Hi
Hello, some time ago I started having problems with my CCR1036, after investigating we came to the conclusion that it was the NAND, I bought the chip and by specialized technical service it was replaced with a new one, when I received it I turned it on and with the netinstall application I was able to revive it, I have the surprise that the CCR license is in DEMO version, how can you transfer the license to the new NAND

OLD ID
# model = CCR1036-8G-2S+
# serial number = 742C07BCDAFA
# software id = P8W1-BCWQ

NEW ID with New NAND
# model = CCR1036-8G-2S+
# serial number = 742C07BCDAFA
# software id = 9X4R-4FMB

How can you help me with the migration of the license to the new ID Software

Thank you

You should have contacted the seller about this. Unscanctioned repairs such as this will destroy the license and void warranty. There is no way to transfer licenses.

You should have contacted the seller about this. Unscanctioned repairs such as this will destroy the license and void warranty. There is no way to transfer licenses.

Not authorized because I did not write to you in Slovakia that I needed to repair an expensive piece of equipment like this, sir, I bought this CCR in the USA 4 years ago, I am in Colombia to see what guarantee I will have after 4 years.

I am showing you that it is the same CCR, you can verify it in your database with ID and serial number plus photos, so your policy is that we throw them away and spend thousands of dollars on a new one... why?

What do those of us who believe in your brand expect, to dispose of expensive RBs like this CCR and not repair them?

Those of us who live in certain parts where your warranty is useless cannot have the autonomy to repair and have the license again, it seems wrong on your part.

You don't have to dispose it, you could buy another license, much cheaper than another device. Depending on what you need, L4 might be enough. Although, it would be nice if MikroTik provided free replacement, even if they don't have to. More happy customers, more confidence, more future sales. I would do it if I was them.

It is that I am showing you that it is exactly the same CCR, you can verify my Software ID in your database, that is, we cannot repair the equipment if we do not think that we have to throw it away

You did everything yourself, without even asking the support first what to do,
if the problem was really the NAND or not...

You may also have stolen it and you couldn't unlock it because the previous owner protected it with protected routerboot.
So you had to change the NAND otherwise it wouldn't start...
To not favor thieves, buy back your licence, or replace back with the original chip and check with support if the NAND is really damaged...

Each NAND chip have it's own unalterable internal serial number (not displayed on label) that prevent the copy&paste on another chip and clone the licence.

You did everything yourself, without even asking the support first what to do,
if the problem was really the NAND or not...

You may also have stolen it and you couldn't unlock it because the previous owner protected it with protected routerboot.
So you had to change the NAND otherwise it wouldn't start...
To not favor thieves, buy back your licence, or replace back with the original chip and check with support if the NAND is really damaged...

Each NAND chip have it's own unalterable internal serial number (not displayed on label) that prevent the copy&paste on another chip and clone the licence.

Well, go tell your mother that I stole it from you and you sold it to me, apparently you are used to stealing and doing what you are saying...
I first investigated the same problems in this same forum and to which they did the same... therefore I changed the nand because it simply began to present failures, loss of information and damaged sectors, I restored and every week or ten days the same problem, then no It was every 10 days if not every 3 because the problem got worse, it has already been shown that this CCR model has this problem. Report it and look for it in this same forum.
before you start talking shit investigate

Post the serial number, have someone say that it was stolen or who stole it from here...

You may also have stolen it
LOL... seriously, no sane person would do the NAND chip swap just to fix that kind of a problem. Anyone who fixes Mikrotiks knows you can just read the reformat timeout value from the chip. There is really no need to replace it in that case. I've done that many times, fixing boards that were bricked by their rightful owners, locking themselves out... and yes, it's fairly easy to tell who the board belongs to by name of the AP it connects to or other configuration parameters. I have never seen actually stolen hardware, always the person who asked me to fix it was from same company that owned it in the first place... but I digress...
Anyway you do chip swap if you only have no other options left, ie. old chip is faulty and can't be used anymore. For cheap routerboards I have plenty of donor boards with dead ethernet or other faults where I can get NANDs from with correct license. Buying license would simply make no financial sense... even repair is sometimes not economical, but I don't like creating more e-waste for no reason.
But CCRs are quite expensive and finding donor board is problematic, so yeah, buying new level 4 license is probably still cheapest option and the hardware is well worth it... so I'd go with that.
As for Mikrotik support, well it's easy to dislike the "unauthorized repairs" but if the hardware is out of warranty, that's usually only option left that makes any financial sense... even just cost of shipping is more expensive than cost of a new product... so only other option is to just bin it, creating more e-waste that could be completely avoided... But that's the disposable world we live in...

