O-charts different device when un-docking

[Benjamin78]

I recently set up openCPN and O-charts on my laptop at home...all very good and all went well until...I undocked my laptop from it's USB c dock .

The charts disappeared and in short, it's telling me I'm using a different device and is sending me down the route of using another licence.

I've got two monitors, a keyboard, LAN, trackerball and some other standard peripherals connected to the dock and I don't particularly want to bring them with me on the boat!

When I re-dock the charts work fine.

I'm using a recent flavour of Ubuntu.

I'm wondering if anyone has had the same problem or if anyone can think of a work around?

I've reached out to O-charts but I guess they're a bit busy at the moment.

Thankings!

Ben.

 

[greeny]

Are the O charts stored on the laptop hard drive?

 

[Benjamin78]

Yes mate, they are stored on the harddrive.

I've noodled around a little more by removing all the peripherals/monitor connections from the usb c dock and it all works ok...but as soon as I pull out the usb c dock things go sideways.

The dock is only around 2 by 4 inches in size so at a push I can just bring the dock with me..not a show stopper just feels a bit daft.

As an extra piece of information, I've got a spare usb c dock of the exact same type and spec... using that one instead still causes the same issue .

I'll keep digging.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Check your network interface MAC address when docked & undocked in network settings. The license checker may be using a MAC address to identify the machine it's on. It might be changing or the one it's using disappears when undocked. Does the dock have a wired ethernet connection?

 

[Forty_Two]

Buy one of their usb Dongles & allocate your second licence to it. You will not regret it.

Its a one time purchase & removes all the hardware change issues in the future.

 

[Benjamin78]

Check your network interface MAC address when docked & undocked in network settings. The license checker may be using a MAC address to identify the machine it's on. It might be changing or the one it's using disappears when undocked. Does the dock have a wired ethernet connection?

Angus...you're bang on the money!

Yes, my Ethernet connection is via the dock and it would appear your hypothesis is correct...to prove this I did the following:

1. looked up the mac address for my usb dock using the command "ip addr show" in the terminal
2. copied the mac address
3. went into my network settings and pasted it into the "cloned mac address" field (it was empty before) on my wired LAN connection
4. unplugged the dock and connected my other same spec dock
5. fired up OpenCPN and disco...it worked no problem
6. I then deleted the cloned mac address and it stopped working thinking it was using a different machine

Sadly when I try to repeat this with my wireless network settings it still has a hissy fit so I'm guessing that it needs to be BOTH the same mac address AND network hardware.

I will mention this to O-Charts and hopefully they may add some kind of warning to their instructions.

In the short term I can just bring my usb dock with me...and for the long term I have just ordered one of their dongles.

Regardless of this issue I still rate O-charts for sure and this hasn't put me off using them or recommending them.

Thank you for taking the time to share with me your helpful suggestion Angus, much appreciated indeed.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ben.

 

[Benjamin78]

Buy one of their usb Dongles & allocate your second licence to it. You will not regret it.

Its a one time purchase & removes all the hardware change issues in the future.

I have just taken your advice and purchased said dongle!

Thank you for the recommendation and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ben

 

[Metalicmike]

They are not expensive, I have four licenses, home PC, laptop, 2 x Raspberry Pi 4s with Open plotter.