SOLVED: Beware New iLok (HD?) Authorised Software Installations

[zynaptiq]

Compyfox, your insistence on trying to bring my company into the focus here is starting to annoy me, to be honest. PACE emailed me that they fixed an issue on their end. What else do you need to hear?

[Fleer]

Zynaptiq, I feel for you. Compyfox indeed isn't cricket.
Anyway, as I wrote, this thread got me to check out your website.
And now I'm interested in getting to know your plugins.
So, something good could come out of this after all.
But my case at least proves you're not to blame.
At least iLok/Pace should apologize.

[dayjob]

Yep, PACE just told us that as of now, the issue has been fixed. Thanks to the people who helped us get them the information they needed to resolve this so quickly.

Basically, you should simply start ILM – a progress bar should show up. Let that complete before quitting ILM. All should be good afterwards.

OR

Simply run ADAPTIVERB (or any other software that has the "activation experience"). This also fixes the issue.

and thank you for being very responsive to this problem and doing whatever you could do to get the ball rolling and sorting it. I hope it didn't overshadow the amazing piece of software you released! which really is quite wonderful and honestly i expected not to be interested in a reverb anything but it's quite special what you've made with adaptiverb.

[lnikj]

Fixed at last.

The fix did not work at first (OS X). When I restarted ILM I got the scary message: ServerUnexpectedException: Database commit failed. Any attempt to log in resulted in the same message.

However, a reboot fixed this and all appears to be well (at the moment!).

I have amended the thread title and original post.

--

I started this thread as a warning to others of a problem. I reported what had happened to me. I was very clear, I hope, at the outset that the problem was an iLok problem and not a Zynaptiq problem.

Since Saturday night I have been in regular communication with Denis at Zynaptiq, supplying him with files. I have no idea what other vendors with problems have been doing but I know that Denis has been busting a gut to get this solved. He was simply in the unlucky place of having released the latest bit of iLok authorised software just after people began to experience iLok problems.

I am unhappy with Pace about what has happened because it has cost me many hours of my time. I have not suffered financially as others have done. Zynaptiq, however, have been caught in the crossfire and have good reason to be angrier than anybody that Pace have managed to sabotage their launch. I hope all goes well for them now because this is a great and innovative product.

Many thanks to Denis and to those who have contributed to this thread and helped solve this.

[arachnaut]

Started ILM. No progress bar. Checked for updates. No updates.

Same here - no updates. I tried the manual update check - none to be found.

[lnikj]

Started ILM. No progress bar. Checked for updates. No updates.

Same here - no updates. I tried the manual update check - none to be found.

Whatever PACE have done it doesn't appear to result in an update. My version (OS X) is still 3.0.3.552, as it was before. Try rebooting if you haven't already. It didn't work for me until I did that.

[Fleer]

Yep. Fingers crossed.

[wasi]

...(or any other software that has the "activation experience").

The 'Activation Experience'.

[robotmonkey]

I hope you REALLY meant this as a joke.

- U-HE uses serial and time bomb (plus some more stuff that is a trade secret - dig out Urs' threads)

- Camel Audio used C/R and f*cked over a sh*tload of users with their announcement "whelp - we stop business now - you have 4-5 months left to backup everything you can get and pray that your tools keep on working", while after a couple of weeks the C/R server slowly started to act up and made it impossible for users to continue using what they recently bought/updated. Then they were "integrated" into Apple Logic with Windows users being shown "the Finger" (not the NI trigger tool, mind you)

Better by a longshot? I full-heartedly disagree.

Not a joke. U-he protection is still uncracked (unlike iLok) and it appears to paying users as a simple serial protection. No dealing with license managers, system level driver installations and other PACE-like cr@p.

Camel Audio did not use C/R. Their protection was basically a keyfile that was baked into the installers. They even had a courtesy to remove all the personal user contact details from the latest installers. All the Camel Audio software can be installed without any problems at all. And even though it's now cracked, their protection held very well for a long time. It actually shows protection done well. I can in the future freely install all the Camel software I have despite company being long out of business.

That Camel Audio decided to fold their business and lef Windows users in the cold is entirely another matter.