Well, go tell your mother that I stole it from you and you sold it to me.

Given the disproportionate reaction to a hypothesis, I can only have "hit the mark",
or you're so used to receiving insults about your mother that you think it's normal that you do them to other people's mothers.

P.S.: @normis and MikroTik are not in Slovakia...

Please everyone be civil.

Topic author should email official MikroTik support, but I can already say that unauthorised self repairs often lead to denied warranty and other issues. Always ask before disassemble.

Well, go tell your mother that I stole it from you and you sold it to me.

Given the disproportionate reaction to a hypothesis....

You did not make a hypothesis .. you affirm that I stole it, now you have come to compose your twisted argument

In short, you cannot have the initiative to be able to fix your CCR because otherwise you have to throw it away so it looks good....

You can't fix a CCR on your own initiative otherwise you'll be labeled a thief on this forum....

It is an absurd policy of Mikrotik not to recognize the license because after you prove the ownership of your device, what was the cause of the damage and the possible solution, in this forum it has been published that this device and others suffer from this problem in the NAND, the that we took the initiative to make a risky replacement for a device that due to its age does not have a guarantee from the seller.
It is not fair to any of you when now or in the future you have this kind of problem... and much more when you are in a country where the mikrotik guarantees are useless and it costs much more to send it to the US to be checked in the purchase store and tell me what we all know that due to its 4 years old from having bought it, the guarantee no longer covers me.
It's not together, it's not right

You admit you made a risky decision, and yet now want 'fairness'.

Either quietly email support and see if they can help, or buy a new license, or get rid of the device.

There isn't anything else to discuss anymore.

...It is an absurd policy of Mikrotik not to recognize the license because after you prove the ownership of your device, what was the cause of the damage and the possible solution, in this forum it has been published that this device and others suffer from this problem in the NAND, the that we took the initiative to make a risky replacement for a device that due to its age does not have a guarantee from the seller....
It is not fair to any of you when now or in the future you have this kind of problem... and much more when you are in a country where the mikrotik guarantees are useless and it costs much more to send it to the US to be checked in the purchase store and tell me what we all know that due to its 4 years old from having bought it, the guarantee no longer covers me.
It's not together, it's not right

Please consider such situation:

You live in a country where it's hard to rely on guaranties.
You buy a car. You have proof of ownership and all needed documents.
After some time it's obvious that some problems with pistons in your car model arise. Not always the same.
You decide to replace them by yourself knowing that parts are chosen/paired to the particular engine-block and ignition map.
The engine starts but it seizes up immediately.

And then you complain that car manufacturer refuses to supply you new parts despite the fact that you have proof of ownership.

Is it fair?

There is something called "good will procedure" and you can ask for and probably receive help from the Manufacturer. You decided to not go that way and you complain.

There isn't anything else to discuss anymore.

completely agree with you

...It is an absurd policy of Mikrotik not to recognize the license because after you prove the ownership of your device, what was the cause of the damage and the possible solution, in this forum it has been published that this device and others suffer from this problem in the NAND, the that we took the initiative to make a risky replacement for a device that due to its age does not have a guarantee from the seller....
It is not fair to any of you when now or in the future you have this kind of problem... and much more when you are in a country where the mikrotik guarantees are useless and it costs much more to send it to the US to be checked in the purchase store and tell me what we all know that due to its 4 years old from having bought it, the guarantee no longer covers me.
It's not together, it's not right

Please consider such situation:

You live in a country where it's hard to rely on guaranties.
You buy a car. You have proof of ownership and all needed documents.
After some time it's obvious that some problems with pistons in your car model arise. Not always the same.
You decide to replace them by yourself knowing that parts are chosen/paired to the particular engine-block and ignition map.
The engine starts but it seizes up immediately.

And then you complain that car manufacturer refuses to supply you new parts despite the fact that you have proof of ownership.

Is it fair?

There is something called "good will procedure" and you can ask for and probably receive help from the Manufacturer. You decided to not go that way and you complain.

Excuse me but if you read from the beginning I am not asking for a hardware guarantee, in this case and to follow your example I fixed the engine with my own technicians and that engine was working fine, I am asking if we can transfer the old license and migrate it to the new one ID..
but why discuss what we already know as an answer

...you affirm that I stole it...

False, is not the better traduction of the world but "You may also have stolen it" is not like "You have stolen it"

... after you prove the ownership of your device ...

