Remove Locations From i-Lok Account??

[CapnLockheed]

I need to activate my plugins on my new machine. The computers that previously
had them installed no longer exist and the i_lok license manger will not let me deactivate
the plugins or remove the locations. This is VERY frustrating. So much for their claims
of ZERO DOWNTIME!! I need to remove the defunct locations/activations from my
account ASAP!! It's damned ridiculous that the end user can't do this themselves!!

[asksol]

Have you not been following these discussions?

For computer based authorizations you have to deactivate them on the original machine, if you no longer
have that machine you have to ask the plugin publisher to give you a new ilok license.

There is no zero downtime for computer activations, so use the physical ilok key, the computer activations are trouble.

[CapnLockheed]

Have you not been following these discussions?

Are you kidding me?? Obviously not or I wouldn't have asked in the first place!!

For computer based authorizations you have to deactivate them on the original machine, if you no longer
have that machine you have to ask the plugin publisher to give you a new ilok license.

Thanks.....i-Lok support has informed me of this as well. It would be nice if they informed users of this before hand.

There is no zero downtime for computer activations, so use the physical ilok key, the computer activations are trouble.

Uh-huh.....for years I swore no dongles. I was finally forced to use a Syncrosoft dongle a while back but Pace and the i-Lok is the biggest load of pain-in-the-ass BS I've ever encountered. I'm getting rid of what I've already got and I will NEVER patronize another developer that uses this crap.

[Tapehead]

I’m in an exact the same boat like you. This is pure hell!!! Really idiotic scheme; getting any kind of support from the iLok dudes is taking forever and is not really helpful because you still need to coordinate things with the developer of your software. I’ve been boiling in this mess for the last 5 days…and still no resolution.

[CapnLockheed]

Hey brother, I'm sorry to hear you're in the same boat.

Really idiotic scheme; getting any kind of support from the iLok dudes is taking forever and is not really helpful because you still need to coordinate things with the developer of your software.

Well....I got a response from i-Kok straight away......but that response was basically to go f*ck myself.

Hello,

Without access to the computer the licenses are stored on, you cannot deactivate them. You'll need to contact the software publisher and have them place a new license in your account.

Best Regards,
K. Bosserman
iLok.com Technical Support

Great business model......that's pure bullsh*t IMHO. There's absolutely no reason that either they or the end user should not be able to perform something as simple as removing an activation. It's THEIR damned product I shouldn't have to beg the dev to fix their crap.....or at, the very least, I should be able to remove activations at the dev's site. No instead, I've had to beg and plead with Pace & Eventide,(who have so far ignored me), to simply remove a couple of unused activations.
I NEED my plugins. I'm tired, frustrated and my ass is sore. I have NEVER encountered such a draconian scheme that punishes the end user to this degree.

I've had it!! F*CK PACE and every developer that requires me to stick an i-Kok up my ass.

[kbaccki]

For computer based authorizations you have to deactivate them on the original machine, if you no longer
have that machine you have to ask the plugin publisher to give you a new ilok license.

Is that for real? What the hell kind of activation model is that? It makes no sense. So what if your hard drive goes bye bye? And what if you have 20 different products from 10 different vendors using computer authorization... you're going to go around to 10 different vendors and explain to each one how your hard drive crashed, and the only way for the vendor to uphold their end of the "consumer contract" is to give you a brand new license? I think at least 50% would drag their feet for weeks or months, and another 25% would only respond to direct legal action.... like, I bought your product, and the activation process that YOU require me to use does not allow me to recover the license/activation that YOU are obligated to honor.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's the best way to do it. Actually, that is the lazy way to do it: PACE manages the licenses and the authorizations... until there's a problem then they're all yo no se... me no speaka de english.

Hmmm... I wonder what the PACE EULA says about hard drive crashes. I wonder if it says sorry, you're SOL...

[asksol]

Yes, it's for real, but it's not all that special because it's the exact same situation you would be in for challenge/response protected products.

Once you have used up your activation limit you have to send en email to them explaining that your disk crashed and so on. It's super frustrating when it happens at 2 in the morning, and sometimes it may take days before the publishers get back to you with the gift of using the software that you payed for.

I used to hate ilok with burning passion, but now I find it a much better alternative than
begging for extra authorizations without knowing for certain that I will get them.


CapnLockheed,
If you have to choose between ilok and syncrosoft, you should pick ilok as it's
a *much better* system, including license transfers and optional insurance.

[kbaccki]

Yes, it's for real, but it's not all that special because it's the exact same situation you would be in for challenge/response protected products.

Once you have used up your activation limit you have to send en email to them explaining that your disk crashed and so on. It's super frustrating when it happens at 2 in the morning, and sometimes it may take days before the publishers get back to you with the gift of using the software that you payed for.

First, PACE computer authorization IS challenge/response, so you're in the same boat whether you're using PACE challenge/response or non-PACE challenge/response. Do you understand that PACE computer authorization is challenge/response? The problem is that PACE's version of challenge/response is broken.

