TSCAL and XP Embedded

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hello,

we are using HP T5700 Thin Clients which run XP Embedded.

I've the following questions about the Terminal Server CAL:

- when I look at the issued licenses in the Terminal Service Licensing
program none of the thin clients are listed under Existing, Tempory or
issued CALS. Though the clients can access the Terminal Servers
without any problems.

- We've purchased the TS CALS quite some time ago (we worked with
normal PC's then). Now that we have the HP Thin Clients with XP
Embedded, do we still needs thos CALS or are they built into XP
Embedded (and that's why they are not listed under the License Utility
?).

The server which runs the terminal services licensing is running W2K
with SP4.

Franc.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Only W2K Pro and XP Pro get a free license, so you still need TS
CALs for those thin clients.
Have you checked the EventLog on the TS to see if there are any
EventID 1004 ("cannot issue license") or EventID 1010 ("cannot
locate LS") messages?
Do you have any other clients (normal PCs) left? If so, are their
licenses listed in the TS Licensing Manager?

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hi,

no errors are listed on the TS Servers, the Thin Clients or the
License Servers. We do still have some other thin clients (Eizo's) and
normal PC's and their licenses are listed, issued and renewed in the
license manager. So the License server is working. Only the licenses
for the HP Thin Clients aren't issued. Not even temporary licenses. We
installed those clients at the end of july, I'm a bit worried that
when the 90 day grace period expires they can't connect anymore,
however, reading the documentation this only occurs with temporary
licenses, but even those aren't issued to the Thin Clients.

Franc.

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hello,

I've also read KB 319555, but I think that doesn't apply since the
devices are running XP Embedded SP1 and even built-in licenses aren't
issued. Furthermore all server are running W2K SP3 or greater.

Franc.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Strange.
The only scenario that I can think of that would explain this
behaviour is when the thin clients have connected previously to
another TS, and received a full TS CAL from another LS. Could this
be the case?

If you want, you could try to test this by updating the firmware
on one client or resetting it to the factory settings (thereby
erasing any licensing information that it might contain). After
that, it should get a temporary license on first connection and a
permanent TS CAL (with an expiration date) on the second
connection.
If it doesn't connect on the second attempt, you know that you
have a problem ;-) But it might be worthwhile to test this, rather
then wait until they all fail to connect on the same day.

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
--- please respond in newsgroup ---

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hi,

they were new clients, right out of the box so they weren't connected
to another TS previously. Unless HP doesn't something in their
factory.... I'll reflash a unit tomorrow and see what happens....

I'll let you know about the outcome.

Franc.

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

By the way,

any idea where I might find a permanent license in the registry ? So I
can check if it's already there.

Franc.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing

187614 - Removing Terminal Server Licenses from an RDP Client
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=187614

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
--- please respond in newsgroup ---

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hi,

just checked it. There is indeed a license listed under this registry
key. When I look at the data in the ClientLicense key, the name of the
TS License server is listed there. Very strange that the license
itself is not listed under issued licenses on that server.

Franc.

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hi,

I've deleted the license from the Thin Client, rebooted it and now it
get a built-in license and it's listed in the license manager...

Also I've exported the old license before removing it and compared it
with the new issued license. The format of the old license is very
different than the new one. The new one contains much more binary data
the old one.

Very weird...

Franc.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Sounds to me as if the thin clients indeed *did* connect to a LS
and got a license before they were shipped to you. Maybe part of
the testing process in the factory?

But you write that they now get a build-in license?
Then you'd better start keeping a paper record to avoid violating
the EULA. These clients should not get a build-in (Existing
Windows 2000) TS CAL! Seems like you still have the situation from
KB 319555.

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
--- please respond in newsgroup ---

 

[Franc v/d Westelaken]

Hi,

well the license that exists on the Thin Client is clearly from our
server the the name of the server is listed. Somehow, the license was
issued by our license server, but it didn't register it on it for some
reason. After deleting the license it get a new license that look very
different than the one issued before...

About the built in licenses: all citrix servers are running W2K SP3
(haven't installed SP4 because of the known problems). The license
server itself is running SP4. In the KB products affected are W2K SP2.
I don't know why we are still experiencing the issue though.

Franc.

 

[Morgan Nec]

I had the same experience with some Wyse WinTerm 3200LE.
The problem was that during testing, I had these thin
clients connect to a server where the licensing was local.
Then, when I switched to a new licensing server, the thin
clients refused to drop the old license for the new one.
The only thing I could do was reset the default settings.
They have blurbs about it on the Wyse site, but it
basically says to do the same thing.

Morgan Nec
Network Design Analyst
KHPC