Revit Viewer Showing up on Licensed 2019

[kevinmGFYPQ]

I am in the middle of an lengthy rework of a Revit 2019.2 model and I went to save and got a Revit Viewer mode????

We have been a subscriber for 8 years and have carried 5 seats throughout that time while only using 4 of them at the time.  What is the deal?  I need to be able to save this model as I just went through an exhaustive rework and have more to do.

[RobDraw]

It's a known issue. Try asking over in the Installation and Licensing forum for a fix.

I'm sorry but you're not going to be able to save your work. 

[kevinmGFYPQ]

Seriously??!!  You are freaking kidding me.....

What do you mean it is a known issue....how about Autodesk fix that before doing other enhancements?!  Anything where we loose work because of software is a problem that needs resolved on the developer's end.  We have no time to redo this work prior to the meeting.

[RobDraw]

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@kevinmGFYPQ wrote:

Seriously??!!  You are freaking kidding me.....

What do you mean it is a known issue....how about Autodesk fix that before doing other enhancements?!  Anything where we loose work because of software is a problem that needs resolved on the developer's end.  We have no time to redo this work prior to the meeting.

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Don't shoot the messenger.

If you had looked into this before going off on a rant you would already know that it was fixed in an update.

Also, if you saved more often you wouldn't lose so much work.

Lesson learned.

[michael_coviello]

Hello @kevinmGFYPQ 

I understand you are in viewer mode in Revit 2019 and cannot save your work,  I'll be happy to help.

Are you on a subscription license and is the license active?   This can be checked at manage.autodesk.com

Please confirm you are on Revit 2019 and not Revit 2020.

If you launch a new session of Revit 2019 is it in viewer mode?

These two articles describe possible causes.

Revit products keep running in viewer mode

Revit viewer mode error that will not allow save or print. 

[kevinmGFYPQ]

I am in a fully licensed seat (subscription) of Revit 2019.2.  This message just popped up.  I am not in Revit 2020 although we have paid for that subscription.  We tend to wait half a year.

[kevinmGFYPQ]

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Don't shoot the messenger.

If you had looked into this before going off on a rant you would already know that it was fixed in an update.

Also, if you saved more often you wouldn't lose so much work.

Lesson learned.

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My frustration is not at you but software that has an issue which is not my fault.  You say I need to learn the lesson.  I guess the lesson is not to ever trust the software that we continuously pay for.  I have autosave set up on this machine for every 10 minutes.  Frankly, I tend to still do the ctrl-s thing but this time did not.  Yes, shame on me but it is a bigger shame the software we pay thousands of dollars for cannot be trusted, even with their autosave features.  Lastly, I did look into this and all I found was an issue with 2020, not 2019.  EDIT:  Actually, I am editing this to reinforce the fact that multiple Revit online venues list this as a 2020 problem so you know what, pound sand with your comment that I should have looked first.  Look, I try to be realistic about software challenges and you do not see me voicing many complaints at all.  However, when the software has an issue that causes drawing loss, that is a problem.

[michael_coviello]

Hello @kevinmGFYPQ 

I understand the frustration of this issue and would like to help if this is still an issue.

I've sent you a message to connect with you on this problem.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts solves your issue or answers your question.

[kevinmGFYPQ]

I appreciate it Michael and yes, this is still an issue.  I have the project still up on screen and my local Autodesk rep is supposed to be investigating as well.

[RobDraw]

Yeah, I did miss that you were on 2019 but I do know that the 2020 problem does trickle down to 2019.

Stop taking your frustrations out on me, please. Your losing work was preventable and not Autodesk's fault by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah, there is a problem with the software but you could have limited your lose of work with the simple click of a button.

I learned a very long time ago to never rely on autosave in AutoCAD and I don't think Revit has an autosave feature. That doesn't matter though. Nothing is as reliable as a good workflow that includes saving frequently. 

[kevinmGFYPQ]

So Michael was on my machine and it appears my license expired for some reason even thought the license is fully operational.  I appreciate the fact that He called and tried to work through the issue.  There is not a Hotfix for 2019 but I am thinking it is because my situation may have been something different.

Thanks!

[kevinmGFYPQ]

I agree with everything you said RodDraw.  I do bear some of the responsibility.  However, there would be no issue if my license did not expire for some unknown reason not due to me. I am moving on from this and sorry for kicking your shins a bit.  It was not personal.....(famous last words of bullsh*t I know)

[RobDraw]

My shins will survive.

If you don't mind answering a couple questions, I'd appreciate it.

Are you up and running without reinstalling?

Did you install 2020 in this machine?

[kevinmGFYPQ]

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@RobDraw wrote:

My shins will survive.

If you don't mind answering a couple questions, I'd appreciate it.

Are you up and running without reinstalling?

Did you install 2020 in this machine?

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I am not reinstalling this software.....please tell me this is not what needs to occur.

2020 was not installed.  I read that could create an issue as well related to the viewer.

I am in the process of shutting everything down to restart.  What is odd, the other 4 licenses are working fine without issue.

[RobDraw]

Since 2020 was not installed, it does appear that your issue is different but you should have gotten a warning about being in viewer mode if it was just your license being prematurely expired.

The last I read was that there was no fix for the issue trickling down to 2019 from the problem with 2020 and 2019 needed to be reinstalled in order to get rid of the issue.

It's kind of confusing on my end because it sounds like it's related but not.

[kevinmGFYPQ]

My reseller is not happy because I sent them my journal file which says my license expired at midnight last night.  My reseller said it clearly shows on your contract you are good till March 2020.  She mentioned she has had customers lose emails so they could not log in and other weird behavior because Autodesk was doing maintenance or work on the back end.  I told her that is just not acceptable having someone or software just arbitrarily decide that an user will loose work for some excommunicated reason.

I restarted the machine and things seems fine now after testing manage licenses.   Still, now I do not trust this software.