Advanced Troubleshooting for License Manager Errors (Rhino 3 and 4)

See also Resolving “Unable to Communicate with License Manager” Errors.

Problem

When you run either Rhino 3.0 or Rhino 4.0, you receive an “unable to communicate with license manager” error message.

Cause

Rhino cannot communicate with its license manager module. This can happen in both standalone and workgroup node installations, and has one of these causes:

• Missing license manager files.
• Missing Windows System Registry entries.
• Missing runtime library support files.
• An errant license manager that is still running.
• A Windows Registry security issue.

Solution 1: Get the Most Current Service Release

Download the current service release.

A conflict with User Account Control can also cause this error when running Rhino 4 under Vista or Windows 7. Right-click the Rhino 4 icon and select Run as administrator. If this solves the problem, download and install Rhino 4 Service Release 7.

Solution 2: Missing License Manager Files

On English-language versions of Rhino, the license management modules are located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\McNeel Shared\License Manager.

Rhino 3.0 and Rhino 4.0 use different license management modules: Rhino 3.0 uses McNeelLM.exe, and Rhino 4.0 uses RhinoLM.exe. If the module for your version of Rhino is missing, reinstall Rhino from your CD.

RhinoLM is also used by plugins that run in both Rhino 4 and Rhino 5, such as Flamingo 2, Flamingo nXt, and Bongo 1.0/2.0.

Solution 3: Uninstall and Reinstall

If the license manager files or registry keys are missing, do a clean uninstall and reinstall:

1. Log in as the Administrator or an equivalent user.
2. Disable virus detectors and anti-spyware agents.
3. Uninstall Rhino and clean the system.
4. After uninstalling, navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\McNeel Shared and delete the License Manager subfolder.
5. Restart the computer.
6. Reinstall Rhino 4 using the product CD, then download and install the current service release if necessary.

Solution 4: Missing Windows System Registry Entries

If the license manager module is present but not registered, the Windows Registry may be missing the information Rhino needs to find it:

1. Log in as the Administrator or an equivalent user, and disable virus detectors and anti-spyware agents.
2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\McNeel Shared\License Manager.

Rhino 3.0

If the error occurs when running Rhino 3.0:

1. Download and unzip the Register_McNeelLM.bat batch file into the same folder as McNeelLM.exe.
2. Double-click the batch file to run it. On Windows Vista, right-click it and select Run as administrator.

The batch file echoes the results to the command line. To confirm this fixed the problem, run Rhino 3.0.

Rhino 4 and 5

If the error occurs when running Rhino 4.0, or when running Flamingo or Bongo in Rhino 5:

1. Download and unzip the Register_RhinoLM.bat batch file into the same folder as RhinoLM.exe.
2. Double-click the batch file to run it. On Windows Vista, right-click it and select Run as administrator.

The batch file echoes the results to the command line. To confirm this fixed the problem, run Rhino.

Alternatively, to reinstall RhinoLM without reinstalling Rhino 4, download, unzip, and run rhinolm_20110309_x86.exe from the rhinolm_20110309.zip file. You must have rights to modify the registry to run it.

Solution 5: Missing Runtime Library Support Files

If the batch file returns an error, download and install the latest Microsoft runtime libraries and try again.

Solution 6: An Errant License Manager Is Running

Restart the computer. Even if the steps above worked, an errant license manager that is still running can keep causing the error.

Solution 7: Comodo Internet Security Is Blocking COM

Comodo Internet Security can block COM interprocess communication between Rhino and the license manager. If you have Comodo running, disable this block:

1. Open Comodo Internet Security settings.
2. Click Defense+ Settings.
3. Click the Monitor Settings tab.
4. Uncheck Protected COM Interfaces.
5. Click OK to exit the dialog.

Rhino 4 should now run properly.

Solution 8: Windows Vista Registry Security Issue

If the license manager module is present and registered, you might not have enough rights to read the Windows Registry.

Run Regedit.exe and find the RhinoLicenseManager.RhinoLicense key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT:

1. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes.
2. Right-click the Classes key, then click Permissions.
3. On the Security tab, check that Group or User Names lists at least four permission entries. The error is sometimes caused by missing permissions on the Classes registry key.

If, and only if, permissions are missing, add them:

1. Click Add, type Creator Owner, click OK, select it, and clear all checkboxes in the Allow column.
2. Click Add, type SYSTEM, click OK, select it, and select Full Control in the Allow column.
3. Click Add, type Administrators, click OK, select it, and select Full Control in the Allow column.
4. Click Add, type Users, click OK, select it, and select Read in the Allow column.
5. Click Advanced, then in the Advanced Security Settings for Classes dialog, select Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object and Include inheritable permissions from this object’s parent.
6. Click OK. This may take several minutes.
7. In the Permissions for Classes dialog, click OK.

If these steps don’t work, run RegEdit as the System account using PsExec. Download PsExec, and then run PsExec -i -d -s c:\windows\regedit.exe.

You should now be able to run Rhino and communicate with the license manager.

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