BEST FREE VST SYNTH ... FIREBIRD ?!

[Numanoid]

From the now locked Firebird set free thread in 2013:

"It deactivates illegal keyfiles which have been purchased with stolen credit cards".

Has the installer been updated since the thread got locked in 2013?

As Firebird can be installed offline, how are Tone 2 at all able to detect such information, a couple of years later?

[TrekStar]

best free synth? I would say definitely one of the best! I bought it as it was fresh released.

[chk071]

Ok I'm out......the Mods will just lock this thread to protect Tone 2 like they did the other one.

Have fun..............

Nice job bro.

Btw, if you'd really be interested in the copy protection topic, you'd just shoot Markus a message, and ask him, i doubt he'd refuse to tell you about it. Instead you fulminate in Tone2 topics here, even when you have zero actual interest in their products. You perfectly define the term "trolling".

[Numanoid]

In case you missed it.........

...

Quoting somebody that you just recently lambasted as being a troll in another thread, yeah that really builds confidence.

[bluedad]

Ok I'm out......the Mods will just lock this thread to protect Tone 2 like they did the other one.

you must be joking. because that's quite funny.

[Numanoid]

Just discoverd that the patch NAT Big Brass is spot on for the sax intro lead in this Mick Karn tune

[VilianTroy]

thanks for replaying guys - i didn't expect such a debate about my favorite free synth - i wish y'all nice weekend :)Cheers

[Ingonator]

How the hell does it know if something was purchased with a stolen credit card? WTF?

Ask Ingo..........

The Tone2 installers indeed do scan the installation folder (e.g. your vstplugins folder) for existing Tone2 key files and deletes them if they are illegal. this is no secret (it was also mentioned by Bastiaan from Tone2 at KVR in the past...) and this does NOT require an internet connection (a bunch of known illegal key files which are checked for seem to be included with the installers).

I did not mention anything about stolen credit cards. Anyway using those seems to be a common practice for some cracker groups.

The Tone2 installers do just include a bunch of known illegal keyfiles (from multiple Tone2 products) that it checks for and deletes them if it finds them. As already mentioned this al works without a need for any internet connection.

AFAIK it only scans the installation folder and if this is your Vstplugins folder it will indeed scan that whole folder.


It was mentioned countless times in the past but as long as you do use legal versions of their software there is no problem with their copy protection at all.
Currently i have almost all of their plugins installed (except Firebird...) and most of them since long time so i know what i am talking about.

[Kriminal]

Installers should install, not delete.

very bad form.

never trust a company that does that.

[scintillator]

Ok I'm out......the Mods will just lock this thread to protect Tone 2 like they did the other one.

you must be joking. because that's quite funny.

Hi bluedad! How's moderation going? Saved TheoM's ass today? AGAIN? You special, special guys, you!



From a certain nfo file:

This is a freeware but it has MANY file deletion functions in the ▒▓█ █▓▒ binary, which kills pirated license keys. Our cracked release does ▒▓█ █▓▒ not affect your other Tone2 products, and does not include a demo ▒▓█ █▓▒ version of the Saurus synthesizer. Just install and enjoy.

[scintillator]

So it says in the binary, not in the installer

[Ingonator]

Ok I'm out......the Mods will just lock this thread to protect Tone 2 like they did the other one.

Have fun..............

Nice job bro.

Btw, if you'd really be interested in the copy protection topic, you'd just shoot Markus a message, and ask him, i doubt he'd refuse to tell you about it. Instead you fulminate in Tone2 topics here, even when you have zero actual interest in their products. You perfectly define the term "trolling".

Indeed some people posting here like e.g. Kriminal and Teksonik are not actually known to be "friends" of Tone2. Due to that it doesn't really matter what they post here concernig Tone2 as most of it would be trolling anyway...

[Kriminal]

Indeed some people posting here like e.g. Kriminal and Teksonik are not actually known to be "friends" of Tone2. Due to that it doesn't really matter what they post here concernig Tone2 as most of it would be trolling anyway...

So basically fanboi, as 'we' are repeating what you said about the 'installer', either you are a troll too, as you said it in the first place, or, if its not true, you are guilty of spreading false info, which also makes you a troll.

[trimph1]

Indeed some people posting here like e.g. Kriminal and Teksonik are not actually known to be "friends" of Tone2. Due to that it doesn't really matter what they post here concernig Tone2 as most of it would be trolling anyway...

So basically fanboi, as 'we' are repeating what you said about the 'installer', either you are a troll too, as you said it in the first place, or, if its not true, you are guilty of spreading false info, which also makes you a troll.

I think you got caught out on that Ingo.

[ENV1]

Installers should install, not delete.

Thats what the FireBird installer does, its just that some people like to talk even when they dont know what they are talking about.

The facts are as follows:

- It is the DLL that does the checking, not the installer. The checking is done whenever the 'setup' button is clicked and also upon closing the plugin. The checking process itself is perfectly harmless: The DLL simply queries the file system for a few .t2k files with a certain filename, (like Gladiator.t2k, filterbank.t2k, etc.), and it also queries only the dir in which the DLL happens to be in. (In other words it doesnt check every directory on every harddrive.) If no such file is found, nothing happens. If such a file IS found (and yes, this part is speculation now), it seems obvious that it would determine its checksum in order to compare it against the blacklist and delete the file if it is found to be on there. This assumption is supported by the fact that some of the files are being queried for not only once, but multiple times. (Like find, compare, action, next.)

I dont remember the thread, but i know i have once posted an animated GIF that showed the DLL doing the checking. My personal opinion: If youre a developer, and you are into doing something like this, you couldnt possibly make it any more unintrusive. Not using the plugin because of this is...well...your loss.


- The installer was only 'suspicious' in that it caused all files and folders present in the real install directory to be copied over into the sandboxed install directory. This is not what you normally see with installers, (although it does happen at times under certain circumstances), because with sandboxie you have to, at the very least, perform some file system operation on a file/folder in a real dir for it to be copied into the sandboxed directory, i.e. without you doing it yourself on purpose. (Could be just a Read, i really dont know without knowing more details.) I remember posting a GIF demonstrating this too, using first a Tone2 installer and then a DiscoDSP installer. The result was that the DiscoDSP installer would leave all files alone, whereas the Tone2 installer would cause for the complete content of the real install dir to be copied over into the sandboxed install dir.

Now what exactly this means, i dont know. Ive seen this with other stuff on occasion, so it might be (and probably is) completely harmless. The point is: I do not know. You should therefore not jump to any conclusions; so far there is no evidence (at least none that i know of) that this sandbox-copies thing has a non-harmless background. Its just a piece of information, not more and not less.

So to conclude: Its the DLL that does the checking, not the installer.