iLOK warning

[MogwaiBoy]

+1 I had this happen after a BIOS or major cumulative Windows update - and not just iLok but licenses from other devs too.

Devs that have activation limits but don't allow you to remote deactivate licenses... are quite annoying when you fall into this trap.

When your harddrive crashes you can kiss goodbye to many licenses which will be activated to your dead computer forevermore.

[jens]

There is no guarantee that the providers will do this and (as it is a weekend) I suspect that I will be waiting for at least a few days (maybe more for some).

This sucks of course but don't worry - it's quicker and less painful than it seems. You only have to contact any one vendor. Choose one with good, fast and reliable support and which you have several/a lot of products from. Eventide for instance should be a good choice. The others then will follow suit one after another. The only bad experience I had is Wave Arts - it took months (or perhaps even more that a year?) for them to approve the request.


Edit: I just had a look and my last location reset request was made in march of 2021 - Wave Arts approved it in Dezember of 2022 i.e. it took them the better part of two years. Most vendors take (up to) a few days.

Edit 2: I just looked further into it - the vendor I chose to contact was Soundtoys. They answered and at once approved it on the same day and so did Eventide. Wave Arts aside the last vendor to approve it was AIR five days later. Softube and UVI took a day, PSP three.

[Calagan]

Scary ! Just to know, what is using ilok to ID the computer ?
I can understand it stops to work after a drive failure, but I don't get why it would not work anymore after a bios update or a windows update.
It could be interesting to know what not to do.

I never had any issue in 10 years of using iLok, but I'm on a mac and I NEVER upgraded my OS without a complete format of my hard drive - that implies removing all ilok licenses from the drive before installing the new OS. Maybe it's a different story on PC because of the constant OS and drivers updates, I don't know. But like someone said : it works, until it doesn't...

[Lazarus451]

That happens sometimes if you don't use iLok usb stick. You can restore your licenses immediately and without contacting anyone though, if you use restore point in your Windows.

Edit. Restore point has to be before the problem occurred of course.

[izonin]

I had the same exact problem with iLok on my Win 10 machine, and finally solved it by installing a free software called Windows Update Blocker v1.7.

[gryzor]

next time autorise your plugin on a ilok key that will not use (backup) and on your music computer.that will provide a security

[Teksonik]

Ok ladies buckle up it's going to be a bumpy ride.....

There are no words in any human language that can properly convey the deep level of hatred I have for Pace/iLok.

iLok is the most repulsive copy protection scheme ever invented. It is repugnant that some developers want us to install third party software that they have no control over and can affect system stability or ask us to pay extra for a dongle to protect their intellectual property when the IP we create with their software can't be protected in a similar manner.

All because those developers who use Pace are too lazy or too stupid to out code the crackers.

Luckily there are plenty of developers out there who are competent and do respect their customers and there is tons of software that is not infected by the need for the iLok malware. I have over 700 fantastic plugins that do not require intrusive cp methods and any developer that uses the iLok virus is instantly on my no buy list.

So to sum it up....Pace/iLok and the developers who use it....GFY.

No, I do not care one tiny bit what the iLok fanbois have to say about it. Nothing you could possibly say will ever change my mind so save your breath. I will not return to this thread nor will I respond to any subsequent posts.

[osiris]

I don't get this. I thought the whole point of ILok was your license was stored online and you connect to verify it. I mean I had a bunch of AIR stuff and tried to reinstall it. Hybrid had a serial number but I forgot it was iLok, so I installed it. It wanted a serial number but I didn't have Il installed, so it wouldn't authorize the plugin. This is exactly the reason I wouldn't install any iLok plugins. That and my crappy internet service.

[Mr Arkadin]

I don't get this. I thought the whole point of ILok was your license was stored online and you connect to verify it. I mean I had a bunch of AIR stuff and tried to reinstall it. Hybrid had a serial number but I forgot it was iLok, so I installed it. It wanted a serial number but I didn't have Il installed, so it wouldn't authorize the plugin. This is exactly the reason I wouldn't install any iLok plugins. That and my crappy internet service.

