Activating Smart Notebook 11

[ReverentCreature]

Hi all. Ive been asked to give new teachers th activation details for Smart Notebook software so teachers can download the program from the support site and install it on their home computers. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not.

 

I believe we are licensed to do so but I just want to check what other schools have done before I go assuming its okay to do?

 

Thanks

[TimJing]

We deploy the software via Altiris. And the activation is done through the script.

[Michael]

I believe it is, as long as you own a Smart board (which I am sure your establishment does).

 

I can imagine they'll be a long queue of people wanting to download Smart Notebook 11. Apologies for the sarcasm, but it baffles me why companies like Smart and Promethean require you to activate products which are free and only work interactively with their products. What on earth is anyone else going to do with it?

[Steve21]

Because it works with other devices too, (Just mainly not promethean shock horror ) Played with it on a few random slates/iwbs before, just not as smooth as with their actual boards.

 

How many computers can I install SMART Notebook software on at my school?

You can install SMART Notebook software on an unlimited number of computers that your school owns and operates [section 2.2(a)]. It can also be installed on computers not controlled by the school as long as the user who controls the computer is associated with that school and the software isn’t being used on a competitor’s product.

 

 

Can I give my product key to all the students in my class so they can activate SMART Notebook software at home?

Yes, all students in your school may download SMART Notebook software on their home computers and activate it using the school product key. They’re entitled to use SMART Notebook at home for as long as they’re students at your school [section 2.2(a)].

 

 

aka yes you can install it for home use, as long as it's for people linked to your school

 

Steve

[TimJing]

I believe it is, as long as you own a Smart board (which I am sure your establishment does).

 

I can imagine they'll be a long queue of people wanting to download Smart Notebook 11. Apologies for the sarcasm, but it baffles me why companies like Smart and Promethean require you to activate products which are free and only work interactively with their products. What on earth is anyone else going to do with it?

 

 

No kidding, it's not like these are stand alone software(Office, autoCAD) where there is a mass of people looking to use their proprietary content.

[Michael]

Because it works with other devices too, (Just mainly not promethean shock horror ) Played with it on a few random slates/iwbs before, just not as smooth as with their actual boards.

 

It can't be that difficult to write in code to only work with official devices. It happens all the time and just think of the number of problems it would cut down when it comes to activating it...

[Steve21]

It can't be that difficult to write in code to only work with official devices. It happens all the time and just think of the number of problems it would cut down when it comes to activating it...

 

Personally I don't get what the issue with activating it is personally. You can do it all commandline/installer based anyway Unless it's changed anyway.

 

But meh Each to their own! In an ideal world it'd just do some magicary (Yes a real word!) and automatically activate when it detects a board/device.

 

Steve

[sted]

It can't be that difficult to write in code to only work with official devices. It happens all the time and just think of the number of problems it would cut down when it comes to activating it...

 

smart 11 i believe stamps stuff on docs if connected to a non smart interactive board

[TimJing]

Steve, We have about 24,000 so the activation issues needs to be resolved before the deployment. We have contacted Smart Technologies, hopefully this will be an easy fix.

[Steve21]

Steve, We have about 24,000 so the activation issues needs to be resolved before the deployment. We have contacted Smart Technologies, hopefully this will be an easy fix.

 

What issues? Not sure what the problem is...

 

You can activate it during install using the msi with commands.

 

Steve

[WithoutMotive]

We had a letter from SMART not so long ago regarding confusion surrounding licensing.

It cleared up the confusion and now we're distributing it with no worries. Yes, you are licensed for people to download for use at home. The license, however, doesn't cover connecting to a non-SMART board. If version 10 is already installed, it automatically picks up your license code, too.

[localzuk]

We had a letter from SMART not so long ago regarding confusion surrounding licensing.

It cleared up the confusion and now we're distributing it with no worries. Yes, you are licensed for people to download for use at home. The license, however, doesn't cover connecting to a non-SMART board. If version 10 is already installed, it automatically picks up your license code, too.

 

This may not be relevant, but I thought I'd add it. You can buy additional licenses for use on non-Smart equipment, called a 'SMART Notebook collaborative license'. So, if you want to use it on, say, a Microsoft Surface table thing, or a promethean board etc, you can buy one of these. SMART, through Steljes are running an amnesty at the moment and you can get these licenses for £459 each, usually £559.

[TimJing]

What issues? Not sure what the problem is...

 

You can activate it during install using the msi with commands.

 

Steve

 

Our issue right now is not being able to verify if the product is activated post deployment. Sure we can use another command line to activate the product when it's already supposed to be activated. But that doesnt make any sense unless their dev tells us thats the only work around.

[rcharris]

Could you help me out with the command line for full install install with activacation? We are newbies to Altiris and are haveing some issues getting stuff to work...

 

Thanks

[TimJing]

We ended up getting it to work without using the additional command lines in the installation guide.

 

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\SMART Technologies\

SMART Product Update\activationwizard.exe" --puid notebook_10a

--uipack notebook_10 --m=[Value] --v=1 --a [Optional flags] --pk

[Product key]

[Duke5A]

For the life of me I cannot get this infernal software to activate silently. I used the SMART Install Manager to generate an MSI for the Notebook software and everything works with the exception of the product key; it just seemingly ignores it. If I open the MST in Orca it clearly creates a new row in the property table named ISX_SERIALNUM with the value being the code I gave it. The ACTIVATE_LICENSE property is also set to 1. But after installing it when I open it up the activation dialog will open and won't even have the key in it.

 

So I moved on to trying to activate via the command line and it doesn't work either. It doesn't matter what argument I pass to the activator, it just quits without error as soon as I run it. I'm using this syntax:

 

"c:\Program Files\Common Files\SMART Technologies\SMART Product Update\activationwizard.exe" --puid clash_notebook --m=4 --v=1 --a --pk xx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx  -proxy=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8080 

 

This is the exact syntax as to what is called out for in the deployment guide. I'm positive I'm using the correct key too since it will activate correctly with it if I use GUI. I'm about ready to say forget it and go back to 10x. Any ideas guys?

[Duke5A]

I figured it out. On the install CD there is a number of folders and I originally went for the Windows folder in the root. Under that there is a separate folder containing MSI files for each of the different pieces of software. So I plucked out the Common Platform, Notebook, and Product Drivers MSI files and worked with those. The SMART Install Manager would open each one and let me create transform files for the install no problem. It's just when trying to use the Notebook MSI with one it wouldn't auto activate. It would install like it should with all the custom settings intact, just no activation.

 

So further up in this thread I read there was an all inclusive MSI that contained everything instead of it being broken down into separate ones for each piece. I also found it on the disc under \Administrators\Windows\Education Software Install. When I used that with the Install Manager everything worked including activation.