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HASP dongles and licenses

Trial Licenses

Your distributor can provide you with a dBSea trial license. If dBSea opens without a valid HASP dongle connected, it will request a trial license file. Choose the file, and dBSea will import the license and be available in trial mode until the trial period is over, or a valid HASP dongle is connected.

Trial mode allows full use of dBSea; however, export of levels or bathymetry is disabled. In addition, exported images will have an overlaid watermark.

Projects created and saved in the trial version of dBSea can be opened in the full version, so if you start working on a project and then decide to purchase the full version, your work will carry over.

HASP Dongles

The full version of dBSea is secured using Sentinel HASP licensing. Your HASP dongle will be sent to you by your distributor when you purchase dBSea. The first time you insert the dongle, it will install the required drivers, which may take some time. If the driver install fails, drivers may be downloaded from Safenet. Once the drivers are installed, your HASP dongle will be ready to use whenever inserted.

To use dBSea on a different computer, simply install dBSea and insert the HASP dongle as before.

Demo Version

If neither a HASP dongle nor a trial license is found, dBSea will open in demo mode. In this mode, import and export functions are disabled, as are opening and saving of projects. Other functions are activated, so you will be able to explore the program, work on, and solve problems using the default bathymetry.

Upgrading a legacy key

Existing HASP keys and soft licenses still work — no changes needed unless you're upgrading to 2.x for the first time.

If you're using a HASP key with dBSea 2.x:

  1. Open dBSea, go to Tools → Generate C2V
  2. Send the generated file to the dBSea support team
  3. We’ll update your key for compatibility

Time-limited soft keys

These are usable on the machine they were specified for.

  1. Open dBSea full version, clicking “No” to the prompt asking for a trial licence. dBSea will now start in demo mode. If you are currently running dBSea with a trial licence, just start dBSea as normal.
  2. Go to “Help” → “About” and click on the button “Copy system ID to clipboard”
  3. Send an email to your distributor containing your contact information as well as the system ID.
  4. Upon receiving your machine licence, save it on your machine (not in a network folder).
  5. If you are currently using a Trial Licence to run dBSea, you will have to move that licence to a different location, as dBSea will continue to use that licence until expired or removed.
  6. When starting dBSea, you will be prompted for a Licence or HASP key. Navigate to where your full licence was saved and choose it. dBSea will create an entry in your local registry and use this key until it expires.

Note: - If you already have a HASP key, dBSea will ignore that unless the soft licence is out of date. - The soft licence will only work on the machine it was made for.

.c2v tool

Export/get the .c2v file from your key

This will only work for dbSea version 2.0 and onwards. Open dBSea, go to Tools → Generate C2V

If this approach does not work – Some network configurations and pre version 2.0 won’t work as above – (download the dBSea c2v tool)[https://www.dbsea.co.uk/media/27560/dBSea-c2v-tool.exe]

Using the dbSea c2v tool

The dBSea c2v tool is a standalone application that will export from, or apply a licence file to your HASP key – it works for most remote scenarios as well.

To export your licence file open the “dBSea c2v tool” and see that the “Collect Key Status Information” tab is selected. Then press “Collect Information”. A save file dialog will ask you where to save the file.

To apply a licence to your key select the “Apply License Update” tab, locate your updated c2v file by clicking the “…” button and using the load file dialog. “Apply Update” will transfer the c2v onto your HASP key.

If neither of the two approaches above work, please try both procedures on the computer directly connected to the HASP key.

Troubleshooting

Occasionally, there can be problems with installation of a trial license or using the HASP dongle. In most cases, these can be solved by uninstalling and reinstalling dBSea. If dBSea will not open after this step, please contact your distributor, quoting any error messages displayed, including the error code (e.g. "1160: License file could not be decoded").

Users who are experiencing trouble using HASP keys can manually install the HASP driver (stable version)

[Alternate HASP driver] (https://www.dbsea.co.uk/media/40848/HASPUserSetup20221027.exe)

For network keys, sometimes manual specification of IP addresses is necessary. The network HASP Key can be situated on a computer outside the subnet range of the local client machines accessing the HASP Key. However, the IP address of the remote computer with the HASP key must be manually entered on the client machines using the HASP License Manager as follows:

  1. On each of the client machines, type http://localhost:1947 in the address bar of a web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Mozilla) on the local machine that is to access the HASP key located on a different subnet. This starts the HASP License Manager interface.
  2. Click the Configuration tab on the left-hand side menu.
  3. Select the Access to Remote License Managers tab across the top of the window.
  4. Click the box next to Aggressive Search for Remote Licenses.
  5. In the clear window next to Remote License Search Parameters, type in the IP address of the server that holds the HASP key and press the Submit button.
  6. Click the Sentinel Keys button on the left-hand side menu and wait for the remote HASP key to appear in the list of keys.
  7. It may take some time, but the remote HASP key should be found within 2 minutes.
  8. Once the HASP key appears in the list, you will be able to run dBSea.
  9. You only have to do this setup once, as the settings are stored in the HASP License Manager on the local machine when the browser is closed.

If this search fails, it's likely you do not have access to the computer with the HASP key. To confirm this, open a Command Prompt, then press 'Windows-button' + 'R', type cmd, and hit "Enter". Type either ping or tracert followed by a space and the IP address of the machine with the key. If the above does not return either "reply" or "trace complete", your machine is not connected to the requested IP. A firewall, faulty network setup, or hardware issues (e.g., not connected cables) could be the cause.