Second, there's a big difference between the vendor THEMSELVES managing challenge/response activations, and some external party (PACE) managing activations. PACE inserts themselves into the activation process, but then refuses to do anything to recover lost activations... yet they are the entity that actually MANAGES the activations on behalf of the vendor. It's very convenient for everybody but the consumer: the vendor says "go talk to PACE", and PACE says "go talk to the vendor". And the consumer is standing there with his shmenzer in his hand.

Third, when I use up activations on non-PACE challenge/response I ask the vendor directly to help me manage/recover/reset/whatever my activations. I don't have to go to the vendor and ask for a WHOLE NEW LICENSE!! Do you understand the difference between managing license challenge/response activations, and asking for a whole new license? The former is the way the rest of the world does business, the latter is the way PACE, and PACE alone, does business. Honestly, I have never heard of such nonsense, and I own 1000's of pieces of software. What freaking vendor is just going to say... here, have a new license? No please... it's on us. Actually take two licenses, in case you need them in the future!!!

I used to hate ilok with burning passion, but now I find it a much better alternative than
begging for extra authorizations without knowing for certain that I will get them.

Yes, for hardware dongle it's fantastic. Computer authorization appears to be broken, however. Your arguments apply to hardware dongle, not computer authorization.

[asksol]

kbacci, I know that PACE uses challenge/response for computer based authorization, I never said it didn't.

The vendor has the option to give the user more than one activation, so if the user needs to contact the vendor it's not PACE's fault,
as the decision to limit your number of activations is on the vendor (e.g. Eventide does indeed give you 2 activations, UVI gives you three).

There's no practical difference between 'asking for a new license' and asking to reset the activation count, recover or whatever.
They are basically giving away an extra license in all of these cases, that the recipient could abuse to run the software on more
machines than they're allowed (that is unless the software forces you to be online while using it).

I really don't see how this is more broken than the other protections that come with an activation limit.

I used to hate ilok with burning passion, but now I find it a much better alternative than
begging for extra authorizations without knowing for certain that I will get them.

Yes, for hardware dongle it's fantastic. Computer authorization appears to be broken, however. Your arguments apply to hardware dongle, not computer authorization.

I was talking about the hardware dongle here, which would make sense if you read the messages before, but should probably have been more clear.

[garck]

Because the system is bug-ridden and problematic, and when the problem occurs ie ONLY iLok suddenly decides your location is NOT your location, you may have dozens of companies you have to contact to reset everything. Plugin Alliance? no probs. Waves = can be pain, that's only one vendor. Every other individual licensing system by every other plugin maker I have does not give me ANY of the problems iLok always does. It's a pre-historic system.

[garck]

ILOK NEEDS TO IMPLEMENT AN OPTION TO CANCEL/DELETE LOCATION. Totally user unfriendly. Having to contact every vendor defeats the entire reaosn for a single place licensing system. And saying it's not Pace's fault is beyond laughable.

[plexuss]

Sorry this happened to you. iLok does make this apparent if you RTFM. I did and realized that I not only need 1 iLok dongle but 2: This way for liceneses I have that have 2 or more activations I can activate to the 2nd key. This way if things go tits-up I have 2 keys with licenses I can fall back on. I am ok with using iLok dongles so this is not an issue. Its a good idea if you an iLok user to read throug their site so you can be prepared and use their services accordingly. There are "better" licensing schemes out there but there are also similar and worse ones. Choose wisely. Good luck!

[cprompt]

This way for liceneses I have that have 2 or more activations I can activate to the 2nd key. This way if things go tits-up I have 2 keys with licenses I can fall back on.

Honest question: if you have a license that has two or more activations, why not leave the unused activations unactivated in your account? If your ilok goes tits up, then you can activate the unused activation to the new ilok. Why commit all your activations to iloks when you could leave the unused ones in your account?

[plexuss]

This way for liceneses I have that have 2 or more activations I can activate to the 2nd key. This way if things go tits-up I have 2 keys with licenses I can fall back on.

Honest question: if you have a license that has two or more activations, why not leave the unused activations unactivated in your account? If your ilok goes tits up, then you can activate the unused activation to the new ilok. Why commit all your activations to iloks when you could leave the unused ones in your account?

To avoid having to authorize 300+ license to the other iLok if that happens. They are already there ready to go.

I cant remember the details about this, but I also seem to recall that PACE might deactivate licenses once you request an RMA. So licenses not activated to an iLok may become void and not be abel to be activated. I seem to recall something about this. Maybe it only applied to licenses they couldn'r recover... I'm sketch on those details so maybe if someone knows what the deails of an RMA are... if you request an RMA do they deactivate your licenses? or is that only with TLC? or not at all? or..?

[digitalboytn]

This problem with ilok has been going on for years...

Different day...same story...

I made up my mind a while ago to walk away from their nonsense...

If we keep supporting products that use ilok,the manufacturing peeps will keep using the system,so we need to vote with our $$$ and they will wake up rather quickly and move to a more reasonable system of registration...

The good news is that there are plenty of alternative plugins out there that do the job just as well and don't use Pace/ilok...

This ilok saga will keep rolling on like a bad dream until the consumers become more proactive and take action...

After all...

Who really benefits from the ilok system ?

Is it the manufacturers or the end users ?

Nope...

It's the lovely folks at Pace