RS logix Activation Help (NOT PIRACY!)

[mitsibushiman 0]

I have just recieved rs logix500 and am intending on starting to use AB plcs for some of my projects, up until now i have exclusively used siemens or mitsubishi. I have successfully installed and activated rslogix, however i am confused as to how to set up the activation. From the instructions it seems it is possible to install the software on two computers ie in this case my office desktop and my laptop, i realise the point of the activation disk is to stop people from running unliscenseced copies on various machines and that is why you have to copy the activation from the master disk to the machine harddrive you wish to use rslogix to enable the software, but is it possible to install the software on two machines and just get the software to read direct from the activation disk, rather than copy the keys from the disk to the hdd to allow me to quickly jump from machine to machine just by popping the activation disk into the machine i wish to use at that moment in time?? Cheers

[Ken Moore 23]

Yes, just leave the activation on the master disk, when you start RSLogix, it will read the activation off of the floppy drive.

[Guest]

greetings, mitsibushiman, well, you could just leave the activation on the original Master Disk ... but ... what if the original Master Disk gets lost or damaged or something else along those lines? ... the officially recommended way is to move the activation from the original Master Disk to a second floppy disk ... this new floppy is then usually called an “activation disk” ... the basic idea is that you can now plug the new “activation disk” into whichever computer you want to use and the RSLogix software will go ahead and run ... specifically, you do NOT have to actually MOVE the activation FROM one computer TO another computer each time you want to switch from one computer to another ... instead, the RSLogix software will recognize the activation file on the floppy “activation disk” and go ahead and run ... so now you can carry the second floppy “activation disk” around in your pocket and use it to temporarily activate whichever computer you want to use at the moment ... it’s not quite as handy as having two separate activations (one on each computer) but it’s legal and it does work ... AND another MAJOR advantage is that by using this method you can store the original Master Disk away in a desk drawer for safekeeping ... note: on some computer systems you MIGHT have to manually configure the RSLogix software to “look for” the floppy “activation disk” ... post again with questions if you’re having problems with that issue ... continuing on ... a lot of people don’t know this next part of the story but sometimes it can save you a lot of time and problems ... once the activation has been moved from the original Master Disk onto a computer or onto a second “activation disk” floppy, there is STILL a copy of the activation file located on the original Master Disk ... that copy gets automatically coded as “used” when you perform the activation “move” operation ... but even though it’s “used” it is still VERY important ... no, you cannot use it to activate another computer by going through another “move activation” operation ... but you CAN use the original “used” Master Disk as a type of emergency “activation disk” ... specifically, you can insert the “used” Master Disk in a computer’s floppy drive and the RSLogix software will go ahead and run ... in other words, RSLogix will recognize the original Master Disk (even though its activation file is already marked as “used”) and go ahead and run ... I know of at least one large plant which insists that all of their original Master Disks must be stored in the plant’s Security office ... the disks are kept sealed in a manila envelop and locked in a desk drawer ... but they are NOT controlled by the computer geeks in the plant’s IT department ... the reason is simple ... the security guards are always present at the plant and can quickly retrieve the Master Disks in an “oops-the-PLC-programming-computer-just-died” emergency situation ... the computer geeks are usually hard to contact at nights and on weekends when these emergency type situations usually occur ... finally ... there is nothing in this post which is “secret” information ... specifically there is nothing here which will tell anyone how to cheat the system ... you can find all of this material officially published in Rockwell’s: RSLogix500 Getting Results Guide read all of Appendix A ... and if you’re really interested in using the “activation disk” method I mentioned above, pay particular attention to the paragraph titled “Diskette Drive” on page 83 ... best regards, Ron

[Snerkel 0]

One useful tip, and gives a very easy way to move activation is to use a USB stick drive. Problem with this method is that not all sticks will be suitable, I have found that only ones that appear in Windows XP in the drives section (not the removable media section) will work. To force Rockwell software to look at the USB drive for the activation add KEYDISK=FALSE CHECKDRIVES=H to the rocksoft.ini file found in the Windows folder, replace H with the drive letter of the USB stick. The rocksoft.ini file can be opened and edited with notepad, when you have done it will look something like this [Common] Path=C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software,C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSCommon KEYDISK=FALSE CHECKDRIVES=H [Applications] RSLinx=C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSLinx\RSLinx.exe ps the KEYDISK=FALSE stops activation looking on the floppy drive first, this prevents that annoying floppy drive rattle when you start Rockwell stuff.

[mitsibushiman 0]

Thanks for all replies above, Im on holiday at the moment, but when i get back ill be setting up an "activation disk". So I can jump from machine to machine. Looking forward to becoming a poster in AB forum as well!!

[jimdi4 2]

I am also experiencing the New laptop No FLoppy Blues...Tried what you recommended, but I tried what Rockwell technote 31319 recommended as well : That is, to format the USB mem stick to FAT Copy the Two files EVMOVECF and EvMoveW to the Meme stick, Run the Evmove as normal On another PC, I inserted the Floppy with the RSL5K activation that I just Evmoved from my Old Laptop, to the USB Mem Stick, It showed 2 files that moved. I then Inserted the Mem Stick into the New Laptop and did the EvmoveCF there, and All I got was "Activation Not Found"...Any recomenmdations? ....BTW I added the above text you recommended to the rocksoft.ini file...I had to change my drive Letter to "E" because that what XP assigned it...I did NOT do an RSrepair on the USB mem stick....Like I saw mentioned somewhere else...is this necessary After doing the Mem stick format? Or is just another approach? One other note, on the MEM stick...When inserted into the New Laptop (XP - Pro) it does show up Under the "Hard Disk Drives" NOT the "Devices with Removeable Storage",,,which is what I think you were refering to... I removed the Mem stick out of the new XP laptop, put it back into my PC and tried to evmove the files back to the floppy...buit also received the "Activation Not Found"... That worried me now...Now my activations were lost? So just for the Hell of it I removed the Floppy from the PC and put it into my old win2k laptop, and did an Evmove, and again "Activation Not Found"... I started RS5000 on the Old laptop with the Floppy still in the drive and it still worked....I beleived this was going to happen...So I shutdown RS5k and pulled the floppy out and restarted RS5k again and it still worked...this lead me to belive that the first evmove from the Old laptop to the floppy never did work even though it said that two files were moved....??? Edited 17 Jan 2008 by jimdi4

[jimdi4 2]

Update.... I had to read the instructions over about three times and found that I was doing something wrong...I was formatting the MEM stick as FAT not FAT32...Now, FAT32 can only be formated from a W2000 or I beleive NT machine which I have both here...But the mem stick that will do that properly, will not be recogniozed by XP now....I guess I need to get a MEM stick that will work now....Still trying......

[paulengr 44]

If everything is networked, you can put the activations onto a network drive. You must map the drive but other than that, it works. If you are on CPR 9 (the latest release....can be downloaded off Rockwell's site), you can also run "FactoryTalk Activation". CPR 10 will be FTA-only (no more master disks). FTA needs something with a serial number/thumbprint that it can recognize. Two options are hard drives and network cards. However, Rockwell will also sell you a USB stick that strictly contains a serial number (no storage). You can link FTA to the USB stick. Then whichever machine has the USB stick has the license.