Tracktion Software

Frippertronix · Post by **Frippertronix** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:14 am

I figured I'd need a Mackie support person to erase my first machine ID on the website and let me get a new keyfile for machine #1 (since my new plugin bundle spontaneously generated a new challenge code while still on the same machine).

But now I see that the website will let you just go in and change a machine code youself and get a new keyfile (I still haven't generated the machine #2 key yet). seems to defeat the purpose of c/r if you can just get a new code from the website when you feel like it, unless they only allow a limited number of changes.

waiting man · Post by **waiting man** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:04 am

Frippertronix wrote:...unless they only allow a limited number of changes.

that's where the sugar crack is. beware.

rivrock · Post by **rivrock** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:05 pm

Approximately 10 machine ID number changes it seems, and then you're locked out.

According to the website, a simple reinstall could require a new machine ID number.

This is totally unacceptable for me, as I frequently reformat my OS

I like Tracktion, and have gotten used to working with it, but this has forced me to look for something a little more permanent, software that will be there for me the next time I reinstall it.

~

flanneljammies · Post by **flanneljammies** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:20 pm

I've had to reinstall a couple of times and I've always been able to use my original keyfile.

spacefox · Post by **spacefox** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:53 pm

flanneljammies wrote:I've had to reinstall a couple of times and I've always been able to use my original keyfile.

Never had the ID change on reinstall too, but on Mackie's site they warn you it might happen.

Reinstalling XP changes ID for me every time. In order not to "waste" registrations, I often wait a couple of days before registering - just for to make sure the system is stable, if I can afford to (time-wise).

Tracktion C/R implementation is terrible. Take frequent ID changes combine with no grace period before you need to register and add deadlines and you have an accident waiting to happen.

Tim Brackett · Post by **Tim Brackett** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:01 pm

The best way to deal with this with any software is to make incremental image file backups of your OS drive. My system quit booting up the afternoon before a gig to record a live performance. I had prepaired for this but it made me real nervous. I pulled out my disk with the image file and restored the OS drive while I took a shower and then went off to the gig. I wouldn't have had the time to do a renistall much less mess around with machine IDs and key files. I just upgraded the OS on that system and I waited until I had the time knowing that I would likely need a new key file. That is the first time I had to have a new file. I have had the ID change on me before but I restored the OS drive and then did my upgrades one at a time and had no more problems.

spacefox · Post by **spacefox** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:10 pm

Tim Brackett wrote:The best way to deal with this with any software is to make incremental image file backups of your OS drive. My system quit booting up the afternoon before a gig to record a live performance. I had prepaired for this but it made me real nervous. I pulled out my disk with the image file and restored the OS drive while I took a shower and then went off to the gig. I wouldn't have had the time to do a renistall much less mess around with machine IDs and key files. I just upgraded the OS on that system and I waited until I had the time knowing that I would likely need a new key file. That is the first time I had to have a new file. I have had the ID change on me before but I restored the OS drive and then did my upgrades one at a time and had no more problems.

Well, the best way is actually avoid C/R protected software.
Having failed to do that, there are several workarounds - yours being a decent one. Won't help if you need to switch to another machine due to a malfunction, for example, but usable for most cases. Still, you need to apply workarounds just to use a software you own.

Challenge/ Response means you need to ask permission to use a product you paid for.
Challenge/ Response implementation in Tracktion means you are more likely to find yourself in a predicament due to that.

MarioC · Post by **MarioC** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:11 pm

Spacefox be careful about reinstalling XP. I was installing XP Pro on a CPU I was building and for some reason it just would not install. Just go so far and then quit. Then it would not take the product code number. So I called MS and they told me that I could only load it so many times before I would have to call and get a new product code number for it. They gave me one and it installed no problem.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:57 pm

I don't love C/R. I just can't think of any better alternatives except for "no copy protection".

Serial Numbers are... well... they SEEM OK, but they don't protect the rights of the manufacturer, either. They're so easily cracked that you might as well not bother. Which is why some people LIKE them, I guess.

If I didn't care about my peeps who earn a living with this software, I'd be all over serial #. But, starting with Jules and moving to the new guard at Mackie, that's a great bunch of folks and I think they deserve a level of protection that serial # simply doesn't provide.

Leaving what other options?

Greg

anopenscroll · Post by **anopenscroll** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:02 pm

Trust. ala Sonar.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:05 pm

It's an option, I guess. Don't they use serial #? In any case, I suspect that trust is something Sonar can afford, and which Mackie's Tracktion division (it's not like ALL of Mackie can carry any one particular division, they have to be self-sufficient after a point) is still growing into.

Not that I think they'll ever change it. But when Tracktion takes over the world and they haven't changed it, I might be more inclined to complain about it, too.

chico.co.uk · Post by **chico.co.uk** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:27 pm

Trust. Ah, okay, I guess you don't have locks on your doors either?

<cue endless arguments about how easy locks are for burglars to break / you're only making it harder for your real friends to come round to visit and what happens the day you lose your keys down the pub after one too many shandies ... etc etc etc ad infinitum>

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:00 am

Exactly....

Not to mention that it's not the users that any given company with copy protection doesn't trust. It's the non-users.

I don't know why people take it so personally. I've seen the argument, "why should WE be punished?" a million times, too, and it's just rhetoric only thinly disguised as logic/sense.

Greg

spacefox · Post by **spacefox** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:27 am

Lunch Money wrote:Exactly....

Not to mention that it's not the users that any given company with copy protection doesn't trust. It's the non-users.

The only thing keeping me from using a pirated copy of Tracktion is my moral and/or practical choise not to do so. Copy protection has nothing to do with it. I assure you you can download T2 in just about any popular P2P network.
C/R copy protection does not prevent piracy. It is a means to regulate the number of computers the user can install the software on. It is definitely directed toward (should I say: against) the user. "Non-users" are not affected in the slightest.

I don't know why people take it so personally.

Nothing personal here. It interupts with my using of the software, and therefore I consider it a flaw in the product.
I would like things to change in that department, the same way I would like a certain feature implemented in T.

I've seen the argument, "why should WE be punished?" a million times, too, and it's just rhetoric only thinly disguised as logic/sense.

I know why we should be punished. We should be punished because WE, the customers, seem to be more interested in the company's rights then are own.

Speaking of arguments repeated a million times and rhetoric only thinly disguised as logic/sense:
can anything be blame on the demonic warez users? High prices, intrusice copy protection, product failure, bankrupcies? Poor, poor software companies.

kenjkelly · Post by **kenjkelly** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:29 am

I like the Tracktion system better than the "Dongle" situation faced by other DAW users. You can see lots of compliants by those folks who have lost (stolen) or broken a dongle, or if the dongle quits working. Those folks are up in arms because they have to buy another entire license at $499->$799 each. They also don't have the ability to run in parallel on two machines (for me my try-it system and my real system).
The other DAW users also have to BUY the dongle seprerately when it is not included AND must deal with another company that owns the dongle software. Given what I see there, I'm very happy.

Tracktion Software

KVR Audio

Interesting...