Ableton Forum

I first started testing with b14. I connected to the internet to authorize. Note that I happened to already be on the ableton forum site, and it took a really long time to connect for this. I exited the browser, restarted, and when it was allowed to start up the browser on it's own, Live connected and I went thru the various steps to authorize.

Installed b15, which installer I had downloaded on another machine to a USB flash drive. When I started it, it gave me the normal warning about beta expiration date, and then asked me to authorize. I was not connected to the internet.

Connected that machine with the newly installed b15 to the internet, and it started up giving me the normal warning and no authorization was requested.

So it seems like it is a requirement that the machine be connected to the internet to use Live, which is very different than before.

Exactly the same problem here but with a pci network card. Authorized over the internet, then disabled the network card (as i dont like having my studio computer attached to the internet) and was asked to re authorize, Turned the pci network card back on and live no longer asked for authorization. But now i have to have my firewall running and my internet on full time. Which is not really what i want.

Hi mikemc,

what do you mean by 'not connected to the internet': did you disable your network adapter completely or
was the computer just not plugged in?

There is no internet connection required when authorizing Live. Without an internet connection, just
press the 'no internet connection' button on the authorization dialog and follow the steps on the next page.

What does not work is the following:
- enable a network adapter
- authorize online
- disable this network adapter

Best, Friedemann

Friedemann wrote:What does not work is the following:
- enable a network adapter
- authorize online
- disable this network adapter

This behavior could be a problem.

I have a laptop that is connected to the Internet when it's at my desk. However, when I take it out of my house, it is usually disconnected from the Internet. Moreover, I have to disable the network adapter because if I don't, I get audio glitches.

So are you saying I will have to authorize this machine remotely if I want to be able to use it with the network adapter turned off?

Yep this is a major issue. I know it sounds arsey but its an issue thats going to effect quite a large proportion of people.

I guess the solution (workaround for us) is simple, but weird:

if you know that you will use Live 8 with your network card turned off then choose the offline activation option. Even if that machine happens to be online at the time.
don't choose to activate your machine online if you are going to turn your network card off.


I agree that Ableton should not have included the network cards in the hardware key, and that this is a really, really bad idea. Mainly because most people will leave their network ON when they are at home, and when they get to a gig they will turn it OFF.
and there will be a Nasty Surprise waiting for them just when they do not need it!

Friedemann wrote:Hi mikemc,

what do you mean by 'not connected to the internet': did you disable your network adapter completely or
was the computer just not plugged in?

There is no internet connection required when authorizing Live. Without an internet connection, just
press the 'no internet connection' button on the authorization dialog and follow the steps on the next page.

What does not work is the following:
- enable a network adapter
- authorize online
- disable this network adapter

Best, Friedemann

Hi Friedemann,

Sorry not to have replied sooner-- here is exactly what I do:

I have a USB 3G adapter (wireless phone provider is the connection) that I can plug in to the USB ports of my computers. When I need to connect one of my laptops to the internet, I plug this in and connect.

What I did in the case of Live 8 was to authorize online using b14. I later installed b15, which asked me to re-authorize. So, I reconnected the USB 3G adapter and restarted Live 8b15. However, no re-authorization was requested, I was able to go straight into the app and start using it.

Now, is the way to approach this to authorize the computer as if it did not have an internet connection? If so that seems like something people can live with, as long as they know that will need to be the case. I'd think a great many laptops are going to be on WiFi or 3G, which can be off and on, and based on discussions on the forum a great many users are using laptops and not desktops.

[edit] we're all asking the same question, I guess. Seems like it would make sense to do it as if not connected, but I agree it seems like the majority of people would end up doing it that way. What Angstrom says is true, WiFi uses a fair amount of power and some cycles if it's connected, you don't want it on if you're gigging (unless you are using it to sync/control devices/computers) and the USB gadgets use up a USB port that would tend be better occupied by a controller.

[edit edit] What might be better still is to have an option for "this computer connected now, but will not always be connected" that allows the user to connect right then to the Ableton site and authorize using the offline method.