S7 Authorization Problem

I have a strange problem with my S7 authorization. I did a search through the threads but didn't find any info. Here's the deal:

I have two laptops, one runs W2k, and the other, XP. I have two valid licenses, one for each laptop. On the W2k box, I am running version 5.1, and on the XP box I'm running the latest version, 5.2. I do not have a floppy disk drive installed on either machine. Rather, I use an external floppy drive when I need to remove the license for some reason (i.e. a defrag). I have run the W2k box this way for 2 years with no problems.

But, I have found that on my XP box, S7 will not find my authorizations unless I have my floppy drive plugged in. Note that the authorization disk doesn't have to be in the drive. If I launch S7 without the floppy, I get the routine message that the authorization could not be found. One other thing that I find strange is that the Authors V2.52 crashes if I launch it without the floppy drive plugged in. So, evidently, S7 first looks for the authorization on Drive A, and when it doesn't find Drive A, it doesn't look at Drive C and aborts instead. Very strange.

I have called Siemens Tech Support, but they just noted my problem and said they would get back to me if the engineers in Germany could help me. That was a month ago, so I guess they can't. Anyone here have a hint as to what might be causing this?

On my old laptop running Win98, if I didn't have my external floppy connected, anything that accessed it would delay a LONG time before realizing that there was no floppy connected. Windows doesn't seem say "floppy not connected" = "no floppy in drive". Any software that tried to access the floppy just had to time out on it's own.

Sounds like XP isn't letting S7 'give up' on the floppy drive like it will in W2K. You can probably thank Mr. Gates for that...

I would think there's a setting to NOT look to the floppy for the authorization (or at least check C: before A:). In RSLogix, you make a change in the .ini file to do that. Same for DirectSOFT if you had projects stored on the floppy.

One of our resident Siemens guys (like Jean Pierre) will probably have a solution for this. Be patient...

beerchug

-Eric

:site: Bump
beerchug

Someone's calling? For your information Eric, I'm not a Siemens guy. I'm just a guy using Siemens PLC's. It's a small, but very important difference.

The solution to this problem is quite simple:

• Connect your external floppy drive to the laptop.
• Start up the Siemens authorization tool AuthorsW.
• Go to "Manage Authorizations" and select the hard drive
  or
  go to "Move Authorization" and select the hard disk in BOTH drive selection boxes.
• Close the authorization tool.

Next time you start the authorization tool, the computer shouldn't look at the floppy drive anymore.

I've only tested this with Windows 2000, since I've been able to stay away from yet another new Windows version so far. Lucky me! Please let us know if it also works with XP, so I won't have to check it out when I have to move on to it.

Kind regards,

Unfortunately, that procedure doesn't work with XP. This is what I end up with:

1. If I close Authors.exe with Manage Authorizations selected, and then remove the floppy drive, Authors will launch, but blows up if I select Move Authorizations. S7 still does not find the autorization.

2. If I close Authors.exe with Move Authorizations selected, Authors blows up immediately when launched. S7 still doesn't recognize the authorization.

I tried various combinations, but nothing worked.

Is there anyone out there with S7 set up with XP who could remove their A drive temporarily to see if they get the same results?

Hi there,

I've tried it, wen i switch of the A drive i get a fault when starting up Authors, even when i changed the program to look at the c drive. The popup window says there is a fault in AuthappX, and the application must be closed.
I have version V2.5.1 of Authors.

Ed

Thanks Ed. Now that I know it isn't just me, I'm going to call Siemens again. Maybe it really is Bill Gates' fault, but Authors shouldn't just blow up and die when it sees something it doesn't like.

Unless someone else shows up with a fix, I'll post my findings here as soon as I hear back from them.

Thanks!

Thanks guys. It seems there's yet one more reason for me to stay away from XP. I hope the guys who order our PC's believe this site, I will surely inform them of this problem.

BTW, my version of AuthorsW is V2.5 + SP2.

Kind regards,

Well, I'm not giving up on XP quite yet. It's really a nice upgrade from W2k, and the rest of S7 functions perfectly. In fact, if I had used an internal A drive all along, I never would have noticed this.

My version is V2.5 + ServicePack 1, Release 2.5.1.8, Release Number V2.5.1.0 (as noted in the exported Simatic Software CSV file). I just bought a completely new S7 package about two months ago, but it looks like you have a newer version (based on the service pack). Could you take a look at the release and see if that is the case? Maybe Siemens noticed the problem, and the fix hasn't made it stateside yet.

For more info about the version of AuthorsW I use: see the attached picture.

Kind regards,

Check your XP to see that you are running XP PRO SP1. Most problems with XP are before SP1 is installed. This is the reason I NEVER beta test anyones software. ALWAYS wait for the first SP to be released.

I have XP SP1 and all of the latest updates.

And, I found a note on one of the Siemens support sites: http://www4.ad.siemens.de/WW/llisap...n&content=skm/search.asp?&Query=authorization (I hope that link works.)

Since my W2k laptop uses a slotted A drive and works ok, after reading the Siemens response in the link, I'm wondering if my XP box doesn't work because I am using a USB drive, and Authors always considers it as a "removable device". Just speculating.

I'm going to order an internal drive from Dell and give that a try, if installing a newer version of the Authors program doesn't work.

Edit: For some reason my link doesn't show up, even though it's in my message. I'll try to post it this way: www4.ad.siemens.de/WW/llisapi.dll?func=cslib.csinfo2&siteid=cseus&searchinprim=0&nodeID0=10805148&lang=en&content=skm%2Fsearch.asp%3F&Query=authorization