Death to the Registration Tool

a better way

The problem with the registration system is:

1. You need to reregister after minor changes to your system.
2. The registration site is poorly designed.
3. You have to go through the process multiple times after each change, for each product and for each update.

All of these problems are the result of poor design and all can be fixed with a good design. Dongles are not necessary, but neither is the current system:

1. Only require reregistering if you actually switch computers.
2. Registration site should be able to do what is needed in a single screen, including deactivation if needed, and without having to fill in new information each time.
3. Should only need one registration/activation/authorization number to activate all your products. The registration number can include the products you are registered for encoded within.

 

The Registration Tool is the most infuriating, pointless, time-and-money wasting copy protection scheme I've come across. Today I reinstalled all my Kompakt players, and then found that, thanks to some error on the NI website, I am unable to register any of my libraries. Since the libraries have to be registered to be operable in Kontakt, and all my projects are Kontakt based, I can do nothing until this is repaired.

This is not the first time NI has put me in this predicament either.

I am running out of patience. NI, please fix this NOW!!!!!!

©hris

 

Just wanted to say that if every product has its own dongle very soon our computers may become some kind of a "dongle hedgehogs"..

 

Lee is not correct. iLok.com does not charge for support. Apparently they used to a while ago, but changed their site to remove the fee. I guess they did that because people complained.

Basically iLok.com is free. You can use it to move licenses around between your iLoks, and the software vendors can send licenses to your account for download.

The only charges come in when you want premium services, which are all optional. I decided to pay $30 for their Zero Downtime. My main iLok is several years old and certainly out of warranty. I'm now covered so if it breaks, I can get 2 week licenses 24/7 to keep my stuff running during the RMA process. So far I haven't had to use the ZDT. But for $30, it's worth it just for peace of mind.

There's been a lot of discussion on iLok.com on the DUC. There's hundreds, if not thousands of posts. From what I've read there, I think that professionals are mostly happy with iLok.

Sure some people want it to be smaller and cheaper and they want ZDT to be free. But on the whole I think it's the best solution to the CP problem.

Now if I could just get all my software on my iLok.

Regards,
--
Konstantine

 

A dongle would be a real pain for really large libraries like EWQLSO Platinum. I need a half dozen computers to get an orchestral palette and would need many more if I wanted all 3 mic placements available for 20+ instruments.

Personally I've registered and re-registered quite a few times now. Mainly because I've had to do a re-install of windows and the hardware profile code generated is completely different even though the hardware has remained static. The warning about not being able to reinstall on the same hardware configuration would not seem to prevent me installing over multiple computers by deactivating hardware profiles as I go. If something goes tits up enough that I'd need to reinstall the library again, I'd be reinstalling the OS again with a new hardware profile code generated.

Ergo it seems the current process doesn't really prevent having multiple instances as a sole user, just makes it more difficult for pirates to copy disks for gain or for friends. And that is how it should be. Both samples and software EULA should be licences for a single person to use the expensive product they have bought. The restriction on instances can only justifiably be about putting a curb on "lending" said samples and software to your mates (or profiting on its duplication in some way). If I need a hundred computers in my studio, it's just me that is using the samples or software. Frankly I object to having to have more than one XP licence for my computers. I'm not an office of 6 workers each with a computer - I'm just a single individual forced to use multiple computers simply because they aren't powerful or fast enough to do what's needed in a single box. Why should software manufacturers profit out of that?

 

I agree with zeichensprecher. I've heard too many dongle- and iLok-gone-wrong horror stories; I avoid both like the plague.
Reading this thread I see that a/b and Cyril have Macs; I wonder if Macs are more prone to minor H/W changes disrupting authorizations? I just changed my videocard without a blip on the auth radar; I'm pretty sure I've changed RAM too somewhere along the way without having to re-auth.
I'm not dissing your Macs, guys--I'm just saying, maybe one size does not fit all.
It looks like NI are phasing in the Service Center which may be an improvement over the Registration Tool; time will tell.
All I can say is that if they do offer a dongle- or iLok option, they should retain a challenge/response option like the Service Center or something similar that will not require external hardware or extra drivers to work, for those of us who have not had problems with the current system and prefer it over dongles.
Sorry to hear you are still having problems, a/b--have you tried the Service Center yet?

 

You can add cards to the mac without problems.

In the OS 9 days, the mac would run for decades with no problems and we would laugh at Windows people who have to reformat and reinstall. But OS X is not OS 9. I have to reformat and reinstall several times a year due to corruption issues - that incorruptible journalling file system OS X now has is not as flawless as Apple thinks. So each time you reinstall, even on the same partition, with no hardware changes of any kind, NI thinks you have a new computer and makes you reregister everything. It is a HUGE pain in the butt. They REALLY need to make it so that if you buy Komplete Kare, your registration code covers all the updates. Or they could EASILY encode a key in the authorization number saying the complete set of programs you are authorized for so only one number is needed.

