iLok bit the dust

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cale w
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iLok bit the dust

Post by cale w » Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:12 am

My 2nd generation iLok has developed the flashing blue light of death. No computer will recognize it, and my Google sleuthing has led me to believe this is a common problem with the 2nd gen units and my options now are limited.

As I understand, I can spend $50 to return my broken unit to PACE and have it replaced, which with shipping time and what-not can take up to two weeks, in which time my work is completely on hold. Alternatively, I can spend closer to $200 to have my licenses made temporarily available for two weeks while I wait PACE to get me a replacement. Either way, I'm out precious money and time to continue to use software I own and need to continue working on projects.

Does anyone else have any experience with this issue? I probably don't have to tell anyone how frustrating this is. I understand the importance of anti-piracy in the software world, but it's hard not feel like I'm getting fleeced because of a known-to-be defective USB dongle.

Bro Shark
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Post by Bro Shark » Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:31 pm

So fucked. I guess you're not playing for Zero Downtime?. And they're gonna fleece you for it. Condolences.

Assholes.

cale w
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Post by cale w » Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:36 pm

Yeah, that's about then size of it.

chris harris
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Post by chris harris » Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:01 pm

The same thing happened to me recently. In my case, I bought a replacement locally, and had my new permanent licenses within about 3 days of shipping them mine (next day shipping.)

Now, I have Zero Down Time. I know that value is relative. But, now, a few months later, $30/year seems dirt cheap to avoid the horrible situation I found myself in.

It sucks that copy protection has to exist. But, it does.

Here's another bummer for you: When you get your new iLok and add ZDT to it, you're gonna have to buy ANOTHER iLok to keep as a spare to use for your temporary licenses, should you ever need to use the ZDT coverage.

At the time it happened to me, I was pretty outraged about the fact that it broke to begin with AND that is was such a hassle to replace. But, honestly, they took care of it all pretty quickly. And, in my case, reloading the licenses was a pretty simple and painless process.

I had considered ZDT in the past, and just blew it off because I didn't think that I would need it. But, if downtime is as much of a drag (financially and/or otherwise) to you as it is to me, at least they offer a reasonably priced service to eliminate that downtime while they retrieve and reissue your permanent licenses.

Good luck! Sorry! I totally feel your pain. I had to postpone 4 full day mixing sessions, which screwed up my finances for the month and screwed up my schedule for about 3 weeks.

Bro Shark
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Post by Bro Shark » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:03 pm

$30/month for the privilege of access to your tools. Unbelievable.

Somebody please explain to me how this is different from paying organized crime for "protection."

Feel free to tell me this is off topic (it is, sorta) and I'll take it elsewhere, but man... what a racket.

LowG
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Post by LowG » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:30 pm

I wonder what a better system would be? I do like the portability of my plugs that are licensed on my ILok. Maybe there's a better way to give the same protection/benefits with new technology?

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:11 pm

Bro Shark wrote:$30/month for the privilege of access to your tools. Unbelievable.

Somebody please explain to me how this is different from paying organized crime for "protection."

Feel free to tell me this is off topic (it is, sorta) and I'll take it elsewhere, but man... what a racket.
It's 30 bucks A YEAR...

I have been paying this since I needed the first gen. iLok to run some PT plug ins. I still have that iLok, which must be about 7-8 years old now.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:16 pm

LowG wrote:I wonder what a better system would be? I do like the portability of my plugs that are licensed on my ILok. Maybe there's a better way to give the same protection/benefits with new technology?
This perhaps:

http://www.waves.com/support/waves-license-center

I use it with my Mercury bundle. It works very well.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

chris harris
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Post by chris harris » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:43 pm

Yeah, there are a few other ways. I just updated to Reason 7. It's got some kind of new authorization scheme where you can store your authorization on a computer or a dongle, and also authorize per use via the internet.

Bro Shark
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Post by Bro Shark » Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:25 am

Nick Sevilla wrote:It's 30 bucks A YEAR...
Ha! :oops: Well, my outrage remains... some of it anyway...

Switched to Reaper myself, so I'm over it.

cale w
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Post by cale w » Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:05 pm

So I bought a new iLok today (was going to need it anyway) and by an act of glorious luck, the old one worked when I plugged it in, just long enough to transfer all my licenses over to the new one. Then it promptly stopped working again. Phew. Maybe I should look into that ZDT thing...

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:22 pm

cale w wrote:So I bought a new iLok today (was going to need it anyway) and by an act of glorious luck, the old one worked when I plugged it in, just long enough to transfer all my licenses over to the new one. Then it promptly stopped working again. Phew. Maybe I should look into that ZDT thing...
Lucky man... yes, you should get the yearly insurance, and turn on ZDT.
You have to restart ZDT every 90 days or so, don't forget, this way it stays current with your licenses.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

mrc
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Post by mrc » Fri Feb 07, 2014 11:26 pm

UAD seems just a lot better to me. I have both, but UAD gives me more processor power. iLok is just a pita. I don't care what others do, I'm running legal, why should I have to put up with problems to protect a vendor??? That's their problem, everyone wants to make their problem your problem. Fuck protecting software vendors and putting up with them shifting the problem to us, they should protect their clients. If someone sold a processor board that ran non UAD plugs, with no pita, I would be an early adapter. I've decided I don't need anymore iLok software. You can, too.

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Post by LowG » Sat Feb 08, 2014 1:02 pm

^
Funny, I wish UAD could be free of the card, and auth'ed via ILok. I love my UAD plugs, but I have plenty of processing power in my CPU and could run more instances if I was free of their proprietary card. And then the cost could be less too- I really didn't want to shell out for the multi-processor units, so I resigned to using low instance counts and printing the fx when needed.

It would also be much easier to go to other studios and have my plugs come with if UAD was on the ILok

UAD is shifting the responsibility (or I guess the cost) of copy protection to the consumer by forcing software to run on only their own expensive cards.

cale w
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Post by cale w » Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:13 pm

OP here again. I run UAD also (Laptop Solo) and feel the same way about that. I appreciated having the special processor to run the whiz-bang UAD plugs that would have bogged down my old laptop, but my new one has so much juice it makes me sad I can't devote any of it to the UAD stuff. Also, I'm going to be a sad bastard when that UAD dongle snaps off in the card slot. I've been pretty much Protools-only since 2003 and switching to and learning a new DAW program seems daunting, even if it meant not having to futz with the iLok.

Funny thing is, once I solved that iLok issue (by throwing money at it) I pretty much forgot about it overnight. I think it's fair to say the copy-protection racket runs on apathy, and much like insurance, makes a fuck ton of money for the people "protecting" you. My momma raised me right: I have zero interest in pirating software, and I want to support the companies that make a good product. But damn guys, cut us honest working dudes some slack?

Side note: after sorting out the iLok, I cheered myself up by buying the SoundToys Devil-Loc (another iLok-using company). That thing is muuuuuurder! Money CAN buy happiness ;)

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