License Activation How-to

[Ssnake]

[Updated this entry, DEC 2018]

[Updated this entry, JUL 2019]

[Updated this entry, SEP 2019]

[Updated this entry, SEP 2020]

 

Apparently activating licenses has become a bit difficult for some people. This is an attempt to describe the necessary steps, depending on the different user cases.

 

1. General

Assuming that you DID receive your license after placing your order (you did not? Read this) you now have your ticket URL. But on the attempt to activate your license ticket you may get to see the error message 

PHP_GET_NOLICENSEFIRMCODE_HEADLINE

PHP_GET_NOLICENSEFIRMCODE_TEXT

The most likely cause of this error is that you haven't yet installed the latest CodeMeter runtime version (7.10a at the time of this writing). This was released on Sept 17 2020, so it is not yet included in the Steel Beasts installer.

Remedy: Download and install the latest CodeMeter runtime from here.

We've refined the text in our ticket emails, so the following clarification has become largely obsolete:

• The ticket email text states that you MUST HAVE your CodeMeter USB stick plugged in (which was true up until 2013). None of our time-based licenses however actually require a (physical) CM stick anymore (a virtual CM device is created on installation of Steel Beasts).
• The ticket email also says that you must have Java and ActiveX enabled, with isn't a very precise wording, undfortunately. In short, most browsers today need neither, and MS Edge doesn't work at all. See the "Browser" section below for details.

 

You may now experience one of several obstacles (or none, as is still the case for the majority of all users):

 

a) You activated the license but you still get an error message when trying to start Steel Beasts

Chances are, the firmware of your CodeMeter stick is outdated. Start the CodeMeter Control Center, look for the button with the circular arrow on the right side of the window (somewhere in the middle), click it, and follow the on-screen instructions. CodeMeter sticks with serial number 1-xxxxxxx should in the end have a firmware version 1.18 (as of the time of this writing), newer CM sticks with serial number 2-xxxxxxx should have firmware 2.04. Serial numbers 3-xxxxxxx can have an even higher firmware version number.

If you're reading version 1.19, you have selected a virtual CM stick, not your physical one

 

b) You want to activate a single license, but there is no immediately apparent way to do so

Chances are, you're using MS Edge, or, more likely these days, the security settings of your browser prevent it. See below for details.

 

c) You want to activate multiple licenses and get an error message about an "unsatisfied constraint"

Chances are, you have ordered both a secondary license and an upgrade license. The upgrade license must be applied first - remove the checkmark from the "SECONDARY" entry, activate the "UPGRADE", then activate the remaining license.

 

d) You want to activate a single upgrade license and get an error message about an "unsatisfied constraint" with error code 0x18080003

You probably have a first generation CodeMeter stick from a purchase made in 2006 or 2007. Please contact Sales (at) eSimGames.com for remedy.

 

e) A combination of the above

You'll have to work yourself through the individual issues one after another. If in doubt, start with the firmware upgrade.

 

f) Windows 10

Download and install the CodeMeter runtime 7.10a (you may need to select it from a menu there).

Runtime 5.22 didn't work under Windows 10 (for "reasons"), that was fixed years ago (as of NOV 2018) with later updates.

 

 

2. Browser

a) Choice

For whatever reason, MS Edge still does not support any of the needed technologies (see below); therefore I can but recommend to avoid it while trying to activate your license. The same goes for Lynx, but anyone familiar with Lynx would rightfully point out that it's part of the concept, and not an omission on the developers' side.

 

b) Security

At the moment the direct activation of licenses requires Websocket connections (pretty much any modern browser), or ActiveX (MS Internet Explorer), or Java (the fallback line; note that JavaScript is something else entirely, and whoever chose the name is probably the most successful troll of the last 50 years). Since CodeMeter runtime version 5.10a this is no longer necessary (provided, again, that you have an up to date web browser (except Edge) that supports websocket connections).

That said, here's some general browser configuration advice (for license activations):

• If you're an experienced web browser user you could try and adjust your security settings to allow the execution of both JavaScript and Java
• You might try the Internet Explorer, and be it just for ticket activations. In the Extras menu | Internet Options entry | Security tab you could add the WebDepot to the list of "trusted sites". Assuming that the trusted sites have less strict security settings, visiting the ticket page should now either work without much further ado, or you would get a rather inconspicuous whitish-yellow pop-up bar at the top or bottom of the window asking you for permission to open the active content of the page. Confirm this if you trust us (...and you pretty much have to, given that you installed our software already, and used your credit card in our web store).
• If you can't follow the suggested solutions above, you will need to use the Offline Activation (see below)

 

 

3. Offline Activation

This is the last option and a surefire method as long as you may upload and download files with your browser. Even old Netscape browsers should be able to do that (those with the blue wooden steering wheel icon that looked dated already in the 1990s). It's a reliable method, but less convenient than the direct license transfer. Also, we recommend that you seek eSim Games' support staff assistance, and send us your license request file by email, along with your license ticket URL.

