[License] Why isn't SketchUp Working Offline?

Hi,
I have single pro license.
My question:
Did I need to be always online to be able to use scetchup pro 2015.
If I am offline , sketchup want start , message "“license error”
Thank you

That shouldn’t be. Please contact support on this Help->Contact Us.

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@Barry

I’m seeing the same behavior.
Disable Ethernet Adapter > Start SketchUp Pro v15.1.105 > License Error … :worried:


I see the same license error message.
The standalone license needs an Internet connection ?
Not much use if you are using a laptop in the wilds, far away from wi-fi etc…

I am surprised that you have to be online to use SketchUp…

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You do not have to be online to use SketchUp. However, the new licensing system needs at least one network adapter to be enabled in order to identify the machine and authenticate the license. None of this requires an internet connection. You just cannot disable all network adapters. You can verify this on a computer with wired connection; if you unplug the ethernet cable (but otherwise leave the network adapter enabled), SketchUp will run successfully.

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That is unfortunate. Many people today have jobs that require the computer to be totally offline when related files are processed.

Anssi

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Thank you to all for very fast replay.
Bugra, i have two network adapters and i am enabling or disabling one who is wired, the other non wired is always disabled.
Tomorrow, i will enable non wired network and check, i am out of office now.
Regards

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The simple solution would perhaps be to keep the adapter on but disengage the cable. OK-it’s rather tedious and you get dust on your knees if you have a large workstation in a tower case fixed to the underside of your desk.

Anssi

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I confirm that if I disconnect from the network I will get the license error, but if I simply switch off the connection [while the network adapter remains open] then the license will be checked and load OK…

Why can’t SketchUp write the machine’s identifier to the Registry/plist as it is installed, and thereafter use that instead, so it is then irrespective of the state of being ‘online’ ?

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If this wired adapter was disabled at the time you added your license to SketchUp, then its MAC address wouldn’t have been seen by the license so enabling that will not make a difference. You can however do this:

  • Remove your license
  • Enable the wired network adapter (you can keep the wireless adapter disabled)
  • Add the license back

Now you can keep the wired network adapter enabled but unplugged. SketchUp will not use the wireless adapter so you can enable/disable it as you wish and it won’t affect SketchUp’s license.

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We use a third party library which we didn’t write. They are security experts and presumably have reasons for doing things the way they do them. My wild guess would be that an ID written to the hard drive could be easily modified and by-passed.

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I don’t get the words “license error” but if I disconnect my network ports, I get this:

I expected to get that error. What I didn’t expect was that when I turned my wifi back on (but didn’t connect to a network), I got the same error dialog. As @bugra mentioned, I thought SU just checked the identity of the machine. I think what I tried was the same thing @TIG mentioned DID work on his machine. Mac v PC issue maybe why it did not work for me just now?

BUT this is all sort of strange because I think I have used SketchUp while not connected to a network… In fact I am positive that I have. I am tempted to walk out of my network’s range and see what happens. It would be more tempting if it was not freezing outside. I suppose it would be one thing if SU were running when the network goes away vs. starting up while not connected but again, I am almost positive I have been able to do that with SketchUp 2015.

For what it is worth, I manage an Adobe Creative Cloud team and while I don’t understand technically how it works I know the CC team members just need to have their computers check into the internet at least once a month for their CC apps to stay licensed to their machines.

m@

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@chamberz It seems you have a network license which does require an actual internet connection. I was really talking about single-user licenses, which do not require a connection.

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Ah, that sort of makes sense. I am guessing what I’ve done in the past is just kept SketchUp open going from a connected network to somewhere else, like a coffee shop.

EDIT: … or I checked out the license, which I just remembered was a feature with network licenses. Apparently the big red button is not big or red enough for me.

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Does not affect me SU 2014 free but, reading the SU 2015 release notes indicates approach has changed and is now handled in the cloud=> requires inter net access?? and probably menas you have ti have that enabled in the preferences??

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When will this be fixed? Looks like it’s been an issue forever. I was on my business flight and Sketch would not open at all because I had no Internet connection. To assume people have an Internet connection is wrong. Why do we even install the software if it’s really just a cloud app? Disappointing.

Just tried with no connection (single user Windows version SU2015 pro) and it still opens.

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Weird worked at my house when I turned off wifi on my macbook pro but did not work when I was on the airplane. Doesn’t make sense. It’s not an issue when I’m on the ground though. I’ll try next time I’m in mid-flight.

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the SUP standalone version/license needs acces to the NIC (because of MAC address) used during product activation for launching. Disabling (or power-saving) the according LAN/WLAN adapter will lead to the result described.

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I didn’t have a choice when I bought Sketch to chose a version.

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