NVMe-oF Initiator 2.0.0.745 (WS2022) - service accepts license but driver reports lic:0
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2026 3:21 am
Product: StarWind NVMe-oF Initiator 2.0.0.745, Windows Server 2022, Hyper-V host US-CLUSTER9-1
License: trial license, expires 2026-12-02
Symptoms:
- StarNVMfInitiatorService.exe --checklicense: "Licensed to: ' ', 'none', (#32, 0, 20261202)."
- Service console: "License is valid. Sending info to our drivers..." then "Can't connect to StarNVMeoF driver."
- StarNVMeoF_Ctrl.exe status (no switch): "Driver not found! StarNVMeoF driver open error, status == 55"
- StarNVMeoF_Ctrl.exe -a16 status: "Our Miniport #16 (ver 2.0.745, lic:0)", drvLic = invalid
- Discovery 172.88.1.2:4420 from 172.88.1.1: STAR_NVMEOF_IOCTL_DISCOVERY failed, status 0xc0000030
- sc stop StarNVMeoF: ControlService FAILED 1052
Done so far: driver installed (ROOT\SCSIADAPTER\0000 OK in Device Manager), service Running, MPIO path verification enabled. Set up on US-CLUSTER9-1, -3 and -5.
Questions:
1. Why does the service fail to hand the license to the driver, and how do we make it accept the license?
2. Why does the default adapter lookup return "Driver not found" when -a16 works?
3. Is a trial license expected to load on this build, or is a newer initiator required?
License: trial license, expires 2026-12-02
Symptoms:
- StarNVMfInitiatorService.exe --checklicense: "Licensed to: ' ', 'none', (#32, 0, 20261202)."
- Service console: "License is valid. Sending info to our drivers..." then "Can't connect to StarNVMeoF driver."
- StarNVMeoF_Ctrl.exe status (no switch): "Driver not found! StarNVMeoF driver open error, status == 55"
- StarNVMeoF_Ctrl.exe -a16 status: "Our Miniport #16 (ver 2.0.745, lic:0)", drvLic = invalid
- Discovery 172.88.1.2:4420 from 172.88.1.1: STAR_NVMEOF_IOCTL_DISCOVERY failed, status 0xc0000030
- sc stop StarNVMeoF: ControlService FAILED 1052
Done so far: driver installed (ROOT\SCSIADAPTER\0000 OK in Device Manager), service Running, MPIO path verification enabled. Set up on US-CLUSTER9-1, -3 and -5.
Questions:
1. Why does the service fail to hand the license to the driver, and how do we make it accept the license?
2. Why does the default adapter lookup return "Driver not found" when -a16 works?
3. Is a trial license expected to load on this build, or is a newer initiator required?