I have installed the trial version of MatLab and I am trying the symbolic math. It is included according to the ver command I get this response:

MATLAB                                                Version 9.3         (R2017b)
Computer Vision System Toolbox                        Version 8.0         (R2017b)
Image Acquisition Toolbox                             Version 5.3         (R2017b)
Image Processing Toolbox                              Version 10.1        (R2017b)
Neural Network Toolbox                                Version 11.0        (R2017b)
Parallel Computing Toolbox                            Version 6.11        (R2017b)
Signal Processing Toolbox                             Version 7.5         (R2017b)
Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox               Version 11.2        (R2017b)
Symbolic Math Toolbox                                 Version 8.0         (R2017b)
Undefined function or variable 'Trial'.

Trial>> syms x y
License checkout failed.
License Manager Error -5
Cannot find a license for Symbolic_Toolbox.

Troubleshoot this issue by visiting:
http://www.mathworks.com/support/lme/R2017b/5

Diagnostic Information:
Feature: Symbolic_Toolbox
License path: C:\Users\Ejer\AppData\Roaming\MathWorks\MATLAB\R2017b_licenses;C:\Program
Files\MATLAB\R2017b\licenses\license.dat;C:\Program
Files\MATLAB\R2017b\licenses\trial_4723514_R2017b.lic
Licensing error: -5,357.

Error in sympref (line 79)
  varargin = sym.convertStrings(varargin);

Error in syms (line 195)
calledFromBase = mupadmex('', 8);

Warning: Failed to initialize symbolic preferences. 
> In syms (line 195) 
Error using sym
License checkout failed.
License Manager Error -5
Cannot find a license for Symbolic_Toolbox.

[Walter Roberson]

Experiment with invoking MATLAB from the command line with the option

-c "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2017b\licenses\trial_4723514_R2017b.lic"

[Ditlef Bucher]

I must say I don’t know what you mean by this. If I send this command from the Command Prompt in MatLab I get the following response:

Trial>> -c "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2017b\licenses\trial_4723514_R2017b.lic" -c "C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2017b\licenses\trial_4723514_R2017b.lic" ↑ Error: Unexpected MATLAB operator.

Best regards

Ditlef Bucher

[Greg Heath]

How do you get the word Trial before >> ?

[Ditlef Bucher]

It seems to be the trial version command prompt

[Walter Roberson]

The -c needs to be used at the time of start up.

Commonly used startup options: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/commonly-used-startup-options.html

Specifying startup options from command line: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/start-matlab-on-windows-platforms.html#bvkp81g-1

Specifying startup options from shortcut: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/startup-options.html#f8-27723

Answer 1

[john white]

Symbolic Maths Toolbox included in Matlab R2017b and current Matlab2018a do not function. The last working one was in the release Matlab2017a. If you try syms x get busy in status and the memory of the ML process steadily increases.

[Walter Roberson]

Someone reported something similar a couple of days ago; see https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/392947-matlab-memory-leak-when-creating-symbolic-variables . No resolution yet.

[Steven Lord]

See this Answer.

Answer 2

[john white]

Please take note that my previous comments are strictly for the Windows version. Symbolic Math Toolbox works on the Linux systems without an issue. (I have tested on R2018a - for linux). @ Ditlef Bucher - This is SOLELY an issue with the SMT - other toolkits do work properly since you have NOT tested it why comment?

[Walter Roberson]

This is incorrect. The error 5 problem can occur on any platform. I have had it happen on Mac and Linux.

The issue is whether MATLAB can find a license that includes the product.

Trial licenses are not always stored in the same directory that permanent license are stored in (exact choice of directories depends upon platform and MATLAB release.) Even if they are in the same directory if MATLAB sees a valid trial license then it will use it in preference to the non-trial license in the same directory -- which can be a problem if the trial license did not include some products that the permanent license included.

Even without trial licenses, it is possible to end up with licenses in more than one directory, most commonly if an administrator installs the licenses without going in and scrubbing the licenses in the other valid directory locations.

Another situation where this can happen occurs with networked licenses, especially in cases where the user has a valid local license that does not include a product, and as well is authorized to connect to a network license that includes additional products (such as would be the case if the administrators installed floating licenses for some of the lesser-used or more expensive products.) In situations where the networked license server becomes unavailable, then MATLAB might not be able to find a license for the product. (In cases where all of the floating licenses are reachable but are "used up", already all in use, then a different error message would be issued.)

Answer 3

[Ditlef Bucher]

I have been through the suggestions you sent without result. I think I have to give up here. If I buy MatLab Home with Symbolic Math - can I be sure it will work?

[Walter Roberson]

No you cannot be sure that it will work.

You should be contacting Mathworks for free installation assistance.

The evidence at the moment suggests that the trial license you are using does not include the symbolic toolbox. It is possible that more than one trial license was issued if you did not happen to request all of the products at the same time.

[Karan Gill]

I recommend calling support at the phone number for your country: https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html

[Ditlef Bucher]

Thank you very much for your help. I have solved the problem now. When I run the ver command - symbolic math was listed but not installed and activated. When I downloaded and activated it - everything was fine

[Walter Roberson]

ver cannot list anything that is not installed: it searches through the installed files for files that list the contents. However ver does list items that are not licensed.

I suspect that you either asked for a trial of additional toolboxes on ab existing license but did not activate the trial license, or else that you asked that more trial toolboxes be added to a trial license but did not activate the revised trial license.

[Ditlef Bucher]

Thank you for your comments. You are right.

Answer 4

[Ditlef Bucher]

Thank you very much. I downloaded a trial version containing 8 Toolboxes including the Symbolic Math Toolbox according to the Ver list. I have only looked at the Image Toolbox and it seems to function. It should be possible to do Symbolic Math with MatLab.

[Walter Roberson]

You should contact Mathworks for free installation assistance. The volunteers who answer questions here do not have access to the license database so we cannot check what was issued to you.

Answer 5

[john white]

I can confirm that update1 released for MatlabR2018 fixes the issue with the Symbolic Toolbox. It was touted as a windows 10 spring update problem. Which is in line with my experience as I was running that version. I cannot say if the problem would occur on an windows 10 prior to the spring update. However it also affected R2017b.

[Steven Lord]

Yes, this Answer states that "As far as we know, only MATLAB R2017b and R2018a are affected."