[mcbpete]

Not a joke. U-he protection is still uncracked (unlike iLok) and it appears to paying users as a simple serial protection

Oooh really, good going Urs - happy when small developers manage to keep the pirates at bay. Have a feeling Modartt's Pianoteq hasn't been cracked past version 2 either (could be wrong!)

[chk071]

I hope you REALLY meant this as a joke.

- U-HE uses serial and time bomb (plus some more stuff that is a trade secret - dig out Urs' threads)

- Camel Audio used C/R and f*cked over a sh*tload of users with their announcement "whelp - we stop business now - you have 4-5 months left to backup everything you can get and pray that your tools keep on working", while after a couple of weeks the C/R server slowly started to act up and made it impossible for users to continue using what they recently bought/updated. Then they were "integrated" into Apple Logic with Windows users being shown "the Finger" (not the NI trigger tool, mind you)

Better by a longshot? I full-heartedly disagree.

Not a joke. U-he protection is still uncracked (unlike iLok)

Urs himself said that some working cracks of one of their plugins have surfaced. Nonetheless it seems like a pretty nice copy protection. I like iLok too though i must say, regardless of the issues pointed out in this thread.

[Compyfox]

Come on, Compyfox, give it up.

I'm happy that you didn't say "Let it gooooo" - crap, now it's stuck in my head again.

If you're wondering whether it's Zynaptiq or Pace, well, then it's Pace.
Pace out.

Compyfox, your insistence on trying to bring my company into the focus here is starting to annoy me, to be honest. PACE emailed me that they fixed an issue on their end. What else do you need to hear?

Okay, to clear it one final time - it's not about barking up a certain developer's tree here. I'm criticizing the general CP bashing towards one company (and one company only, being Pace) before we really know for sure(!) where the bug came from, what it was that triggered it.

My questions in this thread were always directed at "did you try this", "could it be something else", etc?

"Your Company" (Zynaptiq, I've met you at Musikmesse 2014/2015 with your small booths, nice people, a bit of the hermit types though - interesting tools, yet horrible GUI's) happens to be amidst another allegedly "epic failure of Pace (and Pace alone)", so was AiR Music Technology (current blowout sale) and also Slate Digital (since they dropped "The Monster" and happened to overload the License Server for 3 hours - and instantly "only Pace was to blame" of course!). Though the final trigger(!) was (from what I gathered) Adaptiverb. This made the whole situation public in the first place.


Up to this point, we're still not sure if there was a glitch in the Ilok License Manager (ILM for short, Pace doesn't drop Release notes, so we can't be sure if there was a Manager update during that time frame that could have caused this), an OS update (Win 10 got updated in the meantime), or the software in question. Some people had this behavior after they merely changed passwords (and therefore maybe had influence on the HDD C/R key!!!), others after they had an auto update of "something", even others after they merely installed a plugin demo which needed a demo license key.

So who is ultimately to blame here?
Can we really clearly rule it out? I'd say no.



I have years of experience with various software companies as longtime user, beta tester, being close friends with devs, I have an IT background, etc. You have no idea how often I heard "company X is to blame", and that company in turn said "no Company Y is to blame - our SDK if flawless, you just suck implementing it", which then goes back "no Company X, you suck for not properly documenting it!".

This is annoying, this is frustrating - I can understand that - and it will always be fought out on the back of the users.


I understand the need for CP schemes, especially for tools where you put your blood and sweat into it. However, I've seen a lot of stuff throughout the years... and the blame can be pretty much split 50/50 for both the tool developer and the CP scheme, though with a clear tendency of blame towards the CP scheme.

On top of that... I'm still weary of the constant commentary "iLok this, iLok that" and "I won't use USB keys, because <insert reason>" - though it was clearly shown IN THIS CASE, that this was a huge mistake. In case of user dayjob - it even crippled him for weeks, because they used the iLok/HDD solution instead of the iLok/USB version (which in this example was error free) - then the MacBook of the user failed (which seems to be a known issue as well?!). Boom - out of commission for days. Of course then there is only Pace to blame, rather than looking at something else! Then we have a loud minority and other users that are ticked off from lord knows what - which results in these threads.

