Mathcad Prime 6.0 License Error - Invalid Host (-9)

[DM_8947731]

I renewed my license for Mathcad Prime 6.0, and the new license I bought is not giving access to Prime due to an invalid host ID. The host ID for the license corresponds to my MAC address but the one displayed in the Mathcad options UI is different.

[VipulT]

Hi @DM_8947731,

Use the MAC address of the Physical LAN card or the MAC address active network card (Wi-fi) as the host-id for license generation

Do not use the host-id displayed on the Mathcad Prime UI to generate the license

Thanks,

Vipul

[DM_8947731]

Hi @VipulT , thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate the response as I'm inexperienced with a lot of this and don't really understand some details of how the licensing process works.

When I use the "Activate purchased license" option, the only host ID I can choose is the one for my active network card, which I wouldn't see as an issue, except I continually get the invalid host error, which I think must be connected to the mismatched host ID from the UI.

The one appearing in the UI currently matches the MAC address of a hidden virtual network adapter ("Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2"). Interestingly, it will match the MAC address of whichever adapter is listed first when I use "ipconfig /all" in command prompt.

I've disabled and enabled a few virtual adapters (from VPNs) to confirm this. The active network card with the MAC address that the license is generated with is always the last adapter under "ipconfig /all". I tried just temporarily disabling all the virtual adapters I have installed so the host IDs match (as the UI host ID would use the MAC address of the one active adapter, which appears to be listed in ipconfig /all) but don't know how to disable 2 hidden virtual network adapters (2 as mentioned above, and 12), and don't want to do anything that would mess with Window's virtual adapters, as opposed to the VPNs I have.

I'm not sure if there is an easy solution I can perform to fix this; I've attempted to contact PTC many times but haven't been able to reach a person yet. I'll try again tomorrow and update here if I can talk to someone from PTC and they have a solution.

[VipulT · Accepted solution]

Hi @DM_8947731,

Please check that the expected network card is considered as first entry in Registry Editor of the Operating System:
1. Open Windows registry editor by running “regedit” from a command prompt or the Windows "Run" menu with administrator privileges (Run DOS command).
2. Expand the following key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards”
3. This key will contain numbered folders corresponding to all the network cards installed on the machine
4. Locate the desired folder by matching the "Description" field in the Registry Editor to the "Description" line from “ipconfig /all” for the desired network card
5. Rename this folder to "1"
6. Go to File > Exit to close the registry editor

Also, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option for the Ethernet Adapter LAN
1. Go to Device Manager > Network Adapters
2. Select the network card used to generate the license file and go to Properties
3. Select Power Management tab and uncheck the option "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power

This should help to resolve the issue 

Thanks,

Vipul