Tackling Mentor Flexlm date rollback

[Santa]

I am, for the second time, victim of the dumb date protection
in Flexlm attacking you when it thinks the date has been changed
to some past value. This time, I was testing a NTP client and I
really had no way checking if the time would go back or forth when
it adjusts.


Mentor recognizes also that this protection is too much and badly
implemented but does nothing efficient to force Globetrotter to
remove that crap. :x

Mentor just tells you have to verify that you have no file with
dates belonging to the future that may be detected by flexlm.

I tried last time to find them but failed finding any file belonging
to the future and reinstalled the system. This time, I have enough.

Does anybody know :

- Which files are checked :?:
- If the flexlm starts again functioning once the system date gets
higher than the newest file in the system or if it stays blocked
forever. Does it need a reboot?

Thanks for helping. Shame on Mentor for their lack of support
in this issue. If Mentor forces you to use Globetrotter's crap,
it should also be responsible to find a solution. I didn't buy anything
from Globetrotter, only from Mentor, and it must work.

 

[redsk_y]

flexlm clock

I hope this helps:

Error Message: System clock has been set back

Comments: FLEXlm checks the dates of files in certain directories. If it finds files that have dates into the future, the license key will not work.

Resolution: Locate files that are dated into the future and delete them or change the date.

For Windows 2000
Open up Windows Explorer, click on the Tools Menu, Folder Options, View tab
Click "Show Hidden Files and Folders"
Uncheck "Hide Protected Operating System Files"
Click on Start, Search, Files or Folders.
Click "Search Options".
Click Date.
Click the"Between" button and choose today's date.
In the "and" text box choose a date several years into the future.
Click "Advanced Options".
Click "Search Subfolders".
Click "Search Now".

If you find files that are dated in the future you must determine if you need them, if not, delete the files. If they are Windows System files (and most likely they will be) you can download a shareware program that will assist you in changing file and folder dates.

There are several programs available. One program called Attribute Magic Pro and can be downloaded from: www.elwinsoft.com

 

[Santa]

flexlm system clock has been set back

Thanks for your suggestion.

Let me add one more cent worth info to this topic.

As expected, Flexlm went back to active as soon as the machine
time went past the most future date the system was set to.
In my case, since the problem came from a wild NTP time service,
this was limited to one day at most.

However, don't do as I did the first time i.e. open the PC clock
window to check the calendar of some future month or, worse,
some future year and click OK instead of CANCEL by mistake.
In that case, you would have to wait for month or years...

I will add one more word about this stupid Flexlm. It is very
interesting to see how Flexlm was made to detect when the
date was pushed back but to absolutely ignore when it is
pushed forward into the future to cancel a mistake. The least
Globetrotter should do is display a warning and ask for
confirmation when the date is set to some value in the the past.

 

[mlxsae]

flexlm+clock

I have had just the same situation as you with some Mentor tools
running on a FlexLM licensing system. Due a virus we had to change
the bios date to the future (bug of XP :lol: ). When restarting the system
back to the original date, FlexLM complained about system dates that
have been set back.

There are several tools on the web which can search for files
with a date newer then the one defined. The result is a huge list of
files and system files. The stupid part is that the date of the system files
wasn't changeable. :?

So after searching on the internet for several hours we gave up and just
re-installed our system. I don't think this is the best way, however it was
the fastest way to receive a working system!

As more and more software will use the FlexLM license systems, it would
be wise for globetrotter to remove this crap from their software. It
would prevent a lot of problems for system administrators and users of
the software.

 

[keen]

system clock setback detected flexlm

Ok boys,

do you have the solution whitch solve this crap ?
any suggestion, by mistake I turned clock in future too ..
o God, fix files to correct date doesn't help ..
heeeelpp ..

regards Keen

Added after 3 hours 38 minutes:

possible solution is ..

 

[dream_buyer]

system clock setback detected

Man the post is deleted or rearranged.. can you describe the possible solution here ?

 

[Azulykit]

system clock has been set back flexlm

I am having a similar problem with Ansoft HFSS version 11 and FlexLM.
They tried the date fix and I went looking for files dated in the future with no luck.

The Ansoft licensing specialists tell me that they cannot get a fix out of FlexLM and I am discouraged to see that this problem was raised in 2001 and there is still not a good solution.

I wish I could report that I had a solution. Ansoft is keeping me running with short term licensing and working on a solution but so far there is not a resolution in place.

 

[sinatra]

flexlm system clock setback detected

It is amazing that Globetroter is inspecting user's personal files the way they want and nothing happens.

I think there is room for people to get quite a lot of money by suing FlexLM/Globetrotter in Justice. The money gotten could go into millions of dollars!

I am pretty sure Globetroter has no right at all to inspect anything or any file from the computer where it is running without user knowledge.....

S.

 

[abionnnn]

Re: Flexlm Date rollback

This sometimes happens on license servers when someone clueless tries to service them.

Try getting them to run this command:

touch /tmp/stamp && find / -type f -newer /tmp/stamp -exec touch {} \; && rm -f /tmp/stamp

This will bring back the date of all files made after the current time.

Also if the above does not work, it means some symbols also need updating:

touch /tmp/stamp && find / -newer /tmp/stamp -exec touch {} \; && rm -f /tmp/stamp

You will get some error messages. Make sure it is only /proc files that are untouched by running this command:

touch /tmp/stamp && find / -newer /tmp/stamp -print && rm -f /tmp/stamp

 

[microwave_1960]

I have exact problem. By mistake I changed date. Is there any solution to that problem yet? Without re-installing the system.


Hoping for help,
microwave.

 

[Azulykit]

I do not know if there is a fix.

More to the point I have not seen the future time problem with Flexlm for quite some time. It looks like my earlier post was in the 2007 time frame. I have not fooled with the system clock, ever. So far the current versions have been running without a recurrence of time stamp problem.

I am not in love with the idea of software (Globetrotter, FlexLm and the like) inspecting other unrelated files on my computer. Like the earlier contributor stated, that feels like inappropriate behavior for a commercial provider. Particularly as it is done surreptitiously. ULA disclaimers aside, it feels inappropriate.