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Dialogic® Host Media Processing (HMP) Software

Diagnosing Dialogic® Host Media Processing (HMP) Software Licensing Failures


This tech note looks at the 5 most common reasons that Dialogic HMP Software Licensing and Services Startup fail and how to diagnose them.

Problem Description

Obtaining a Dialogic HMP license, and then using the generated license to start Dialogic system services is a
reasonably well documented and straightforward procedure. Nonetheless, errors do happen, and it is not
always easy to diagnose what went wrong.


Solution Summary

This tech note outlines five of the most common scenarios where Dialogic HMP licensing and subsequent system startup
fail. It tells you how to recognize the symptoms of the failures, and how to fix the problem and get your
system up and running.


Technical Discussion

Incorrect MAC Address

There are a number of ways to end up with a Dialogic HMP license that was generated using an incorrect MAC address:

When generating a license tied to a server - i.e. no Dialogic HMP enabled board (HEB) is present, an incorrect MAC address can be entered either
- by missing a digit or two when entering MAC address
- by mistakenly using a Dialogic HMP license generated foranother system
- by changing a NIC cards on a system. Each card will have its own unique MAC address

This will not be obvious during license activation with the Dialogic HMP License Manager, nor in restoring device
defaults using DCM. Only when the system services are started will an error be generated. Fortunately, it
is a reasonably clear error:

General fault: MC_ERROR_FEATURE_QUERYCHECKOUT: Failed to get the list of features from the License Manager
Board Number: 0
Processor: 0
Instance: 0
Additional Data: FlexLM Function 'lc_checkout()' returned error: (-9) Invalid host.
The hostid of this system does not match the hostid specified in the license file.
Feature: Multimedia
Hostid: 000423afb2c7
License path: C:\Documents and Settings\jgherman\Desktop\BadMac_6r6v6e6c6s2f6 -
i6m_host_pur.lic
FLEXnet Licensing error:-9,57
For further information, refer to the FLEXnet Licensing End User Guide, available at "www.macrovision.com".

Expired Evaluation License

There is free evaluation license available for Dialogic HMP that provides 4 ports of all features. The Dialogic HMP Release
3.0 Administration Guide, p. 14, states that is is valid for 45 days. While that is true when a new evaluation
license is first posted, the license may not be not updated until a few weeks before it expires. So, it can
reach its expiration date before the user is aware that it has expired.

Starting DCM with an expired license exhibits leaves a clear error in the system event viewer:

General fault: MC_ERROR_FEATURE_QUERYCHECKOUT: Failed to get the list of features from the License Manager
Board Number: 0
Processor: 0
Instance: 0
Additional Data: FlexLM Function 'lc_checkout()' returned error: (-10) Feature has expired.
Feature: Multimedia
Expire date: 07-may-2007
License path: C:\Documents and Settings\jgherman\Desktop\4r4v4e4c4s4f4i4m_host_eva.lic
FLEXnet Licensing error:-10,32
For further information, refer to the FLEXnet Licensing End User Guide, available at "www.macrovision.com".

If the expiration date is suspect, it is easy enough to read in the license file. Simply open it with
Wordpad. An expiration date will be seen for each feature:

FEATURE MultiMedia INTEL 3.0 07-feb-2007 4
VENDOR_STRING=LIC_TYPE=Evaluation,APP=HMP,HOSTID=3000000000000
TS_OK SIGN=DF3CBAE6315A

System IP Address Change

In the Dialogic HMP Release 3.0 Administration Guide, p. 36, it states that the system must be rebooted when an IP
address on a system NIC is changed. A system admin may explicitly change a server's address, but this could
also happen if a DHCP lease runs out, and the system is assigned a new address. In either case, follow this
advice!

If an address is changed when the system services are running, the default IP Address in DCM is updated, and
the services will remain up. However, Dialogic R4 devices will not open when an application is run. If
system services are stoppped and started with DCM, the behavior is undefined. Errors may or may not occur.
Services may hand starting or stopping.

Reboot the system after an IP address change, and check that the HMP default IP address on DCM is set to the
expected address. (DCM - double click HMP_Software, choose Default IP Address tab)


Relocated License File
When a license is initally configured into a Dialogic HMP system, the location of the license file must be given.
At this point the license is not read - only its location is recorded. Each time the Dialogic services are
started, the license file is consulted.

So, if the file is inadvertantly moved, system startup will fail. Unfortunatley there is no clear error
that says "Cannot find license file".

Here are the symptoms:

DCM returns quickly with a pop-up error window that says "Error in starting Dialogic product service".
The system event viewer (reachable through DCM) contains these errors:

<DSS> RunProgsInKey : CreateProcess FATAL ERROR : ServiceControl dlgcstart dm3config -tDLGCDM3
<DSS> RunProgsInKey : ServiceControl dlgcstart dm3config -tDLGCDM3 returned fatal error

"<DSS> RunProgInsKey" usually indicates a licensing problem. Verification of a missing license file is seen
when the Dialogic HMP License Manager is opened. The original location of the file is still displayed, but the all
of the License Details and Feature Details are blank. The error "Error displaying license details" is seen
in the Status box. Returning the file to its expected location will remedy the problem. Alternately,
reactivate the license at its new location and do a "Restore Device Defaults" in DCM.


Mismatched Board-based Serial Number Key

When a license is generated using the "Lock to Board" option, the serial number of a Dialogic DNI or Dialogic DSI board is used to generate the license file. A mistake could be made in keying in the serial number or the board tied to the license may not present in the system. In either case, license failure is the result.

The error in the Event Viewer when this happens is fairly informative:
General fault: MC_ERROR_FEATURE_QUERYCHECKOUT: Failed to get the list of features from the License Manager 
Board Number: 0 
Processor: 0 
Instance: 0 
Additional Data: FlexLM Function 'lc_checkout()' returned error: (-9) Invalid host. 
The hostid of this system does not match the hostid specified in the license file. 
Feature: Multimedia 
Hostid: HEB=D85F6C350A3D6E67 
License path: D:\HMPLicenses\NB000677_120r120v120e120c120s10f120i60m_hib_pur.lic 
FLEXnet Licensing error:-9,57

However, "The hostid of this system" actually means "board serial number".

At this point (late March 2007) there is no way to verify the board serial number used to generate the
license keys. This may be added in future releases.

Here is the Voice license component from a Dialogic HMP license file:
FEATURE Voice INTEL 3.0 permanent 120 
VENDOR_STRING=LIC_TYPE=Purchased,APP=HMP,HOSTID=21686017531F798C0 
HOSTID=HEB=1686017531F798C0 vendor_info=Vendor_Info TS_OK 
SIGN=12AF228C9C5C

They keys in each feature have been generated using the serial number, but it has been encrypted and is not
readable.

A recommended workaround is to use the board's serial number as part of the name for the license file.
There is no reason that the default name, which enumerates the features selected and the type of license it
contains, must be used when the file is downloaded and saved. So, for a serial number of NB000676, prepend
the serial number to the license file name: 
NB000676_120r120v120e120c0s6f120i6m_hib_pur.lic

It can then be easily matched up against the serial numbers of the board(s) in a system using DCM. (Double
click on board, choose Physical tab, scroll down to Serial Number)


Product List
Dialogic Host Media Processing (HMP) Software 3.0. Service Update 103 or greater.


Related Documentation

Manuals page

Glossary of Acronyms/Terms
DCM     Dialogic Configuration Manager
DHCP     Dynamic Host Control Protocol
HEB     HMP Enabled Board
HMP     Host Media Processing
NIC     Network Interface Card






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