opencpn charts problem

[waimangu]

I use opencpn on a Ubuntu linux laptop and purchased a number of charts from www.o-charts.org and up until a few weeks ago I was very pleased with them.

I needed to upgrade Ubuntu linux from version 20.04 to 22.04 but the upgrade failed and I had to do a clean install of the new operating system. I had taken the precaution of taking a full backup before the upgrade and I restored all the chart files and even made sure to include the hidden .opencpn directory. On running opencpn, none of the charts could be accessed.

I sought assistance from opencpn (who also run o-charts) and their support person told me that a clean install invalidates that user from accessing the charts they have paid for. I was astonished and disappointed as it is a very common thing for people to upgrade hardware and reinstall software.

Surely it would not invalidate licence conditions to have the facility to log into their o-charts account, remove one user name and replace it with another - still the same number of licences would be in use. I made this point to the boss at opencpn and received a rather shirty and unhelpful reply saying they are bound by chart licences and their own "terms and conditions".

Having paid out £150 for charts, I can no longer use any of them! Has anyone else come across this problem and perhaps found a way to access the charts once more?

 

[Millenniumsteve]

Could you not download the 20.04 version do a clean install of that and then restore the backup you have?
Would also make sure their terms and conditions implicitly state that if you install on a fresh installation you lose access to the charts. Also if you paid by CC start a charge back with the card company as you have not got access to the items that you paid for.

 

[waimangu]

Could you not download the 20.04 version do a clean install of that and then restore the backup you have?
Would also make sure their terms and conditions implicitly state that if you install on a fresh installation you lose access to the charts. Also if you paid by CC start a charge back with the card company as you have not got access to the items that you paid for.

Thank you for your response. I do want to retain version 22.04 of Ubuntu as support for the older version will lapse at some point and I need a long term solution. I will try the credit card route you suggest - thanks - but the opencpn/o-charts people may say that it is stated in their terms and conditions. I have searched through the config and .xml files trying to see if I can edit the files and get it to work again, but no joy.

 

[Sandy]

I sought assistance from opencpn (who also run o-charts) and their support person told me that a clean install invalidates that user from accessing the charts they have paid for. I was astonished and disappointed as it is a very common thing for people to upgrade hardware and reinstall software.

Surely it would not invalidate licence conditions to have the facility to log into their o-charts account, remove one user name and replace it with another - still the same number of licences would be in use. I made this point to the boss at opencpn and received a rather shirty and unhelpful reply saying they are bound by chart licences and their own "terms and conditions".

Having paid out £150 for charts, I can no longer use any of them! Has anyone else come across this problem and perhaps found a way to access the charts once more?

Very unusual reaction from an 'open source' outfit. Things have changed since I retired.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Could you not download the 20.04 version do a clean install of that and then restore the backup you have?
Would also make sure their terms and conditions implicitly state that if you install on a fresh installation you lose access to the charts. Also if you paid by CC start a charge back with the card company as you have not got access to the items that you paid for.

"Explicitly"

 

[st599]

Very unusual reaction from an 'open source' outfit. Things have changed since I retired.

Presumably it's a condition of reselling the data.

Could you not download the 20.04 version do a clean install of that and then restore the backup you have?
Would also make sure their terms and conditions implicitly state that if you install on a fresh installation you lose access to the charts. Also if you paid by CC start a charge back with the card company as you have not got access to the items that you paid for.

It's explicit in the terms of the chart package, unfortunately:

• Once all the allowed assignments of a chart have been consumed, you will need to license the chart again if you want to install it on more devices.
• Once you assign a chart to a device, you cannot unassign if you have already requested charts.
• You create a "System Name" for your device and the 'o-charts' plugin gets some hardware and software elements to identify this device. If any of these elements changes, your device will be presented as a new one and you will lose one of the allowed assignments.
• Your license should survive any OS update, but if you reinstall your OS, you will lose one of the allowed assignments.

 

[Forty_Two]

To avoid this issue buy the usb dongle from them & install the licence onto the dongle. It's then portable to any linux box you chose to load Ocpn.

As they give you two licences, i install each on a seperate dongle (you need to buy their dongles) which gives me a backup. Have you allocated the second license?

They are tied to these limitations by the Hydrological Offices. It was the same when you could buy Admiralty raster charts, loose the dongle, re-buy all your charts.

 

[Hoolie]

That's the way to do it. I have one licence linked to my main on-board computer and the other to a dongle that can be used on any of my backup devices.
To be able to offer world wide charts at a budget price does involve a lot of concessions by the hydrographic offices and their pre-conditions have to be followed scrupulously by o-charts!
BTW the second licence is provided to cover exactly the sort of problem the OP has with his system.

 

[GHA]

I use opencpn on a Ubuntu linux laptop and purchased a number of charts from www.o-charts.org and up until a few weeks ago I was very pleased with them.

I needed to upgrade Ubuntu linux from version 20.04 to 22.04 but the upgrade failed and I had to do a clean install of the new operating system. I had taken the precaution of taking a full backup before the upgrade and I restored all the chart files and even made sure to include the hidden .opencpn directory. On running opencpn, none of the charts could be accessed.

I sought assistance from opencpn (who also run o-charts) and their support person told me that a clean install invalidates that user from accessing the charts they have paid for. I was astonished and disappointed as it is a very common thing for people to upgrade hardware and reinstall software.

Surely it would not invalidate licence conditions to have the facility to log into their o-charts account, remove one user name and replace it with another - still the same number of licences would be in use. I made this point to the boss at opencpn and received a rather shirty and unhelpful reply saying they are bound by chart licences and their own "terms and conditions".

Having paid out £150 for charts, I can no longer use any of them! Has anyone else come across this problem and perhaps found a way to access the charts once more?

O-charts ( a company with no links to opencn other than lots of collaboration) had to fight long and hard to get the various hydrographic departments to share the chart data, the licensing which ain't ideal was as good as they could get istr. You get to install on 2 machines, have you used both? If there's one assignment left then well worth getting a dongle.

 

[GHA]

Very unusual reaction from an 'open source' outfit. Things have changed since I retired.

Nothing to do with the software. It's all down to the hydrographic office requirements. Things haven't changed.

 

[WindyWindyWindy]

Very unusual reaction from an 'open source' outfit. Things have changed since I retired.

The charts aren't open source...

Can you install it to a VM? That way you could always run the VM on an up to date host.

 

[GHA]

Can you install it to a VM? That way you could always run the VM on an up to date host.

No - from the FAQs >>
Can I install charts on a Virtual Machine?
No, You can not. We have to prevent the system from being cloned.

 

[pessimist]

Maybe go back to your original version of Ubuntu and upgrade in place - clicky? Never tried it with Ubuntu but have done it a few times with Debian so I would guess it would be O.K.

 

[LadyInBed]

Maybe go back to your original version of Ubuntu and upgrade in place

Also it would confirm that the charts are still accessible in the original version before you try an upgrade.

 

[mattonthesea]

That's the way to do it. I have one licence linked to my main on-board computer and the other to a dongle that can be used on any of my backup devices.
To be able to offer world wide charts at a budget price does involve a lot of concessions by the hydrographic offices and their pre-conditions have to be followed scrupulously by o-charts!
BTW the second licence is provided to cover exactly the sort of problem the OP has with his system.

Me too