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Richard,
There is an extremely good reason for making sure that your system
time is set correctly. Softimage uses a program named FLEXlm as its
license manager. It is an *EXTREMELY* paranoid program. To be brief,
one item that FLEXlm checks for are file dates in the C:\FLEXlm and
C:\WINNT directories. If your date and timezone is set incorrectly
(e.g. in the future) when you install Windows NT or Softmage and
subsequently reset, you could create a situation in which FLEXlm
thinks that you are attempting cheat Softimage by setting your system
time back for the purpose of using an expired license.
If you're lucky, deleting Softimage and FLEXlm and reinstalling will
clear the problem. In some instances, you have to completely reinstall
Windows NT to reset some of the parameters that are (presumably) in
the registry.
Checking the system time on Dual Boot (NT-Unix) machines is even more
critical since NT and Unix fail to treat the clock data the same way.
Here's an example of a situation that requires a complete Windows NT
and Softimage reinstallation to correct a previously incorrect system
time setting:
1) Unix is up and running with the correct time and timezone
2) Shutdown Unix, set the OS_TYPE to NT and restart the machine
3) Install Windows NT (OOPS - Forgot to check my system time,
I'm in the year 2025!! I'll fix it later.)
4) Correct the system time and install Softimage (FLEXlm will
generate "Feature has expired" errors)
5) Reinstall *BOTH* Windows NT and Softimage to correct this
problem. You have files in C:\WINNT that have a date
of 2025 and FLEXlm assumes (however incorrectly) that
you have set your clock back 18 years to use an expired
license.
The bottom line is this, before you install Windows NT or Softimage
on a system, make sure that your system time and timezone are set
properly. You can literally waste days chasing your tail due to
the FLEXlm License Manager...
Regards,
- Greg Konar, WABG Softimage Application Engineer
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