Educational License will not recognize Revit 2021

[aajawh]

Some background up front to address the easy ‘fixes’ I see suggested in other posts:
I have been teaching for several years using an Autodesk Educational License. My Autodesk ID is current until January 2022. My computer meets the specs to run all the programs I am trying to install. Despite every effort I have made, I am unable to convince Revit 2021 that I should be able to run it using my educational account.
I have reinstalled the software numerous times, trying it on different computers all with the same negative result. It is not a problem with my computer, it is Autodesk’s strange licensing that is a problem and I need help resolving the issue. I have tried every method conceivable to contact a human being at Autodesk to get help with my issue, but I cannot get anyone’s attention. I hope this forum can help me resolve this problem. I doubt I am the only one dealing with this. Here is the situation…
When I first installed Revit 2021 in late December it showed up as a 30-day trial, which was odd because I was using my Educational License. I contacted Autodesk immediately but received no help. The 30 days came and went and instead of a countdown I received a notice on startup about “System Maintenance” but the program continued to work so I ignored it. At the end of last week, the program stopped working altogether and would not let me open it. At this point the message changed to “The License Manager is not functioning or is improperly installed. Revit will shut down now.” I cannot get the program to open at all at this point even when it was completely reinstalled. The result is the same on my other computer.
On Autodesk’s Account website for Products and Services it shows Serial / Key activations for Revit 2020 and 2019, which I have used in past years, but nothing for 2021. I understand the licensing has changed for this year but despite my efforts I am unable to authorize use of the program with my Autodesk ID. I am now 7 weeks into a 10-week term using 2021 and now being unable to access the program is going to be a real problem for me and my students.
Am I missing something? Can anyone recommend a way to resolve this issue and fix my account’s access to Revit 2021? Are educational accounts even allowed to use Revit 2021??
Thank you for reading this and I appreciate any advice you can provide to resolve this issue.

[leowarren34]

Hi @aajawh,

There's quite a lot to tackle here, so I'll work through it bit by bit since there are some things we should tackle first such as your license.

Just because you have an educational account doesn't mean you get automatic access - each software (and version) must be requested separately from: https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview.

Do this for Revit, select 2021, you should then get an email and Revit 2021 appear in https://manage.autodesk.com/ 

although it will likely only say Sign-In due to the move away from Serial Numbers.

Finally in regards to the license manager - Follow this article: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-...

I hope this is a good start and feel free to tag me/reply if you need more help.

[aajawh]

Hi @leowarren34 .

Thanks for your thorough response. I appreciate your assistance. Last things first, I checked the license manager and it is running, connected and up to date.

I think the problem is with software access. Maybe I am doing this next part wrong somehow?? When I follow the link ( https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview ) and sign-in to my account, I see the Revit tile and click on Get Product (see image). I then have the option to Install or Download. Neither of these options resolve my license issues. I have never been given an option to request access nor have I received an email for this software (though I have for other software/versions). Revit 2021 also does not show up in the link you mentioned (https://manage.autodesk.com/ ).  

Am I missing something on this web page to request access? Is there a way to reset it?

[leowarren34]

Hi @aajawh,

Did you click download? You need to start the download process so the license gets added to your account - you can stop the download after.

If that still fails then it's likely a sync error which means educational support will be needed to help sync up your account: https://www.autodesk.com/education/support 

[aajawh]

@leowarren34 

I received a response from Autodesk Customer Support which was initiated prior to our conversation. I thought it might be useful to include what they suggested here. I should clarify, that these steps did not work and I have asked them to look into the sync error you mentioned.

Solution 1:

-please clear out cookies/cache and delete browser history, and re-try using a different browser like Edge or Mozilla.

-Education Community website https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview?sorting=featured&page=1

- Attempt to download the software, once download start immediately stop the download. DO NOT download it completely.

- Once you pause the download re open the previously downloaded version, see if its renewed or not?

If this not work then refer :

Solution 2:

-Re download the full software from site: https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview?sorting=featured&page=1 

[aajawh]

@leowarren34 

I just noticed that the programs I am having trouble with (Revit 2021, AutoCAD 2021...) all list in my Account as "1 seat - student - single-user". Is there a difference between "Student" and "Education" licensing? Is this part of the problem or just a coincidence?

[leowarren34]

Hi @aajawh,

Whether it shows Student or Education makes no difference - I primarily use Inventor - listed as a 1 seat - Student - Single user and I dabble in Fusion 360 which is just listed as Education.

Have you tried running Revit again?

[alenka.noakes]

Hi, did you resolve this...im having the same issue!

[aajawh]

@alenka.noakes @leowarren34 

No, I definitely did not. I have been getting the runaround from Autodesk for two months (way before I started this thread). No one seems to be able to resolve it. I wish they would just go back to Serial Numbers. So much easier.

[pendean]

>>>...“The License Manager is not functioning or is improperly installed. Revit will shut down now.”...<<<

Read this, a popular problem lately: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-...
and this https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-Th...

Note: each of those pages above also offer other pages that continue on the theme of your error message. Try them all.

FWIW no one here can do anything about EDU licenses or fixes, sorry, you have to be persistent in your contact to EDU Support and never wait for more than a couple of days to hear back before contacting them again.

HTH

[aajawh]

@pendean,

thanks for the links. I tried everything possible on both slinks and no luck. I spent too much time this weekend performing an Autodesk exorcism of every last trace of their software in order to do a truly clean software install. It didn’t work. End result is exactly as before. I have received two cryptic, one sentence emails from EDU confirming my sheerID is current (I already knew this) and asking if I am using the software for personal use or for teaching (teaching...for years). Now I am waiting for their next one sentence email response. 
If and when some progress is made I will post an update here. 

[V.Srikandarajah]

HI, I am going through the same. Any help..anyone!

[leowarren34]

Hi @V.Srikandarajah,

Which aspect are you stuck on?

Are you stuck on obtaining an educational license?

Are you stuck on the installation side?

Screenshots would be helpful so we know what stage you are at

[savelezsa]

Hi, I was having the same issue and reinstalling the whole program again worked for me!

thanks

[mdavis22569]

@aajawh Were you able to get this resolved>?

[aajawh · Accepted solution]

I did get this resolved but I am not giving any kudos here or marking anything as the solution. The problem was something internal to Autodesk that I had no control over. They eventually realized the error had nothing to do with my installation of the software or my hardware or how it was configured. After literally dozens of emails back and forth and MONTHS of waiting, they finally made a change to their system and everything has been fine since. I wish there was an easy fix I could recommend or a lesson to be drawn from this experience but there is not. The only take-away is that you should hope that nothing ever goes wrong with your Autodesk account because the system is not setup to help resolve this type of issue. Especially if you are using a faculty/educational account.

[tpauzasager]

@aajawh Hi!! Same thing happened to me but it got fixed by rebooting twice. It seems you opened the path for the rest of us.. Kudos!! Thanks!!