text file would not work with the new mobo/nic.[/size]

THAT'S VERY GOOD ADVICE...USE A PLUG-IN N.I.C. TO KEEP IT PORTABLE...
 

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