Well first off, it's only stored online if you use iLok Cloud. Otherwise it's licensed to your computer or dongle. Secondly, you're talking about AIR products. I had this problem when I tried re-installing them (and there was no real reason as to why I had to re-install them, they just stopped working), and after realising AIR and BFD are inMusic I just unistalled the whole lot and moved on. I will never use any inMusic brand again. I think you'll find it's AIR rather than iLok that is the issue.

[midi sentinel]

People don't have trouble with iLok, until they start having trouble with iLok.

Even when I got into this 'audio world' years ago, I was very, very reluctant to use any iLok plugins. However, I eventually caved in because I was hoping I would not run into problems. I also purchased a USB iLok device.

I had 3 motherboard die on me, in 30+ years. As you can imagine, motherboard died after I have had some iLok plugins setup on that computer (it was not the one with USB plugged in). iLok support wanted nothing to do with it, asked me to talk to devs, devs mostly ignored my emails and pleas. AIR was one of them, don't remember anymore what exactly was installed anymore and who I talked to, it was almost 5 years ago. That's when I decided to never, ever again purchase anything from AIR.

Physical USB device got bent when children were chasing around the house and hit the computer with the device plugged in (so it moved and hit the wall). Luckily, it didn't die but I had a heart attack. They held people hostages, pretending how they can't do anything and you had to pay for that redundancy support if you wanted to save your licenses (not sure what they do these days, I don't care enough to even look at their offers anymore). Forcing you to de-authorize plugins from computer on which they are/were installed, instead of de-authorizing them from iLok interface. Calculated extortion.

And, funnily enough, literally last week I had an internet outage at home, late at night (ISP was doing maintenance). I had Gullfoss installed on iLok Cloud (it went there automatically when I installed it, I didn't really use cloud feature yet). Trying to load a project with Gullfoss would simply completely freeze Studio One. Couldn't load the project. Kill, try again, doesn't work, etc, etc. Lost my mind because as I get older (and now I am old), time is invaluable and any unnecessary waste of time makes me go ballistic. It shouldn't be complicated. I shouldn't have to worry where the licenses are stored. Everything else works transparently. So, f**k iLok.

Yes, those are not massive life-ending issues, of course. But it is so annoying and frustrating that I absolutely don't want to spend any 'serious' money on anything iLok protected.

If Kontakt, Omnisphere and all the other more 'serious' things I own would use iLok, I would have never purchased them. I don't even know what Kontakt or Omnisphere do. It just works. And if it doesn't, I am confident I could talk to their support and get help.

Instead of being bounced between iLok and plugin developers because I refused to pay extortion fee.

[Frankie.T]

People don't have trouble with iLok, until they start having trouble with iLok.

Even when I got into this 'audio world' years ago, I was very, very reluctant to use any iLok plugins. However, I eventually caved in because I was hoping I would not run into problems. I also purchased a USB iLok device.

I had 3 motherboard die on me, in 30+ years. As you can imagine, motherboard died after I have had some iLok plugins setup on that computer (it was not the one with USB plugged in). iLok support wanted nothing to do with it, asked me to talk to devs, devs mostly ignored my emails and pleas. AIR was one of them, don't remember anymore what exactly was installed anymore and who I talked to, it was almost 5 years ago. That's when I decided to never, ever again purchase anything from AIR.

Physical USB device got bent when children were chasing around the house and hit the computer with the device plugged in (so it moved and hit the wall). Luckily, it didn't die but I had a heart attack. They held people hostages, pretending how they can't do anything and you had to pay for that redundancy support if you wanted to save your licenses (not sure what they do these days, I don't care enough to even look at their offers anymore). Forcing you to de-authorize plugins from computer on which they are/were installed, instead of de-authorizing them from iLok interface. Calculated extortion.

