Most installations of the hardware key (dongle) for Polar products install without issue.

However, in certain circumstances you may encounter issues that can be resolved by checking the enclosed troubleshooting guide. The Polar products uses HASP from SafeNet/Gemalto/Revenera and Sentinel to control license usage.

For Polar products starting with v21 (2021) you will need to update the HASP drivers as below. However, if you are using the same key for other software products you may already be running earlier or later versions. The following shows each HASP major version and whether they are compatible with Polar products. The file haspsrm_win32.dll is the interface between the hardware key and Polar products and is in the root of the downloaded zip file.

If you need to change versions you must use the command line below to ensure all files are updated. However, it is noted that only versions from HASP v8.11 performs this correctly and fully de-installs/re-installs the product. Consider using this version if you need to perform this operation.

To remove old HASP:

haspdinst.exe -r -fr -kp -fss -purge

To install new HASP:

haspdinst.exe -i -fi -kp -fss

Check which version is installed:

haspdinst.exe -info

Verify the key is installed and detected:

Within Control Panel, Device Manager – check the three keys are showing (below):

It is important to note that the Sentinel HL Key must show up here. If not, the product will not work and you should contact your IT department to investigate why this is the case if it is not present. Often, simply moving the key to a different USB slot may resolve this issue.

You can remove the HASP and HL keys from here. If you remove the Sentinel USB Key then both the HASP and HL Keys will also be removed.

Ensure the Sentinel service is started and running:

Within Control Panel | Admin Tools | Services – check the Sentinel LDK License Manager service is Running and set to Automatic startup.

Ensure you copy the DLL

The most common error is normally that the user has not copied the DLL (which is NOT installed automatically when installing HASP itself). In the downloaded distribution you will find the file haspsrm_win32.dll. This file must be copied to both \Windows\System32 and \Windows\SysWow64 if you are running on an x64 system.

Remove any environment variables

It is recommended that you remove any environment variables such as “FLEXID_Library_Path” and “Polar_License_File” as these cause confusion in later license/program updates. If they are set as either user or system environment variables please delete them.

Advanced Problem Solving

Should the above not work, or you still experience issues, you can manually delete the installation and re-install.

1) Delete the HASP installation by de-installing the product using:

haspdinst.exe -r -fr -kp -fss -purge

Then delete the folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aladdin Shared\HASP

2) Re-Install HASP using:

haspdinst.exe -i -fi -kp -fss

3) Make sure hasplms.exe does not exist in \Windows\System32 – this is a very old version (v21 or earlier) but could be accidentally started and running in Task Manager.

Kill the process and delete the executable.

If, after following these steps, you still cannot get the product to work then please run the following:

http://localhost:1947

This will show the Gemalto administration screen. Your key should appear as Node 2 under Sentinel Keys.

Old Key

New key

Please then go to the diagnostics option (see below) on the left-hand side and generate a diagnostic report and email that to tech@polarinstruments.com for further analysis.