matlab r2016b not running

when I try to run matlab from the command line by typing "matlab" or "sudo matlab", I get this error code as output:

License checkout failed. License Manager Error -9 Your username does not match the username in the license file. To run MATLAB on this computer, you must run the Activation client to reactivate your license.

Troubleshoot this issue by visiting: http://www.mathworks.com/support/lme/R2016b/9

Diagnostic Information: Feature: MATLAB License path: /home/main-user/.matlab/R2016b_licenses:/usr/local/MATLAB/R2016b/licenses/license.dat:/usr/local/MAT LAB/R2016b/licenses/license_mainuser-ThinkPad-X1-Carbon-4th_3162281_R2016b.lic Licensing error: -9,57.

I am running it on Linux Mint and I had previously already the amount of installations on other computers that were permitted, so I went through the proper procedure for deactivating them and it is still not working.

Thank you

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

When you activated, you probably activated as root instead of as the username that you run the program under. Or if your system allows you to log in by name ("Christopher Sabin") instead of login ID (the name you get back from "who am i", such as "chris") then you might have given the long form instead of the short form.

This is not a matter of failing to deactivate: the difficulty is that when you activated the current system, it asked what userid to activate it under, but whatever userid you gave then is not the userid you are using now.

[christopher sabin]

Thank you for your response Walter.

When I installed matlab, I used the sudo command in the command line because it wouldn't work without it.

However, if I activated it as root, then shouldn't I still be able to run it as long as I open it as root?

Should reinstalling and selecting the correct id solve the problem?

[Walter Roberson]

The very last step of installation it asks you which userid is going to run MATLAB; it then connects to Mathworks and generates a license file for that userid and retrieves it and stores it in some appropriate location. The userid named would be the one who could run MATLAB. The fact that you used sudo to have permissions to install is not important for this matter: the question is who you name at that last step.

You should be able to re-activate. Sometimes the easiest way to do that is to ask it to reinstall the smallest toolbox you have, just so it puts you through to the proper step.

[christopher sabin]

Yeah you were right, I just had to name the right user, I found the answer here: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/99457-how-do-i-activate-matlab

It basically says to find this file and run it.

/usr/local/MATLAB/R2016b/bin/activate_matlab.sh