Installing PSCAD Without also Installing/Repairing the Sentinel Drivers
1. Background
Released versions of PSCAD can be installed via one of the following installers:
Installer engine InstallShield Wizard Installer Utility
Installs PSCAD Yes Yes
Installs other products Yes No
alongside PSCAD
(e.g. GFortran, Enerplot,
PRSIM, Initializer,
License Manager)
Installs Sentinel USB drivers Yes Yes
Regardless whether Certificate Licensing or Lock-based Licensing will be used, the Sentinel USB Drivers will always be installed or repaired:
- When PSCAD is first installed
- When the PSCAD installation is modified
- When the PSCAD installation is repaired
...so that the Sentinel drivers are always fully installed and ready for use with lock-based licensing.
2. Issue
In some cases, clients do not want to install or repair the Sentinel drivers, since:
- They will only be using certificate licensing and do not plan to switch to lock-based licensing, or
- They will use lock-based licensing, but the licensing will be hosted on another machine (license server), or
- They do not want to have to remove any existing Sentinel locks for other products when installing, modifying or repairing their PSCAD installation.
3. Solution - When Using the Installer Utility
Run the PSCAD installation through the Windows Command Prompt, with scripting to omit the Sentinel Drivers:
a. Launch a Windows Command Prompt as Administrator.
b. Navigate the Prompt to the folder in which the installer resides.
c. Enter the following script at the Prompt, to launch the installer and omit the Sentinel Drivers:
Installer.exe /Ignore=USBDriver
d. Press the <Enter> key.
e. The installation should launch, and omit the Sentinel Drivers. The Installer messages should include the following message:
USBDriver
Ignored as specified
Please see the following image for a sample of setting this up in the Windows Command Prompt:
4. Solutions - When Using the InstallShield Wizard
Solution 1 - Run a Batch File
If you launch the InstallShield Wizard installer for PSCAD as follows, then the installer will not install or repair the Sentinel drivers:
setup.exe /v"/IgnoreDrivers"
Note - You must use the straight quotes, ", as shown above, and not these slanted quotes, “.
You can do this by following the instructions below.
a. You would have most likely downloaded the PSCAD InstallShield installer as a large ZIP file. Extract that ZIP file to a temporary folder and browse to that folder, or browse to folder containing the previously extracted contents.
b. Copy the following script to Notepad:
@echo off
@REM *********************************************************
@REM Ensure we are on the batch file drive and in its folder
@REM *********************************************************
%~d0
@cd "%~dp0"
@REM *********************************
@REM Show the folder path
@REM *********************************
@cls
cd
@REM *********************************
@REM Do the driver-less installation
@REM *********************************
@echo.
@echo Running the PSCAD installer
@echo.
setup.exe /v"/IgnoreDrivers"
@echo.
@echo Done...
@echo.
@pause
c. Save the Notepad contents as Install_NoDrivers.bat to the same folder containing the setup.exe file.
d. Right-click on Install_NoDrivers.bat and select Run as Administrator.
e. The installer will not install or repair the Sentinel drivers, but it might still remind you to ensure that your PSCAD lock, if you are using one, is plugged into a USB port.
Solution 2 - Rename the Executable File
a. You would have most likely downloaded the PSCAD InstallShield installer as a large ZIP file. Extract that ZIP file to a temporary folder and browse to that folder, or browse to folder containing the previously extracted contents.
b. Browse into the "USBDriver" subfolder.
c. You should see the following contents:
Install.bat
Instructions.txt
Readme.txt
setup.exe
d. In the USBDriver subfolder, rename, but do not delete, the setup.exe file.
e. Browse up one folder level, back to the main PSCAD installation folder.
f. Run the setup.exe in the main PSCAD installation folder.
g. Note that you will get a warning that the Sentinel installer cannot be found. Just accept the warning and the installation will continue.
h. The installer will not install or repair the Sentinel drivers, but it might still remind you to ensure that your PSCAD lock, if you are using one, is plugged into a USB port.