I bought a couple of Arturia synths and upgraded my MiniV from 1.5 to 2.5. I had to install the eLicenser and after pissing about for an hour managed to authorise them all.

Today I d/l the Lector (eLicenser) demo and installed it and authorised it and guess what? All the synths are now unauthorised and eLicensor won't even connect to the server to resolve this. Even when I close Reaper these bastard Authorise windows won't close and I have to reboot to get rid of them.

WTF do I do now? Absolutely no help files or anything to explain what's gone wrong.

I really understand why people use warez when faced with crap like this. I thought IKmultimedia reg was bad enough but this is whole 'nother level of piss me off!

Anyone have a clue what's happened and how to solve it or do I need to completely reinstall Win7 as punishment for disturbing the delicate sensibilities of that POS eLicenser?

Oh, and if Arturia or Waldorf are reading this you have my word that I will never buy any of your software again until you ditch this malicious and destructive copy protection.

Try re-installing the latest elicenser driver. This has helped me in the past.

If that doesn't work than prepare to be out of business for a while. Arturia's tech support is pitiful. I think one of the worst in the business. Even though I love Spark, I'd never buy their products again.

Syncrosoft eLicenser is the worst piece of software I came across. Really poor design overall making users scratch their head in search of solutions.

I had issues with Cubase trial which I never got working, and recently Arturia stuff.

All was good for Arturia until I chose Oberheim which was not part of the original license database. A lot of strange long timeouts and error messages which had no relevant info for user.

Tried to update license database, but then same thing happend, strange error messages and finally saying something about wrong format and eLIcenser needs to be updated and pointed to a site.

I had to go to this site and update eLicenser software. Then trying to download new license database.

Then I could licens Oberheim.

Copy protection should be all transparent to users. You should even know about it other than entering a code somewhere. But this crap is more work than using the actuall product you use, almost anyway.

Having this kind of trouble with Cubase 2 years ago one would think that now they have made it transparent to users - but no. Steinberg now owning Syncrosoft should be ashamed.

Sorry, I have no idea what you should do. If they cannot mix eLicenser versions for different brands and products it's really beyond anybodys understanding.

Seems Syncrosoft are so focused on making it difficult to crack that they forget all about the mess they create for users buying different products.

I can understand that Arturia nowhere says it's Syncrosoft. Asking about copy protection they just say:
- it's a file stored on disk, no hardware lock needed.


They should look at Native Instruments Service Center which I find is an example to follow. If there is a later version of Service Center it updates itself without any intervention from users. Really neat and no hazzle for users.

Whenever you install a new piece of software that uses eLicenser you are prompted to download and install the latest version of eLicenser. It's just a matter of reading the installation instructions, something that one should always do eLicenser or not. I guess the OP could be in the same case.

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear it has bitten you both too. I eventually did uninstall eLicenser, shut down and then reinstalled it. Thankfully this worked.

It's like having a wild animal that you never know when it will turn on you. I bloody hate Syncrosoft and hope they get shut down. It's the most intrusive system I've ever used (apart from that Waves junk that won't work with Reaper.)

NI seem to have got it right. Maybe IKMultimedia, Arturia, Waldorf and Waves will learn from them someday. Some hope...

After installing Lector I followed the eLicenser prompt, allowed it to do its maintenance download and then inserted the Lector activation code which it authorised...or so I thought. When I opened Reaper all the eLicenser plugins were in demo mode. If it's supposed to be straight forward why did it go wrong?

Agreed, I know how much some hate this kind of copy protection, but if it has to be done, this is the way. And they're really straightforward with license transfers as well.

I kind of wondrered whether I should consider Largo with today's sale, but this amongst other reasons (no 64 bit, slightly redundant) makes me forget about it.

Syncrosoft dongle is ok. Never got in my way. (again always remember to download the latest version)

Anyone already succeeded using the Waldorf sale today? When I tried 01:00 German time the coupon code wasn't accepted.....

Yes, tried last night as well but this morning it's working fine...

I still have Cubase Sequel that i never got to work with elicenser ......

NI are straight forward with license transfers? What planet do you live on?

Yes, no transfer fees, doesn't become NFR, new user has all rights. Send NI request, sell, send serial number, buyer registers, done.
To me, that's straightforward, but I'd like to hear your opinion.

I agree - NI have always been superb when I've had to contact them for license transfers. Other support they are not so good at, however.

I've had some problems when installing Cubase for the first time as the eLicencer soft on the disc had to be updated, which interfered with the install of the soft. But since then everything works fine, also the add-on of Padshop Pro.

But yes, me too I prefer other methods. Like Native Instruments, Izotope, Camelaudio and Celemony just to name a few.

I can well understand that companies get very frustrated when they see their hard work being used by non-paying users. But from the pov of a paying customer I hate the feeling of being taken as hostage and have to suffer the copy protection method that is not even meant to be against me.