Troubleshooting dongle errors in Dental Desktop-Unite

Description of the issue

Sometimes during Unite startup error message "Subscription Dongle not found" might appear:

Reasons of the issue

• Dongle is not connected.
• Dongle is not recognized by the software.
• Dongle is not recognized by PC caused by miscommunication or blocking in the USB port.
• Dongle is broken.

Solution steps

1. Verify that the dongle is connected and a green light  it is on.
2. It's not recommended to connect the dongle via USB hub. It slows down the data transmission and the connection might get lost easier.
3. Unplug the dongle and then re-plug it.
4. Try another USB port.
5. In any browser open the link http://localhost:27027/  and verify if you may see the dongle connected and the licenses on it. The information should appear as follows: If the dongle is not being detected, the page will look like this: 
6. If there is more than one dongle connected at the Trios server PC at  http://localhost:27027/  connect it -> find TRIOS dongle and press button "Move Left" until it's at the very left spot.
7. At http://localhost:27027/ check if all the relevant licenses are valid (not expired). Click on "Update dongle" to refresh the licenses on dongle or get the updates if they are available.
8. At http://localhost:27027/ scroll to the bottom of the page and press "Show server log file" to get access to the server logs file which contains relevant information like each entry when dongle was connected, dongle number and errors.

• If you see recent error with dongle in question like:
  Unable to read dongle: Dongle protection error
  (#1: 26, 02 00 00 00 56 A1)
  (#1: 4, 2A 1F 00 00 5C 00)
• (#1: 42, 00 00 00 00 95 A1).
  This means that the dongle is corrupted and needs to be replaced. In that case, please contact 3Shape Support to proceed.
• If log files contain the following error  (#1: 465, 465:00 00 00 20). This error message means there is an error communicating with the dongle that is caused by miscommunication in the USB port of the PC and the following troubleshoot must be done only by 3Shape support. (Please contact 3Shape Support)
  

  From 3shape Support, we can confirm if the customer is presenting this error by trying to make a manual update.If the customer has this error please refer to the following article to solve the problem: "Dongle Protection Error. (#1: 465, 465:00 00 00 20)" when opening 3Shape software" -> Only for 3Shape Support internal use.

   
• Open Windows Services by clicking Windows Key + R and in the search box enter ‘services.msc’
  A new popup Windows will appear, please check if '3Shape Dongle Service' is running as show below:
•  If it's not running, please try to start it by clicking on the 'Start' button in the left side of the screen, as show below:
• On the other hand, if the service is running, please click on the  'restart' button as shown below:

When 3Shape Dongle Service is restarted, 3Shape Dental Desktop Server Service is also restarted.

This error might also show up on a client-server setup where the client PC gets cannot access the Trios server PC and instead tries to find a dongle locally. 

In such situation you will see such text in the lower left corner of Unite when starting it, that could help you to identify the current Trios Server PC.

In order to resolve it verify where the dongle is plugged in and if the current PC is actually a client PC. You can do it by following the steps below:

1. Request the IP address or the host name of the Trios server PC, you can find it through Command Prompt:
   1.1 In the Windows search box, please type 'Command Prompt.
   1.2 Then run it as an administrator, a popup window will appear.
2. Launch Untie and do not select user.
3. Right click on server name in lower left corner and Press "Add server":
4. Place the IP address or host name of the server which you got form step 1.3  and click "OK":

Then launch the software again and this time it should run without errors.

If that does not solve the problem, exist another alternative solution, that is to run the repair installation of Unite, for that please contact 3Shape Support for assistance.