And, funnily enough, literally last week I had an internet outage at home, late at night (ISP was doing maintenance). I had Gullfoss installed on iLok Cloud (it went there automatically when I installed it, I didn't really use cloud feature yet). Trying to load a project with Gullfoss would simply completely freeze Studio One. Couldn't load the project. Kill, try again, doesn't work, etc, etc. Lost my mind because as I get older (and now I am old), time is invaluable and any unnecessary waste of time makes me go ballistic. It shouldn't be complicated. I shouldn't have to worry where the licenses are stored. Everything else works transparently. So, f**k iLok.

Yes, those are not massive life-ending issues, of course. But it is so annoying and frustrating that I absolutely don't want to spend any 'serious' money on anything iLok protected.

If Kontakt, Omnisphere and all the other more 'serious' things I own would use iLok, I would have never purchased them. I don't even know what Kontakt or Omnisphere do. It just works. And if it doesn't, I am confident I could talk to their support and get help.

Instead of being bounced between iLok and plugin developers because I refused to pay extortion fee.

That's the treatment and the quality of life you had just for being an honest man who bought their software, something people who get illegal software doesn't have, and this is ridicoulus.

To me sounds just like "ehi, buy our software, if there are problems you may run into issues, if you don't buy it, you wont, you can stay offline, not caring about internet, dongles or whatever, you can do whatever you want".

I don't know if we are too kind with these companies, or too stupid. I have regret that i gave my money to companies who doesn't give me the full control over my software. Fortunatly now i'm awake and i don't spend any cent on them, but i got it too late.
There are lots of awesome software companies that respect their customers, you can do beautiful and professional sounding music without the need of other stuff.

[gryzor]

ilok is harder to crack than a simple serial... can we blame the devs who use it ? no...
tbh i m pretty sure that ilok system is already 'bypassed' ...cyber security is very deep.

i m ok with ilok when thing are where done correctly,the only plugins i dont use anymore are the waves ,1 autorisation ,someone steal your key and you can say goodbye to your licences !

[Frankie.T]

ilok is harder to crack than a simple serial... can we blame the devs who use it ? no...
tbh i m pretty sure that ilok system is already 'bypassed' ...cyber security is very deep.

i m ok with ilok when thing are where done correctly,the only plugins i dont use anymore are the waves ,1 autorisation ,someone steal your key and you can say goodbye to your licences !

Harder to crack for sure, but it's still cracked as the other plugins are.
I blame the devs who use it, along other server based protection, because these systems may be a source of issues only for legit users only, it's a kind of punishment for them just because they (we) are honest, while people who use illegal software have a better experience, and this sounds very wrong.

I see no advantages using these systems compared to serials. Companies who use serial and key files are out there and healthy while respecting their customers more. Just to name a couple of very famous and respected in their field, FabFilter and U-He, i see them making top quality plugins and running their business from decades, so what's the point for the other companies do act in a different way?

Ofc everyone is free to do whatever they want, in this discussion i spoke as customer, and i see no reason to give money to someone who doesn't respect who give them a job.
There are lots of topics and posts, about bad experience, companies with these systems that goes out of business leaving their legit clients with something they cannot activate anymore (while pirates can!) along the recent Waves things that demonstrate they can do whatever they want, till you could even not being able to use what you bought because of a system/policy change

[plexuss]

People don't have trouble with iLok, until they start having trouble with iLok.
[snip...]

Thank you, I enjoyed your winge-fest.

[jamcat]

While I don't mind iLok too much, I still will always choose other activation methods if given a choice, as is the case with Melodyne and iZotope. But there are just too many essential plugins that require iLok to avoid it: Eventide, Softube, SSL, Relab, UAD, Avid, East West, VSL, PSP...

I parted out an old computer once that had an Eventide authorization still active on it. Eventide were quick to respond and took care of it.