On the other hand - if it's just one user having severe problems with xyz dev - and that dev is somewhat respected (yet messed up as person, or with a completely bugged release), then it's "you're talking out of your rear end!" "you're hurting the reputation of the developer", "you're out to get him, man just STFU!", etc.

Double standards - and this is what drives me up the walls!

Companies that don't admit "we messed up, we're working on it", users constantly pointing fingers "only the CP company is at fault - because they suck!" (with a lot of valid reasons like general bad support, only one place of contact, etc). Then going apesh*t on a forum saying "booo, hissss, they suck!!! I'll never support such a punishing system!". And then if you ask these people "did you contact the developer in the first place? Did you start a support ticket and tried to ask for suitable help first? Did you make backups?!", all you get is an "errrrrr.... No, because I don't care who the f*ck is at fault - they SUCK - it's the weekend, I want it fixed NOW!"

This is the course of action in these type of threads 99% of the time.

Add to that the hijacked forum threads that talk about tools that use a certain form of CP like iLok (and may it only because it needs the drivers - like UVI did), then you constantly get "iLok sucks! I'd rather prefer <insert allegedly superior CP solution here>!". Rinse and Repeat! Constantly, even from users that will never buy the tool - just express their disdain.

This... is getting tiresome. And this... resulted in my original rant.


I'm not pointing a finger at one person or company, and that individual alone. All I wanted to do with my posts, was to make people aware that there are several(!) sides to a medal, not just the constant "black and white" thinking.

The issue got resolved, fairly quick even. Frayed tempers do calm down now, things go back to normal (until the next minor glitch in a week).

Maybe next time, how about not trying to break a butterfly on a wheel?





And finally, robotmonkey - we can continue this in a PM if you want - though there is not much more to add...

Not a joke. U-he protection is still uncracked (unlike iLok) and it appears to paying users as a simple serial protection. No dealing with license managers, system level driver installations and other PACE-like cr@p.

Once more - iLok2 (or the EDEN engine) was cracked once so far, and that was 2-3 months ago. Since then, various updates from both the CP engine and the developers in question made the cracks obsolete.

Also, you still ignore C/R and corresponding license managers. What about IK Multimedia? What about Native Instruments (that insist on a Manager), there was another company recently (can't remenber which) that introduced a License manager - also based on C/R.


A lot can be said about U-HE's CP scheme, if it's superior, the ultimate solution, does it really work, etc. All I know is that they still try to make the best out of it and actually poke fun at these users with their time bombs, hidden messages in code, etc. (really, Urs' posts about that are always pure gold!)

Camel Audio did not use C/R. Their protection was basically a keyfile that was baked into the installers. They even had a courtesy to remove all the personal user contact details from the latest installers. All the Camel Audio software can be installed without any problems at all. And even though it's now cracked, their protection held very well for a long time. It actually shows protection done well. I can in the future freely install all the Camel software I have despite company being long out of business.

Oh really - if this was just a "keyfile", then why was there an issue with people "activating the software" post the shut down of the server? Even with the new "keys"? Sounds like C/R to me.

(sidenote: I only had the free stuff from Camel Audio that didn't go that route - can't further comment on anything else)

That Camel Audio decided to fold their business and lef Windows users in the cold is entirely another matter.

Still adds to the equation. But YMMV, opinions and all.





ANYWAY - to get back on topic - I'm happy for the users that got their issues solved.
I'd still love to know what was the actual cause - but I guess we'll never get to know that.

[Fleer]

Well, I have two iLok2 dongles and am not so happy to keep on using them given this debacle, so if developers would find another way to protect their products, that would be lovely.
Just a bit strange that iLok/Pace as a company does not communicate and simply lets Compyfox do all the heavy lifting, over and over again.
I feel for him, never thought I'd come to write that, but I do.

[Compyfox]

Ultimately, it is their fault if we talk communication, Fleer...

But seriously... there is no clear painted black/white here. And I'm starting to get sick of these types of threads.

[Fleer]

Ultimately, it is their fault if we talk communication, Fleer...

But seriously... there is no clear painted black/white here. And I'm starting to get sick of these types of threads.

You could stay out of them, give your heart a rest. In fact, it's quite logical that those who were affected vehemently participate in this thread. Others may try to help, but should not get vexed by it.