Cheapest way to get EV3 license codes?

[Lars Rasmussen]

Dear all

I bought Mindstom EV3 for my wife some years ago, and it seems to miss a license code, to utilize the software fully. Does this make sense? How do I get that code, suitable for win10 PC? Do I really need to purchase an education box at +200 €?

[Lok24]

No, never heard that. What software do you use, can you send a screenshot where license code is required?

[Jim]

Do you mean for the Edu version of the software? I remember something like that. You can simply use the retail version.

32 minutes ago, Lok24 said:

No, never heard that. What software do you use, can you send a screenshot where license code is required?

Good question 👍🏼

[Lars Rasmussen]

Sorry but I dont recall where the code is asked. 

My wife gave up on it, when it didn’t seem to work. She promised to try again, but that is now two years since. 
The set she has is “31313”, according to the manual.

Apparently I should have bought the education version, which my kids had in school where they programmed by iPad. My kids told me that the version I bought was almost useless, without their software. They claim the free software only has a reduced amount of features, compared with their school version. 

I can’t ask my wife, as I want to give her the eventual upgrade as a gift. She hates that I should spend more money on the set. It is a kind of dead-lock. 

Doesn’t it make sense? Doesn’t she need any codes?

[mortenm]

For the 31313 EV3, you can download the software for free from lego.com: https://www.lego.com/da-dk/themes/mindstorms/downloads

No license required. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by mortenm

[Lok24]

the set 31313 never contained any software, it was always free for download from the LEGO site.

You don't need any code. But software might now look different from that your kids used.
Today it is based on Scratch, formerly it was based on LabVIEW.

But the features shold be the same.

 

[Lars Rasmussen]

That sounds terrific!! I will let her know now, and hope she starts to work with the set, with renewed energy :-D 

Thanks for your help! :-D 

[Tcm0]

Back when the EV3 first came out the education software cost money but now everything is free.

There are a few differences in software that you should be aware of.
Home/Education:
31313 is the home edition but there is also an education set with other sensors and parts, building instructions and some additional blocks (e.g. for the renewable energy set and temperature sensor). Also, the education software features datalogging (at keast the LabVIEW version).
LabVIEW/ Scratch:
The original EV3 software from 2013 is labview. It's programming interface goes from left to right and the blocks have icons, no text. It also supports older sensors for the NXT model and 3rd party sensors.
The labview software doesn't work on current MacOS systems. That's probably one of the reasons why lego started to develop a new software for the EV3 that uses scratch as a base. It's a programming language that many children get teached in the school but the scratch software has limited features (e.g. no support for NXT sensors, the renewable energy set and the temperature sensor).

LabVIEW home: https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/mindstorms/downloads, scroll to "Retired LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Home Edition software for PC and Mac"
LabVIEW Education: https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/retiredproducts/mindstorms-ev3-lab/software
Scratch home: https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/mindstorms/downloads, scroll to "LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Home apps for macOS, Windows 10, iOS and Android tablets"
Scratch Education: https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/mindstorms-ev3/software#downloads

[Lars Rasmussen]

Thanks for the deep info! My wife is now brushing the dust of the package, and soon we will know what works :-)

[Jim]

17 hours ago, Tcm0 said:

Back when the EV3 first came out the education software cost money but now everything is free.

Yeah, this is what I meant.