ARCHICAD can't find the Hardware License key on macOS 10.13 or newer

[Daniel Kovacs]

Affected versions: All | Severity: not a Bug, workaround applicable | ID: 229498

Issue

When you freshly install ARCHICAD on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer, ARCHICAD might not be able to find the Codemeter Hardware License key. (Macs that were migrated from an earlier version and had ARCHICAD installed on them previously are unaffected by this issue. ARCHICADs using Software License keys are also unaffected by this issue.)

Cause

This happens because Apple has a new policy about Kernel Extensions in macOS 10.13 High Sierra. This keeps every Kernel Extension from running unless an Administrator user allows it. The Codemeter driver uses such a Kernel Extension for communicating with the Hardware keys, so ARCHICAD won't be able to communicate with them without it. Software keys don't use this Kernel Extension, so they are unaffected by this issue.

Solution

After you have finished installing ARCHICAD, You have to allow the Kernel Extension to run. You only have to do this once on each computer. Here's how you can do it:

1. Restart your computer (the dialog to allow the Kernel only appears for half an hour, after every startup or the initial installation)
2. Open the System Preferences Application
3. Select the Security and Privacy Submenu, and go to the General tab.
4. Click the Allow button next to the System software developer "WIBU-SYSTEM AG" was blocked from loading message.

Because of security reasons pressing the Allow button won't take effect if you are connecting to the machine via Remote Desktop, or if the mouse/trackpad is emulated by a 3rd party application (MagicPrefs, BetterTouchTool, Synergy, etc.)

Our latest installer packages warn you to do these steps during installation.