Nice eLicense mess, any ideas?

[Redwolf]

Here is a nice puzzle and another reason why I don't like this kind of license scheme.

I want to brush off my CMSF, get Brits etc but my CMSF is installed on my old OS install. Up until recently I had everything running under Windows 2000, until some software or other made me upgrade to XP. So I have one harddrive with XP and one with Windows 2000. In the meantime I upgraded the graphics card to a GTX 240 and that's where the mess starts.

To unregister my old CMSF and modules installation I need to fire up the game to do so. So I connect the old Win2k drive (and yes I have a back in case the harddrive bites the dust). But the old NVidia drivers are incompatible with the new graphics card, so VGA graphics only. I cannot install new NVidia drivers since they are not compatible with Win2k. But CMSF requires working 3D drivers to start up, and without starting it up I can't give me license keys back.

Any ideas how to proceed?

[Schrullenhaft]

So when you launch the 'unlicense' links in your Start Menu group for CMSF, they require that you have more than the VGA drivers for the dialog box to come up ? What error do you specifically get when you do this ?

Is it possible to put in your old graphics card temporarily, if necessary, to complete the unlicensing ?

Since eLicense 'keys' on the hardware, we generally recommend that customers unlicense their games before making any of the following changes:

1) Reformatting the hard drive ('clean' OS reinstalls, etc.).

2) Reinstalling or Upgrading the OS.

3) Any major hardware changes, primarily any of the following: a new motherboard, a new CPU, a new video card (new non-boot hard drives should not be an issue).

4) Disposing/selling the computer or boot hard drive.

5) Uninstalling the game permanently from a computer.

Some of these changes radically alter the registry while others change the hardware 'signature' significantly enough that the eLicense system doesn't recognize that it is operating on the same computer.

If none of this works, then please submit a Helpdesk Ticket and provide your license key and we can 'reset' it to restore the potentially lost activation if you are unable to unlicense.

[Redwolf]

I don't have a start menu entry for CMSF, only a desktop item which calls the game itself.

Can you tell me which program in the cmsf folder to call with what arguments to unregister?

I thought your helpdesk only restores activations when both are lost?

[Redwolf]

OK, it's

"<path>\CM Shock Force.exe" -unlicense

it seems. This does come up without trying 3D graphics.

That unlicenses the base game and all modules all at once, right?

ETA: it is normal that the key has 33 characters?

[Schrullenhaft]

Most of the license keys should be 32-characters long (not counting any possible 'dashes').

The manual method you found will work with all of the modules, however you have to modify the shortcuts for the modules themselves (in my experience).

So I would suggest browsing to the modules folder:

'\Program Files\Battlefront\Combat Mission Shock Force\Modules'

and make 'shortcuts' for each of the executables there:

'CMSF Marines Module.exe'

'CMSF British Module.exe'

'CMSF NATO Module.exe'

Modify these shortcuts in the same manner as the Shock Force one you found, namely:

...\CMSF Marines Module.exe" -unlicense

Make this modification to each of the shortcuts. Now make sure that in that same '..\Modules' directory there is an 'elicen40.dll' and 'msvcr71.dll' file that will be necessary for the unlicensing process. You can find these files in the root of the game directory '\Program Files\Battlefront\Combat Mission Shock Force' (make sure to make COPIES... obvious, but you don't really want to move them accidentally).

I suggest unlicensing NATO first, British Forces second and then Marines last.

Now for the base game executable itself. If you installed a license key for it, you will probably find that when you execute the modified shortcut to unlicense it that is actually prompts to unlicense one of the modules instead. That's because the executable file has actually been replaced by one of the modules with a version that has code in it to support the modules. eLicense is not going to recognize that specific executable anymore as the base game that was originally licensed. To get around this you'll need to get an original executable in there to unlicense. To do this reinstall either the 1.31 or 1.21 patch and update ONLY the base game, none of the modules. Now run the shortcut to unlicense the base game and hopefully it should work and unlicense it.

If you intend on installing the modules with each installation of CMSF, then the base game itself does NOT need to be licensed anymore. What you would do is install the base game, possibly patch it to 1.10 and NOT RUN IT OR LICENSE IT. Then install one of the modules you have and THEN run CMSF and you should then be prompted to license the module, which in turn licenses the entire game. So the base game license key isn't necessary if you install any of the modules.

[Redwolf]

Hmmm, looks like this install only had Marines over the base game.

So what you are saying is that the executable is Marines anyway, the CMSF executable is gone and I can't unlicense it unless I reinstall CMSF (without modules) first?

[Moon]

You do not need to unlicense CMSF, because you do not need the CMSF key (ever again) if you have at least one module. That's because when you use a module key, it will always also activate the base game at the same time.

See Knowledge Base.

[Redwolf]

Sure, but somehow that's... well, odd. I understand I don't need it if I install the module but it still nukes the license key I had for the base game with no fault of my own.

I think you should change the module install process to save away a copy of all the previous executables, so that they can later be used to unlicense everything in the stack.

I might be able to retrieve one from a backup if I happen to have one from right between CMSF and Marines install.

[Moon]

It doesn't matter if the key is nuked because you will never need it again. The Knowlegdebase article I linked to provides a step by step guide for reinstalling, and as you see, after installing CMSF you don't need to activate it. Simply install a module and THEN activate both.

Saving away a copy of the executables doesn't make any difference for several reasons, including compatibility with non-Battlefront retail versions of the game.

Every key that does count (i.e. all the individual module keys) are preserved and can be unlicensed individually (or altogether when uninstalling), as you would expect, so this is the "unlicense everything in the stack" option you're looking for.

Martin

[Schrullenhaft]

For CMSF, once you install any of the modules the original 'CM Shock Force.exe' file is replaced with a version that supports the module. The module also requires its own executable (that gets called with the modified 'CM Shock Force.exe' file).

You do not need to reinstall CMSF to unlicense it (assuming you didn't uninstall it). To unlicense the CMSF license key (if you used it), you just need to apply either the 1.21 or 1.31 patch (AFTER unlicensing the Marines module first) and make sure that you select to patch only the BASE GAME (no modules). That then replaces your executable with one that eLicense will recognize as the one belonging to the license key it has for 'CM Shock Force.exe'. You should then be able to unlicense the base game if you so desire.

[Redwolf]

It's what I figured I just wanted to clarify that if I would choose to install the base game without modules at a later time I could only do so if I went through the trouble of retrieving a non-modules executable now (before that OS install goes to hell).