Where? How? With a photo?

...you affirm that I stole it...

False, is not the better traduction of the world but "You may also have stolen it" is not like "You have stolen it"

... after you prove the ownership of your device ...

Where? How? With a photo?

Why could I give you that information ?, who the hell are you to give you that information?? In the event that mikrotik asks me for that information, it will be sent to him with pleasure... but who the hell are you to give you such information....

Since you're posting on a public users forum, and not on the support site,
it's obvious that if you tell everyone «...after you prove the ownership of your device...» and you can't see this proof, it's all bar talk.
In fact, from the answers you give, even offending people who don't participate in the speech, you look like a drunk at the bar...

You have already the solution on post #4 and #6: buy a new licence.

Even if the repair was actually successful, no one guarantees that even if you buy the license, the device will work properly...
So think twice whether to risk other expenses or not...

Whatever happens, if some of my words offended you, on previous posts, even if you misunderstood them, I apologize.

...

Excuse me but if you read from the beginning I am not asking for a hardware guarantee, in this case and to follow your example I fixed the engine with my own technicians and that engine was working fine, I am asking if we can transfer the old license and migrate it to the new one ID..
but why discuss what we already know as an answer

No ... you replaced parts, engine started to spin but IMHO it's not a working state.
You lost device dependent data and now you claim the producer to provide it to you.
And maybe next time you will try to send it for replacement as beeing in working state after adding license. Are you sure that "repair" was done properly. Not judging your people soldering skills and starting flame war. Just asking simple question if all was done properly. I'm not against you but you did "reapir" the device in your opinion which may not follow producer rules.

Suggestion, don't do car analogies, they don't work. MikroTik made the same mistake when explaning why you can't upgrade license levels ("Just like you can't easily upgrade your car's engine from 2L to 4L just by paying the difference, you can't switch license levels as easily."), and it's not good explanation at all (licenses, unlike car engines, could be changed with few mouse clicks).

IMHO licenses on RB devices should be abandoned. They make sense for x86 or CHR, where it's possible to squeeze more money from someone with higher requirements (or if it sounds better, to offer cheaper version to people who don't have high requirements). I guess it's sort of fair. But usability of RB's is determined primarily by HW, there's no need to deliberately limit it. And then there wouldn't be any reason for locking license to board either. Moving it another board wouldn't make sense if it was only one level. And using it on some completely different unsupported non-MikroTik HW shouldn't be a problem either, because of lack of drivers, or the system could refuse to work there (no problem if MikroTik isn't selling it for such HW). Another bonus would be that people could freely repair their devices.

Suggestion, don't do car analogies, they don't work. MikroTik made the same mistake when explaning why you can't upgrade license levels ("Just like you can't easily upgrade your car's engine from 2L to 4L just by paying the difference, you can't switch license levels as easily."), and it's not good explanation at all (licenses, unlike car engines, could be changed with few mouse clicks).

It's very easy to swap engines in cars. They share so much standarized elements that you just remove some screws and bolts, unplug a few cables, plug them to the new device mount back and few hours later ... voila ... replaced.
People do modify ignition maps to get more power as most of cars have oversized unifed engine blocks installed and it works. Yes it works till .... what with gearbox? What with transmission shaft? What about breaks? What about too weak shock absorbers for heavier engine? What about too small cooler? Even if this small "engine only" change is done by professionals, it does not mean that whole car would work as expected.

Back to IT industry ...

Sob, you suggest that locking license to the RB makes no sense as hardware limits usability.

It makes perfect sense as it is the Mikrotik's bussiness model of sales.
They could offer you any "flowing" license to be used on any hardware but what about compatibility and new versions. Someone has to take care of it. Someone has to write this software. Someone has to test it.

We are all aware what a long time took to see ROS7? What a guilty pleasures are upgrades.
But on the other hand everyone says that you wouldn't find such a good piece of software for that money. Do you want to try closed ecosystem of CISCO soft? No upgrades, no extensions for free. Only CISCO devices, no open platforms. Buying their second hand devices cancles rigths to the software so you really buy nice looking bricks.

So IMHO is not fair to complain for bussiness model of Mikrotik.

Consider how many of topics in that forum are as
"I bought the cheapest device and it does not serve my small suberbian community well and why? Whyyyy?"
"I have mAp2nD upgraded to latest 6.49.7 like my friend's RB1036 but my speed is limted to 25Mb of my 1Gb line. He reaches 950Gb"
etc.

