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BobA's avatar
BobA
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8 months ago

Trouble licensing Questa Starter Edition

Hi,

I have Quartus Prime Lite 24.1std.0. I select Tools->Run Simulation Tool->RTL Simulation and get a Fatal License Error, Unable to checkout a license.

I've gotten a license file from Intel and set LM_LICENSE_FILE to point to it. When I run lmutil lmdiag, I get:

lmutil - Copyright (c) 1989-2022 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
FlexNet diagnostics on Fri 6/27/2025 12:15

-----------------------------------------------------
License file: C:\Users\Bob\AppData\Roaming\LR-240159_License.dat
-----------------------------------------------------
"intelqsimstarter" v2026.06, vendor: mgcld, expiry: 27-jun-2026
  vendor_string: D59A5B02
  uncounted nodelocked license, locked to ethernet address "10ffe03bda88"  starts: 27-jun-2025,   expires: 27-jun-2026

This is the correct node for this node-locked license
-----------------------------------------------------

In Quartus' Options dialog, under EDA Tool Options, the Questa Intel FPGA is set to c:/intelfpga_lite/24.1std/questa_fse/win64. There is a Questasim installation there.

What could be going wrong?

Thank you.

Simulation

10 Replies

  • BobA's avatar
    BobA
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    7 months ago

    Thank you. I added MGLS_LICENSE_FILE. Here's my environment:

    I still get the Fatal License Error when starting RTL Simulation:

    Here's what I see when I run lmutil lmdiag:

    C:\altera\13.0sp1\quartus\bin>lmutil lmdiag
lmutil - Copyright (c) 1989-2008 Acresso Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
FLEXnet diagnostics on Tue 7/15/2025 09:19

-----------------------------------------------------
License file: C:\Users\Bob\AppData\Roaming\LR-240159_License.dat
-----------------------------------------------------
"intelqsimstarter" v2026.06, vendor: mgcld
  uncounted nodelocked license, locked to ethernet address "10ffe03bda88"  starts: 27-jun-2025,   expires: 27-jun-2026

This is the correct node for this node-locked license
-----------------------------------------------------

C:\altera\13.0sp1\quartus\bin>
  • paveetirrasrie_Altera's avatar
    paveetirrasrie_Altera
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    7 months ago

    Hello Robert,


    Thank you for the update.

    I've noticed there's an error in QSYS_ROOTDIR path. Please help to fix the path and try again.


      • BobA's avatar
        BobA
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        7 months ago

        You mean because of the forward slashes? OK. I changed them to backslashes, re-started Quartus, and tried running the RTL simulator. I still got the Fatal License Error.

  • paveetirrasrie_Altera's avatar
    paveetirrasrie_Altera
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    7 months ago

    Thanks, Robert. Check the license file in a text editor. Kindly check the MAC address is similar to your current machine MAC address. If not, you should try regenerating it at the SSLC.


    Regards,

    Pavee


  • BobA's avatar
    BobA
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    7 months ago

    I have of course, several network interfaces and several MAC addresses. But my active ethernet connection's MAC address matches the one in the license file.

    lmutil says "This is the correct node for this node-locked license". Doesn't that mean the MAC addresses match?

    - Bob

  • paveetirrasrie_Altera's avatar
    paveetirrasrie_Altera
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    7 months ago

    Hey Bob,


    Thanks for the update.

    Kindly attach the license file DAT for me to debug further. You may email privately the attachment.


    Regards,

    Pavee


  • paveetirrasrie_Altera's avatar
    paveetirrasrie_Altera
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    7 months ago

    Hello Bob,


    You may delete the MGLS_LICENSE_FILE environment variable or update its value to point to your correct license path.

    It looks like Questa is currently using MGLS_LICENSE_FILE, but the path specified is invalid or does not exist.

    This is likely the root cause of the issue.


    The MGLS_LICENSE_FILE takes precedence over LM_LICENSE_FILE settings. Kindly let me know if this helps on resolving the issue.


    Regards,

    Pavee


    • BobA's avatar
      BobA
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      7 months ago

      I removed the MGLS_LICENSE_FILE environment variable, but I'm still getting the "Unable to checkout a license" error.