Hardware (USB) licence key

Basic information:
PROMOTIC hardware key (further refered to as "HW Key") serves for protection of the PROMOTIC system and for the protection of the designer's "know how". The complete information regarding the purchased licence is burned into the key. The HW Key is the most commonly used licence carrier.
Each PROMOTIC HW Key is labeled by 4-digits number that identifies the licence number. This number can be found on the white label that is attached on the HW Key. The information regarding the connected key can be obtained in runtime by the Pm.LicenceInfo method, or in the INFO system of running application - /SYSTEM/Licence tab.

The PROMOTIC system uses SENTINEL licence key by the SafeNet Ltd company. When ordering a PROMOTIC licence several different key types can be choosen:

USB key: The standard size, it is plugged in the USB port of the computer.

USB key: The minimal size, it is plugged in the USB port of the computer.

Caution: This key type is functional since version Pm8.2.16 and Pm8.3.17.

USB key: Connected to USB port on motherboard.

Caution: This key type is functional since version Pm8.3.8.

According to the licence content we distinguish 2 types of PROMOTIC licence keys:

- Development licence key. It is supplied together with the PROMOTIC development environment (at a price of the PmDevProf licence) Without the development licence key the PROMOTIC development environment runs in the PmFree mode.

- Runtime licence key. It is used as a PROMOTIC runtime licence carrier. With such key the application can be edited or modified only if the licence key contains the PmDevForRt licence (since version Pm7.3.1).

Other licences can be added into the runtime HW Key any time. This can be done either by "overburning" the HW Key (i.e. the key has to be conveyed) or by sending the file (e.g. by email) with the content of new licence, see Licence file SWK extending the content of licence key.

Upgrade HwKey

The licences contained in the HW Key can later be extended easily by:

- Licence file SWK extending the content of licence key or

- Remote modification of HW Key content

hinstall.exe - HW Key driver

For the correct behavior of the HW Key it is necessary to set parameters that can be changed by the hinstall.exe program (it can be launched from the command line) that is located in the \Promotic\Tools\HwKey folder.
The PROMOTIC installation program sets these parameters automatically but in special cases it is possible to change the parameters by the user.
Caution in Windows OS Vista, 7, Server 2008 it is necessary to run as Administrator

The basic commands of the program:

>\Promotic\Tools\HwKey\hinstall -i .. Install HW Key driver

>\Promotic\Tools\HwKey\hinstall -r .. Removes HW Key driver

>\Promotic\Tools\HwKey\hinstall -h .. Displays next possible commands

>\Promotic\Tools\HwKey\hinstall -info .. Statement of the installation state (version, priority for searching the key, etc.)

Known problems during the installation of the HW Key driver

- Problem connected with running the PROMOTIC application on Windows OS servers and virtual machines.
Although it seems the installation of the driver on this OS is completed successfully, the application cannot be lauched due to the inaccessibility of the licence. See:

- PROMOTIC system and Windows remote desktop (RDP)

- PROMOTIC system and virtual computers

- PmLicServer

- PmRtManager - Manager of running apps

- In the terminal service client process (remote desktop) it is not possible to access the HW Key driver.
The reason is insufficient permissions of the logged-in user client for computer hardware access. This also concerns the driver that is used for HW Key access.
The PROMOTIC system cannot be installed in this mode.

Compatibility table Windows OS and PROMOTIC version

The following overview indicates the compatibility of PROMOTIC version with Windows OS version. Installation of HW Key drivers is a part of the PROMOTIC system installation. This way the application can accesss the content of the HW Key via the driver. There may be problems if an older PROMOTIC version is installed on a new Windows OS that was not known at the time the PROMOTIC version was released.

PROMOTIC	98, ME	XP	XP embed	Vista, Server 2003	7, 7 embed	10, 11	Server 2008 - 2022
	32/64-bit Windows OS
version <= 6(SP14f)	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-	-	-
version <= 7.3.8	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-	-	-
version >= 7.3.9	-	Yes	Yes	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)
version <= 8.0.13	-	Yes	Yes (**)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)
version <= 8.1.13	-	Yes	Yes (**)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)	Yes (*)
version <= 8.2.23	-	Yes	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)
version <= 8.3.25	-	Yes (^)	Yes (^)(**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)
version >= 8.3.25	-	Yes (***)	Yes (***)	Yes (***)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)
version >= 9.0.0	-	-	-	(***)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)	Yes (**)

(*) = only with new HW Key driver - Driver HASP
(**) = Windows OS may require newer version of HW Key driver - Driver HASP
(***) = Installed PROMOTIC version contains the installer of the HW Key driver that is not compatible with this version of the Windows OS. It is necessary to (manually) install an older version of the driver. - Driver HASP
(^) = The installation may require higher version of Windows installer - Windows Installer

Recommendation:
If the older version of the PROMOTIC system is installed on newer Windows OS and the HW Key driver provided with PROMOTIC is not functional, then:

- Abort the current installation by closing the error window.

- Download installation file of current driver Driver HASP and follow the installation steps indicated in the manual.

The version of installed driver can be identified by running the HW Key driver installer with the -info parameter. For example: hinstall.exe -info.
Running the installer of HW Key driver with the -? parameter, for example: hinstall.exe -? will indicate the version of the driver that is contained in such installer.