So in my opinion even if the reapplying license is/should be easy or an upgrade is an easy task I would not state that it's not fair to be punished by producer for rummaging in their hardware. If you do not like such rules then buy other vendor devices and soft.

Given the right interface, I could change license level ten times a minute. Can you do the same with car engine? There really is huge difference.

And about licenses, I'm not sure that it's really MikroTik's main business. It made sense at the beginning with x86 licenses that you'd buy for your own HW. It still does, and same for CHR. I wouldn't change that. But with RBs? Not so much, you're buying the hardware and license is more like free bonus. Clearly there's no $45 L4 license hidden in $22.95 hAP mini. And if it had unlimited license (equivalent of current L6), it would certainly not lower sales of CCRs. It really seems as something that just stuck from the past.

if you dont use PPPoE or Hotspot you can go with a Cheap Level 4 license to revive this Router

I hope you find a replacement power supply for that router, is a frecuent fail point

avoid to do graphing or any other write intensive feature to avoid burning the flash storage again


this revision of router is reaching its end of life after years of sucessfull work, very good machines

I think the car analogy does not fit very well, especially the part about the pistons seizing up after they were replaced with non standard parts. If you are going to make that analogy, at least consider that the original problem wasn't caused by replacing anything, it was that there was a NAND chip that was failing.

A better analogy would be obtaining a second hand MicroSoft Surface, and needing to repair it. And after the repair, the MicroSoft Enterprise license stopped working.

And I agree that rextended's comment

Given the disproportionate reaction to a hypothesis, I can only have "hit the mark"
[/quote]

after he suggested that it was stolen. "I can only have "hit the marK", that's pretty definite in meaning. So your "retraction" is pretty flimsy

...you affirm that I stole it...

False, is not the better traduction of the world but "You may also have stolen it" is not like "You have stolen it"

You may also have stolen it and you couldn't unlock it because the previous owner protected it with protected routerboot.
So you had to change the NAND otherwise it wouldn't start...
To not favor thieves, buy back your licence, or replace back with the original chip and check with support if the NAND is really damaged...

Each NAND chip have it's own unalterable internal serial number (not displayed on label) that prevent the copy&paste on another chip and clone the licence.

There are other ways to obtain equipment besides stealing, and I can understand why someone would be upset being called a thief on a public forum. I've gotten stuff that was thrown away, and I wouldn't be able to prove I purchased it, but that isn't proof I stole it.

I am just saying that I can understand why Columbiano reacted as he did. And just be glad he isn't Hans Moke Niemann.

Topic author should email official MikroTik support, but I can already say that unauthorised self repairs often lead to denied warranty and other issues. Always ask before disassemble.

What are the options for authorized repairs on out of warranty (it is 4 year old so no longer under any warranty I would assume).

This is a serious question. I know that Ubiquiti offers no repair options, but there are third parties that do repairs.

What would have been the "official response" to such a question as "The WinBond NAND is failing on my 4 year old CCR1036-8G-2S+, what are my options?" My guess is that it would have been, "Sorry, that is out of warranty and there is no way to get it fixed." If that isn't the answer, what is it?

If you ask nicely and have a bit of luck on who handles your support request, you might get replacement license. Send them photos of the device, board serial number stickers, supout.rif (ideally old and new) and maybe dump of old NAND if not completely dead. Be nice, polite and show that you know what you are talking about and you have the knowledge to do the chip swap. And maybe better contact them before you do the replacement.
Years ago I had some RB4xx that had wiped NAND that took out the license and ID changed. After sending them supouts, photos and other proofs I got replacement license (just regular lvl4). In general Mikrotik support is helpful even when it comes to old hardware that's 10 years out of warranty and I really appreciate that...

Please everyone be civil.

Topic author should email official MikroTik support, but I can already say that unauthorised self repairs often lead to denied warranty and other issues. Always ask before disassemble.

It may be worthwhile to read up on "right to repair".
Even when you as a company do not want to give warranty on "unauthorised self repairs", it is considered good practice to at least not frustrate the users who want to do them.
So in this case, when the device owner (that is not you anymore, you sold it to him) replaces a part and discovers that this causes the loss of the license, you should at least facilitate the replacement of the license, even when that comes with a reasonable attached cost (e.g. that of a new L4 license).
There are movements ongoing, e.g. in the USA, to require that in the law. Too many companies made equipment (not only in IT) that is fully dependent on "authorized repair", and people do not accept it anymore. More and more, neither do states.

You buy the hardware, not the software...
The software is on license and you are free to use any software you want...

