AutoCAD login prompt

[Chickenhawk72]

I work in IT support in a large college, supporting tutors who teach AutoCAD, so forgive me if I'm no familiar with aspects of day to day usage. Most of our CAD students are registered with Autodesk's education program and have downloaded and installed AutoCAD 2021, which they have been using successfully during the Autumn term. On returning to their studies this week many of the students are getting an Autodesk login/licensing box pop-up when they launch AutoCAD, see attachments.

 

Is anyone aware of any changes instigated by Autodesk that would cause this and how would the students resolve it?

 

(Please be aware that the UK is now on a national lockdown, so hands-on access is not possible)

[RobDraw]

With the sign in licensing it is necessary to login every 30 days(?).

[Chickenhawk72]

Is this a new requirement? Autodesk don't seem to like keeping educational users up to date with changes like this, we only find out when we hit a brick wall!!

[RobDraw]

New requirement? Not really. Instructions are given to when the license is obtained. I think it might be in there. If not, the information is out there. It's fairly common knowledge. Not sure how much more you want from Autodesk. Do they need to call and say, "You can read about it here."?

[BIGAL]

Did you go here Contact Us & Support For Education Community | Autodesk 

[Chickenhawk72]

15 hours ago, RobDraw said:

New requirement? Not really. Instructions are given to when the license is obtained. I think it might be in there. If not, the information is out there. It's fairly common knowledge. Not sure how much more you want from Autodesk. Do they need to call and say, "You can read about it here."?

I have never had any communication from them, not even when they moved from giving educators 3 year licences to only giving 1 year licences. Also the requirement for educator admin accounts (in our case a shared mailbox) to present proof that they are employed by the institution, something that will have to be done annually.

 

I think both of these are pretty important changes, which it would have been courteous of them to communicate out to educators. I only found out when I was trying to renew our licence for the current academic year.

[Chickenhawk72]

9 hours ago, BIGAL said:

Did you go here Contact Us & Support For Education Community | Autodesk 

Not yet, but then navigating their website is like wading through treacle....

[RobDraw]

Maybe something is wrong on your end. License administrators get emails regarding licensing. Also, the AKN is a wealth of knowledge. Knowing how to navigate such references should be essential for educators. One of my favorite teachers used to say it's not what you know, rather, it's knowing how to find what you need to know. So, when one avenue is too difficult, find another. A search with well chosen key words will get you the information you need. I'm actually surprised to hear you complain about not receiving anything from Autodesk. Everything you need to know should have been there with your licencing information and I would be surprised if it weren't.

[Chickenhawk72]

I never cease to find them a difficult company to communicate with, despite my protestations they are still treating our central admin account as a personal account, which is perhaps why I didn't receive the communication about the change in licensing methodology.

 

I have now spoken to somebody in an online chat and they said that students need to be logged in to validate the licence and use the products, something which could further disadvantage students who have poor or intermittent internet access at home (yes, we do have some)

[RobDraw]

This "change" is not new and, as license holder, it's your responsibility to read the agreement and instructions fully. The information is there and many other places. I don't understand why they need to notify you personally of something that is documented and has been in effect for quite some time. A stable internet connection is not necessary. You only need to be able to sign in once a month. It could be done on the worst dial-up connection. It really is quite simple and not a hidden secret that you need to jump through hoops to find what you need. As an educator, I would think you would be more proactive and able to find this stuff yourself instead of complaining and waiting for it to be spoon fed to you. Literally, everything you need to know is quite readily available. You don't need to talk to anyone.

[BIGAL]

Do you have a Autocad reseller involved if not get one, after all its in the reseller's interest to do just that, sell Autocad's, they can be very helpful in situations like this. Years ago the reseller sold the Educational Licenses so you had some one to talk to. I worked for a Autodesk reseller and we would love an oppurtunity to go into educational sites and did just that with other software as well, no charge to school.

Edited January 7, 2021 by BIGAL

[tombu]

On 1/6/2021 at 9:52 AM, Chickenhawk72 said:

I work in IT support in a large college, supporting tutors who teach AutoCAD, so forgive me if I'm no familiar with aspects of day to day usage. Most of our CAD students are registered with Autodesk's education program and have downloaded and installed AutoCAD 2021, which they have been using successfully during the Autumn term. On returning to their studies this week many of the students are getting an Autodesk login/licensing box pop-up when they launch AutoCAD, see attachments.

I've managed educational installations for high school students getting on the job training for 3 hours of their school day in our office. They need to use their AutoCAD login to use the software same as the rest of us. Did their user name and password expire? 

 

Usually something we only have to do once but I've had a few times it asked for it again. One of our engineers ignored logging on too long and his paid install switched to educational adding the plot stamp on his output.