Sure, addictive keys sounds great. I am pretty sure others will say, “Hmmm…never had that problem.” However, my addictive keys are not so addictive. Once every few weeks, XLN audio dumps my auth on my machine, and I have to get it back. I have had a situation where there was no internet or cell phone coverage (a wedding in Yosemite, Ca) and Addictive Keys had no displayed patch content as it must be authorized again (couldn’t do it, no internet. Had to use my Yamaha Motif Piano patch). I use C3 and Addictive keys on only 2 computers only and exclusively. My performance laptop and an identical backup laptop. That’s it. I hate Addictive keys as it is like a Ford. Lots of comfort, and potential, but you never know when it is going to quit on you.
If you are having the same problem as me (oh yes, and the “can’t access the cloud content” B.S. or something. I don’t want a stupid cloud. Don’t need it. I don’t always perform where there is internet access.) let me know if you have overcome it.
If it won’t work consistently, it is like a TV on a honeymoon (useless).
BUT, I did find this on the Cakewalk forums, and thought it might help.
The symptoms sound like a security issue, i.e. either permissions (so needs to be run as Administrator), or a TLS/SSL/Certificate issue.
I would try the following:
Install all the latest Microsoft security updates to ensure you’ve got the latest SSL cyphers / protocols.
I’m not sure if the XLN installer uses flash, but updating to the latest Adobe Flash player might help for the same reason as 1.
Just in case you’re somehow hitting an old server, you could flush your dns cache by firing up a command prompt and typing ipconfig /flushdns
Check you’ve not got any strange entries in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts that could be redirecting traffic (doubtful, but no harm in checking)
Disable all firewalls (both on your PC and router)
They returned my email and stated that windows updates will change the computer ID which causes it to become unregistered. I have to remove the computer using the online installer and reassign the new computer ID. They had no solution to offer if there was no internet connection. I am going to confirm that it works from now on, before doing any shows, especially ones in places like Yosemite (a popular place for weddings).
Yes, but that only happens on the big version updates - they actually change the computer ID. Normal patch updates don’t do that.
I’ve decided to go the more risky route of de-activating updates and upgrades on my live laptops, activating updates only at specific times when I’m sure I can do all the re-booting, testing and messing about with a good internet connection in the comfort of my home. After doing all the latest updates, I go back to de-activating updates. Don’t want my machine to force-reboot and freeze for an hour during a gig…
I think you are right. I live on the edge, for sure, but I am deactivating my updates. Evidently, there is a windows update that is supposed to affect my UI24R audio interface as well. While I service Mac’s, and know them pretty well, I have remained committed to PC’s for soft synths until stuff like this starts to annoy me. C3 only works on PC’s for the time being. Sigh.
XLN’s authorization method is one of the reasons I left the Windows Insider program. I was deleting and reauthorizing the same computer about every other week.
Yes, it is hard to figure who is to blame for this. Windows for their updates or XLN for their lack of sophistication in their licensing code. Either way, although Addictive Keys sounds great and hopefully their modernize their licensing process.
It’s exactly this kind of BS that causes some people ahem to buy a piece of software in an entirely proper and legit fashion and yet still have a, shall we say, "try before you buy’ version lurking around somewhere on their machine.
My God, that is funny. From 2000 ish to 2007, I was a “try before you buy” only person. Then, I decided to go legit for moral reasons. Immediately after going legit, I was having more trouble with my Waves plugins than my acquaintances who were enjoying smooth running tbyb versions. Again, I have hit the license issue with Waves as they went from 9.x to 10.x and allege repurchase of owned
software would suit their 10.x installer (say what?). A Facebook forum showed me how to navigate around that, but still…I have purchased thousands of dollars of software. Some use sophisticated and smooth running licensing approaches, and others are based on code that the inefficient programmer has to keep jimmy rigging to keep working. One programmer can accomplish a task in 100 lines (for example) of code that another takes hundreds of lines to do the same thing. It’s a mess.
Using the “blame the hackers” as an excuse is a poor argument, as that would follow the same logic as legitimizing a poorly made lock by noting the existence of burglars.
I have thousands of dollars worth of crappy software I have purchased over the years, because of no demos or carefully diguised audio demos on site. What is amazingly interesting, from everything I’ve read in the past 2 yrs, hackers are not just breaking security; they are also improving the programs and reducing footprint and lowering cpu usage. It makes you wonder why the developers couldn’t do that to begin with, or at least use the hacked software to improve their own programs. Studio users I know were using legit software, but using hacks for iLok, because of the time they were losing when iLok would stop working every other week. I am glad I finally settled with some decent software I can rely on, but it took awhile.