 

I had many problem with OS X too on my G5 2x2, this was due to bad memory stick.

Since I fix the memory stick I am running on the same installation.

MAC OS X IS MUCH MORE RELIABLE THAN MAC OS 9

You have to run Apple Hardware Test "the intensive test" to check your system


You must not turn off the main when the MAC is running !

Best

Cyril

 

I didn't say OS X was less reliable in general. Although programs still crash like in OS 9, they no longer take the whole system down with them in most cases.

There are no hardware problems on this system. The problem is in software. OS X's new journalling file system, introduced in Panther, has concurrency bugs in it. But Apple believes that it is theoretically impossible to have file system corruption and they therefore no longer does a consistency check of the file system and repair problems found. So problems appear and build up. Also, the cache management is nonexistent, requiring people to make do or stumble along.

I use the shut down and don't unplug the computer. But note that theoretically according to apple, doing so will cause no damage to the system with its fancy journalling system.

 

Did you run Apple Hardware test "intensive" on your system ?

 

There's nothing wrong with my hardware. I also assist mac owners with their problems from time to time and often the solution is to reinstall teh operating system because things have become corrupt.

You should try it. I have noticed that you have posted about 1000 messages about the bad performance your G5 gives you with Kontakt, yet there are lots of G5 owners who don't have those problems. A complete reformat and reinstall will probably greatly improve your performance.

 

Damn , the one thing that is good about NI is that they don't use dongles.......

You know how many problems dongles give in Cubase?............LOTS........it's one of the most ugly things they have designed...

And as far as cracking goes....dongle keys are quite easy to crack. Unless when you let the program use the dongle key for almost everything it does....slows your program down but atleast it's hard to crack then. (not impossible though because crackers are quite fast most of the time)

 

dongles are great

I've been using Cubase for seventeen years now - since 1989.

At first there was cartridge protection. This was not great because the cartridge would often burn out and I had to drive 240 miles to exchange it for a new one.

Then there was key disk protection. This was awful since I had to keep inserting this disk and when it went bad, I couldn't access the program anymore.

Then there was the USB dongle. I have had this for many years. Never a single problem with it. I can switch computers in an instant. And Cubase always handles system upgrades no problem - I have never once had to reinstall Cubase, I just copy the files over from the old disk and I am ready to go.

Of the hundreds of people I know that use Cubase I have never met a single person with a dongle problem. I have also never met a single person who has cracked the dongle protection.

So I don't know what to make of all these people on the internet who claim that the dongles don't work and are easy to break.

 

Everything is running smooth and fast on my two G5. K2 is just very slow compared with the EXS

Most of the problem I have with K2 are because I use QLSO platinum, a 24 bits lib.
K2 is slow with 16 bits libs and is VERY slow with 24 bits lib.

K 2.1 have solved a few problems but no improvement has been done on the engine. I have not tested 2.1.1 yet.

All The performance test I have done was confirm by another person. This was using no DFD.
I can send you the samples and the song to do the same test if you want.
I have been beta testing other sampler player, they had the same problem than K2, very slow. After everybody reported this problem this company improved the code and now it is running fast.

Best

Cyril

 

Technically, they may work, but if you're working on a laptop there's a limit to how many dongles you want sticking out of it.

 

One problem with the Steinberg/Syncrosoft dongle: If it for some reason is broken, you can´t get a replacement there and then. No emergency solution, either. So some drunk at a concert stumbles over my Mac and breaks the dongle, there will be no more Steinberg sounds that night...

With iLok, the story is quite different; One can get an insurance for the dongle that will help if it is broken, and one will get emergency licenses and save the evening. This requires a spare dongle, and will not last forever. But it might help performing artists.

When I started using NI products, I really liked the fact that there´s no hardware key. And IF there licensing system was working flawlessly and 24-7, I´d not be complaining. So let´s hope it becomes like that.

 

People seem to pirate software anyway, so why pester legitimate users with dongles and the like?

 

I have got a similar problem, I spent to days to solve the problem to get my copy of Kontakt 3 activitated, but invain.
This is the most terrible procedure these people have invented, and you're right, people with cracks are allready working with it , while people who are honest enough to pay
have yo make all the effort in the world to get their legal copies working.Their punishing their customers while being ineffective in protecting the software.
The authorisation of the dongle - Steinberg-sometimes causes trouble, but the solution of that occurs in one day, but this, well....I received my copy a week ago, and I am wondering wether this problem will be solved in any near future.

 

I agree that the service center is a pain in the arse. Mine for some reason can nolonger connect to the internet. It used to be able to, and everything else on my system can.

A better system is neaded, but I don't think a dongle is the answer, as new customers would have to wait for a dongle to be sent to them rather than just downloading a license. Dongles are old hat.

 

A dongle is certainly not the answer.
The answer is less paranoia and more competence.
Propellerheads have no dongle, and you have to do some work, but it is done in less than a half hour, and then you start, and of course they are also concerned about protection.