 

The offline activation method must be prepared.

1. Start the CodeMeter Control Center. At the bottom of the window, half-left, there is a single button for a wizard program to handle license updates. You want to create a license request - so just follow through the wizard until you have a file named xxxxxxx.WibuCmRaC; save it to your desktop or a place that you can remember.
2. Then send that file to eSim support staff, along with your license ticket code. If you don't want that: You may of course directly visit the web depot page. In the lower right corner of the window is a button for the "Offline Activation". Click it. You'll get prompted for the location of the *RaC file that you created before (see above). By uploading it you start the activation process. You will get prompted to save a new file xxxxxxx.WibuCmRaU - save it to your desktop (or some other place of your liking, as long as you know where to find it).
3. Saving this file is important! It will transfer the license information into the virtual CodeMeter stick; without it you can't start SB Pro PE. Also, you don't get a second try (in which case you'd need to contact eSim Games, anyway - please have your license ticket code ready).
4. Once that the file is stored you just need to double-click it and confirm that you, indeed, want to transfer the license. Done.
5. If you want, you can use the wizard program of the CodeMeter Control Center again (this time, select that you want to apply a license update). It's more cumbersome than a simple double-click ... but hey, some people like wizards.

 

That should be it, really. If you still encounter trouble it's best to contact me by email. In that case you can speed up the process by including the CmDustResult.log file. (In the Start Menu | CodeMeter | Tools program folder is a tool named "CmDUST" run it. It will open a Windows Explorer window at the end containing the log file. Attach it to your email to me, please).

 

 

I feel generally confused by this WebDepot web page. What am I supposed to do?

Fear naught!

On the following page I will explain the WebDepot page in pictures.

 

 

I heard about this "Firmware upgrade". Why is it necessary, and how is it done?

On the following page I will explain the CodeMeter Control Center application, covering this and similar topics.

 

 

The WebAdmin! What is it good for?

On the following page I will show some examples what can be done with it.

[Ssnake]

[Updated this entry, JUL 2019]

 

Occasionally the activation fails with the error code 0x18080001. In 2014 these errors went away within an hour or so.

Please accept my most sincere apologies:

Since last Friday however the error is persistent. The Wibu support team has been alerted about this but will respond to the situation only on Monday. Until then please refrain from needless attempts to fix the issue on your end. Reinstalling Steel Beasts and/or the CodeMeter runtime won't help at all. The problem is on the server side of things and there is nothing that you can do to improve the situation.

 

If you get this 0x18080001 error in 2019, chances are something else is wrong and it's not on the server side. In that case, please contact us, ideally with a prepared CmDust-Results.log file (see the end of the previous post), and your license ticket URL.

[Ssnake]

[Updated this entry, JUL 2019]

 

Before activating your license with the Chrome web browser, please make sure to have installed the latest CodeMeter runtime version 6.81.

Version 5.20b, which comes with the Steel Beasts Pro PE 3.011 installer, contains a bug that prevents the successful completion of the license transfer with the Chrome browser.

Most likely, if you are reading this it is already too late. In that case please contact eSim Games, we can still recover the license from the web server.

 

Steel Beasts 4.1 will include CodeMeter runtime 6.81, which however you can already download from here.

[Avec]

Hi.

 

I just bought a 1 month license for SB Pro but are experiencing problems.

The CM version was 5.22. I am running Win 10 and found info about CM 5.22 not working well on win 10. I have now upgraded to 6.20.

The problem seems to be me not being able to get the license from the URL provided. I did activate it (says it is activated now) the download to a local file have probably not worked. 

I cannot reactivate/download file once more. 

 

CM produces a *.WibuCmRaC file and seem to expect a *.WibuCmRaU. That part has not worked for me. I created a new request file and it says more or less the same (except for [data]) as the file as thought i had updated with new license.

 

Please advice.

 

-Avec

[Sean]

Please send ssnake a email using the directions in the post above this one.  Include your order number and what you have done so far.

[Ssnake]

Problem solved, it seems.

[Taslehoff]

Hi Snake

 

I have bought steel beasts installed and used to my delight (back to being  cold war cav),   Errr however I have now upgraded the whole computer and after reading your help guide  I am still at a loss how to activate the software again. Any help would be great thanks.

 

PS- I am crap with computers but a dab hand in rev-mode with hesh

 

PPS it was a one year license.

[Ssnake]

There is no way to directly activate licenses again. You'll have to contact me by email.