It as simple as that: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ ... cense+keys

RouterOS licensing scheme is based on Software-ID / System-ID where:

RouterBOARD software-id is bound to storage media (HDD, NAND).
x86 software-id is bound to MBR
CHR system-id is bound to MBR and UUID

I wrote about "good will" procedure ... it could work if you ask for solution before not after doing "repair".

I wrote about "good will" procedure ... it could work if you ask for solution before not after doing "repair".

That should not be different. When you buy a device and it becomes defective after end of warranty, you should be allowed to repair it without clauses like "that would void your warranty" and "you should contact us beforehand".
When manufacturers do not have such policies themselves, they will be forced to have them by law. If that is more convenient to them.

More and more manufacturers behave like the stuff they sell remains their property and it is on them to decide what you can do with it and for how long it will work.
Fortunately, active protests against that become more and more prevalent and legislation is more often being adapted to it.
When you buy a router, it becomes yours. You own the hardware. You have the right to repair it as long and as often as you want.

But in reality, more and more manufacturers come with hollow phrases like "I can already say that unauthorised self repairs often lead to denied warranty and other issues". It is time that this comes to an end.

But ... you do not buy software installed in that device ... you buy rights to use it as a subscription or as "forever license" but you buy them according to the license.

But ... you do not buy software installed in that device ... you buy rights to use it as a subscription or as "forever license" but you buy them according to the license.

That is why you should be able to renew that license when it gets invalidated by a hardware repair. Preferably "for free" (you already bought the license) but in any case for a reasonable fee. And I think the $45 that is being charged for an L4 license would be a reasonable fee to renew the license of a $2000 router.
It is not reasonable to require the repair to be done by an "authorized repair person". Because that gets out of hand really quickly.
(see how unreasonable the repair policies of companies like Apple, Tesla or John Deere have become, we do not want MikroTik to become the same)

@BartoszP: That's related, sometimes it's like manufacturers are thinking "oh well, so we can't limit what customers do with hardware, but at least we can still screw them with software!"

I'm not saying that it's MikroTik's intention, not with their otherwise fair approach, unlimited upgrades and such. But it is kind of pointless limitation, don't you think? You buy a device with license for unlimited use and everything is fine. Then device breaks, you repair it, and bam, license is gone. Why? What's the horrible thing you did to deserve to lose ability to use the device same way as before? I get it when it's something major. If you get machine with licensed software and agree to not use it for making WMDs or something, and then you do, I can see how it's a big deal, and serves you right to have your license revoked. But if you just repair router and want to keep using it for good (probably )? You shouldn't be punished for that.

One problem is that MikroTik is evidently using the "NAND flash chips" unique identifier as "salt" for the generation of the "Software ID" that then gets "written" to the NAND during manufacturing.

The problem, is that the NAND is a part that can easily wear out with use. And the low default dhcp lease time, and features like graphing can cause many writes to the NAND.

Anti-consumer practices that coerce users to buy new items, like "single use" inkjet cartridges instead of replacing them are not new. The latest I was affected by was the Amazon Prime Music "upgrade" on Nov 1, 2022. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, I cancelled prime because I don't use it enough to make the fast shipping worthwhile by itself.

I realized this is a poor analogy, because the printers actively disable the cartridges from working, so they can't be refilled, but the NAND is the "one thing" that can't be replaced, it is essentially the "license dongle" of the router. It should have be a separate "identity" chip, that had no writiable storage that could wear out.

A better option (yes it may add cost, but under $0.50 US) would be a dedicated chip for identification, and the chip shouldn't be used for writing. For example (there are probably others) https://www.microchip.com/en-us/product/24AA025E48

But for the number of times this type of thing happens, why doesn't this option work?

From https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:L ... ey_request

If I have lost a license on my RouterBOARD?
If for some reason you have lost license from your RouterBOARD, then upgrade router to the latest RouterOS version available and use "Request key from another account" in your mikrotik.com account. Use soft-id and serial number available under System/License menu in RouterOS when requesting license. Apply received license or contact support@mikrotik.com if request feature do not work.

Yes. It says "It is a special key which is issued by the Support Team if you accidentally lose the license on a x86 instance running RouterOS, and the Mikrotik Support decides that it is not directly your fault. It costs 10$ and has the same features as the key that you lose.". That should also be made available for routers like the CCR1036.
And "not having used an authorized repair center" should not qualify as "directly your fault".

MikroTik support will provide a free license key for CCR devices if you contact them before repairs and provide proof of ownership. Be sure to explain your situation to receive this service.