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I recently removed RC24 and replaced it with the production version. When the production version requested the hardlock I inserted it into the USB port previously use for RC24. The application started fine, after awhile I received a waning notice that the key could not be found. If I remove the key and put it back the application would find it only to tell me later on 'key could not be found'.

Moving the key around to deference USB ports yielded the same results. I went to the web site and downloaded the latest hard key driver and installed it. But the results were the same intermittent problems with "key not found".

During the beta testing phase I never had a problem with the hardlock key.

Any ideas as to what to look for?

Hello Vincent,

You might want to check the new hardlock itself for some flaw with the four contacts? Maybe (with luck) it is just a piece of "schmeg" on them?

When you have the problems, does the red light blink out, or is there any other signs that it is having problems?

Hello Neil,

I checked the contacts as best as I could using a magnifyer as well as compared it against the beta version and version 11 all looks the same to me.

Each time I insert it, you hear the operating system (XP Professional) acknowledged it. The hardlock light is solid, no blinking. I have not noticed anything out the ordinary.

Vincent- I too am having the exact same problems as you have described. Did you ever find a solution? Techsupport doesn't seem too interested I'm afraid. Thanks. Sam

Hello Vincent and Sam,

Are you having random behavior. When starting DataCAD 12 it's OK, but later it stops to operate ?

Or it doesn't recognise the hardlock at all ?

Thanks,
Miguel

Miguel- For the most part this only happens during a dcad session. On occassion the hardlock has not been found at startup, but rarely.

Sam,

It's not normal this random behavior. Since the hardlock has no mobil pieces it should remain solid during all the use. DataCAD makes a check for its presence from time to time. Not permanently.
Could be a random interruption of the USB communication.

If you have another USB door this might fix the problem. Or may be if you have a colleague with DataCAD 12, to exchange temporarily the keys, you could verify consistency.

HTH,
Miguel

I have a USB hard driver enclosure & Creative Labs Zen Jukebox that sucks up all the USB bandwidth from my USB ports (controllers) and I would loose my hardlock through out the day. I ended up getting a Belkin Tetra Hub which manages the USB 2.0 bandwidth better and dedicates full 1.0, 1.1 speeds to USB devices like the hardlocks. It's worked great. From the Amazon Product Description:

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
What is TetraHub 4-Port Hub T4 Technology? TetraHub T4 (Turbo Transaction Translator Technology) provides you with the best of USB 2.0 and 1.1 technology in one solution! What is the difference between the standard USB 2.0 hub and the Belkin TetraHub Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub? The TetraHub provides 480 Mbps for all your Hi-Speed USB 2.0 devices such as Hi-Speed USB 2.0 scanners and hard drives.
Unlike other USB 2.0 hubs, the TetraHub Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub also supplies a guaranteed 12 Mbps to each port so you can connect full-speed USB 1.1 products, like USB speakers and USB video-capture devices that require full bandwidth to operate. Traditional hubs share 12 Mbps bandwidth among all the ports.

Every once in a while, maybe once every few months I still might loose the hardlock when my blackberry is plugged in, but I think it has more to do with it's radio signal and some sort of interference, because it also disables my wireless mouse when too close. So anyway, maybe try unplugging large USB devices and see if that helps. If you don't have any, ignore this post

I am having the same problems as Vincent and Sam. This is extremely random. One day it happened over ten times and now it has not done it for a couple of days.
When it happens if I unplug it and then plug it back in it will "fix" the problem for a while and sometimes for the rest of the day. It happens the same on the laptop as well as the desktop. My laptop does not have anything else that would be using power from the usb.

We have the same problem too.

Hello,

Have you folks looked into a USB conflict, like Josh suggested?

Thank you all for responding to this issue. Please be sure to let Techsupport know that this issue does exist, as I have been trying to tell them for nearly a month now. As to USB conflicts, my IT guy gives me a clean bill of health. My system is brand new and state of the art I'm told so I'm of the opinion that this is a hardlock issue. Thanks all for helping to get this resolved as it sometimes can put a significant dent in one's day.

Hi Sam,

Even brand new systems can have USB issues -- sometimes more so, if the drivers for the USB on the motherboard might (easily) have bugs. Have you (or the IT folks) checked for USB/motherboard driver updates and/or newer BIOS, from the manufacturers webpage?

I've seen this several times lately with v11. My impression is that Windows XP sidelines a USB device that isn't being used or has been unused for a while. I notice it particularly when I have been doing other things on USB like transferring files from one USB drive to another. Whenever DataCAD doesn't find the hardlock, I notice that the light on the hardlock has gone out and to fix it, I pull it out and then reinsert it and everything is fine, until the next time, but for me it's no big deal.

Neil- Thank you for the advice. I'm not sure if IT specifically checked for USB/motherboard driver updates but he did download te hardlock driver from the 'Hardlock' people. I believe that this was the one that was ultimately installed and so far everything seems to be working fine. Saving on exit and reloading large files does take time and can be annoying to say the least. Thanks all.