[Taslehoff]

Thanks for the quick reply, email sent

[Thadwb]

Salutations,

 

I have been attempting to load version 4.0 for the past hour or so. I've tried everything I can think of. I have downloaded and loaded version 4.0 and afterwards purchased the update license for for 40$. I've also downloaded the 6.30a Codemeter software for Win 10.

 

"Error: An internal error has occurred. Code= 0x1808001"

 

I tried the Offline Activation method many times. Still no go. Keep getting the 0x1808001 error code. One thing that is NOT happening with the Offline Activation option is getting a prompt to save a new file - xxxxxxxWibuCmRau after uploaded my RaC. It simply doesn't happen. Why? I don't know. Without it, I cannot save it and then import it for use.

 

I've also Updated the firmware.

 

Help... I'm at a loss.

[Ssnake]

The error code 0x18080001 can have a multitude of reasons I just learned about. Please contact me by email, so I can identify why you, specifically, get that error. There is no "one size fits all" answer here.

[Thadwb]

Wilco.

[Thadwb]

Salutations,

 

Any and all problems corrected! Thanks to Ssnake for the timely and effective assistance.

[spudweasel]

I have SB PE v3.0.28 installed on a Win7 partition.  I also have a Win10 partition.  I want to keep the Win7 install and install 4.0 and the updated dongle software under Win10.  In principle, is there any known reason I cannot do so?  I was hoping to buy the $40 license for the Win10 installation.  Is there any known reason such an arrangement will keep me from using the dongle in Win7 and also under Win10?  Thanks.

[LAN]

21 hours ago, Ssnake said:

The error code 0x18080001 can have a multitude of reasons I just learned about. Please contact me by email, so I can identify why you, specifically, get that error. There is no "one size fits all" answer here.

One of us, have the same unsolved trouble. Help us please! I wrote a couple of letters to you. Thank you in advance.

 

[Ssnake]

On 12.8.2016 at 11:04 PM, spudweasel said:

I was hoping to buy the $40 license for the Win10 installation.  Is there any known reason such an arrangement will keep me from using the dongle in Win7 and also under Win10?

 

It will work.

If the two Steel Beasts installations do not use a shared folder (and with two parallel WIndows versions this shouldn't be the case) then there will be no problem. The CodeMeter license management is also independent of the operating system/Windows version.

[Ssnake]

13 hours ago, LAN said:

One of us, have the same unsolved trouble. Help us please! I wrote a couple of letters to you.

I will answer your emails like all other emails that I get, roughly in the order by which they are coming in. I noticed that at least one email was delayed by your spam filter (but I found it, and re-sent it to my regular mail account). Please understand however that I took this Saturday off. Now it's Sunday morning (00:10), and I'm back at your service...

[spudweasel]

1 hour ago, Ssnake said:

 

It will work.

If the two Steel Beasts installations do not use a shared folder (and with two parallel WIndows versions this shouldn't be the case) then there will be no problem. The CodeMeter license management is also independent of the operating system/Windows version.

Thank you!

[LAN]

7 hours ago, Ssnake said:

I will answer your emails like all other emails that I get, roughly in the order by which they are coming in. I noticed that at least one email was delayed by your spam filter (but I found it, and re-sent it to my regular mail account). Please understand however that I took this Saturday off. Now it's Sunday morning (00:10), and I'm back at your service...

My friend found the cause of the problem at night and resolved it. Ignore please both of my letters. I am sorry for disturbance you. Thanks.

[ChrisWerb]

Having installed both the game and both the patch and codemeter, and then having activated the one month licence (the dongle won't arrive for a while yet), I see an Esimgames folder in C:Drive, but don't see any executables in it and the installation process did not put an icon on my desktop. How do I actually start SB?

[Ssnake]

Win 7? 8? 10?

I mean, it should definitely show up in the Windows Start menu, unless you're on Win 8 and a total Metro fan. Even then there's the "All Apps" list...

[ChrisWerb]

1 minute ago, Ssnake said:

Win 7? 8? 10?

I mean, it should definitely show up in the Windows Start menu, unless you're on Win 8 and a total Metro fan. Even then there's the "All Apps" list...

 

Got it!

 

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

 

 

[ChrisWerb]

Having finally accessed the sim, I may be gone for a few days.....

[Ssnake]

1 minute ago, ChrisWerb said:

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

I am a noob....

 

Well, it's not like you're the first who gets stumped. So I'm wondering if there's something that doesn't work right, or works contrary to today's people's expectations. I mean, I always hate it when programs put icons on my desktop. It's MY desk. You don't dump stuff on it. So, we're not doing this. But since everybody else does it, maybe that's what people want?

[Lt DeFault]

Noooooooooo!

 

J/K. I feel the same way as you about my desktop. But I don't mind if there's a checkbox during installation that only creates a desktop icon when checked.