unlock limits!!??

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
shi
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Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:53 pm

unlock limits!!??

Post by shi » Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:00 pm

Hi,

Why do the the amount of unlocks on Live have a limit?

Friday night we had to re-install our OS and of course Live. We entered the serial number and when we tried to "unlock online" got some message about reaching an unlock limit!

This software has been loaded it on a laptop and desktop. The desktop a couple of times as we've had a mainboard swap, and a service pack issue which re-install seemed to be a good fix.

Sent an email to [email protected] and this is the third day we've been waiting and no response! We have paid for the software, and are not able to use it to continue working. This doesn't seem right to me.

The project we need to work on has a deadline, and I've just wasted three days waiting for a reply back about this.

Why do people who pay for software always have to deal with more hardships?

-Shi

HD1
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Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:38 pm

Post by HD1 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:18 pm

I'm sure you'll get a positive reply, you should (have) phone(d) them...

I'm going to use carbon copy cloner, to make a backup image of my mac system and when I get a pc I intend to use norton ghost...

get your system tuned to your liking and make a carbon copy...theoretically this should avoid any future re-installation issues
shi wrote:Why do the the amount of unlocks on Live have a limit?
to prevent one lincense from being distributed amongst many other people.
some companies use dongles, which you might prefer, but I think they suck a rotten egg due to the fact they use CPU and a usb port
Last edited by HD1 on Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
bing bing!

martin808
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Post by martin808 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:30 pm

I'm having the same problems. got a new work computer and tried installing it. got the same limit reached message. I've emailed support and i'm waiting on a reply.

HD1
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Post by HD1 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:36 pm

phone them.
bing bing!

darrelldiaz
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Unlock Limits...

Post by darrelldiaz » Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:05 pm

Just a guess,

but they delay is probably because the necessary parties are still returning from Musikmesse...

DD

inis
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Re: Unlock Limits...

Post by inis » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:07 pm

darrelldiaz wrote:Just a guess,

but they delay is probably because the necessary parties are still returning from Musikmesse...

DD
exactly. frankly i would just relax. i have done this several times with ableton. they are always nice and fast. I have no problem with the system.

If you read closely you will see you dont have to keep relocking online. Just save a copy of the unlock key on a backup disc. You should never have to use a new code on the same computer if you know what you are doing.

martin808
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Post by martin808 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:15 pm

it happened to me before because i kept re-formatting my hard drive and re-installing xp stupidly unlocking live each time. I emailed support and it was sorted out in less than 10 minutes.
I just got a new work computer the other day and emailed support before unlocking to make sure it'd be ok. they said to try it and if it didn't work then to send them a brief message with my serial. I've done that and i'm waiting on a reply. I'm not in any hurry though because it only my work computer.

HD1
Posts: 667
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:38 pm

Re: Unlock Limits...

Post by HD1 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:21 pm

inis wrote:If you read closely you will see you dont have to keep relocking online. Just save a copy of the unlock key on a backup disc. You should never have to use a new code on the same computer if you know what you are doing.
...
if you reformat, the unlock key wont match the 'fingerprint' of your os.
bing bing!

hoffman2k
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Post by hoffman2k » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:36 pm

Dudes. It's sunday...
You'll get your reply from support@ableton tomorrow or thuesday at the latest.
They probably couldn't answer on friday, because it's music messe in Frankfurt.
Thats like xmass in disneyland, but for musicians :wink:

shi
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:53 pm

Post by shi » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:21 pm

Thank you all for the replies. RopeyPunter, thanks for the suggestion. The carbon copy cloner sounds like the best thing to do!

Since I dislike dongles and iLoks I'll be good and patient. I don't except folks to work 24/7 just for the sake of customers either. I do hope Ableton would come up with a better way of protecting their software without putting those who actually purchase it out for days.

I'm already hating life as for the deadline of this project and if I get a response on Thursday it'll be too late for this project. Why did I have to get hooked on LIVE! :lol: It is a great program!

Anyway, thanks again for all your responses. I'm glad to hear it's at least a normal process. Also, I did not know about the Music Messe (that makes lots of sense). Seems I have bad timing re-installing my system.

Any suggestions for something similar to Carbon Copy Cloner but for Windows XP?

computo
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Post by computo » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:54 pm

well, I dont expect people to work everyday, but I do expect this fucking $500 software to!

you know, I like the full-featured demo option, but some of us are professionals, and dont have time to sit on the pot, waiting for people to get to their emails.

This company wants to consider this professional software, well, make it usable for professionals. If you cant provide a solid crackproof-yet-legituserfriendly version, then you've gotta provide 24 hr keylock tech support, with quick response. What are these guys gonna do when this happens in the middle of working on a live set for that night? play some half finished work? 6 is coming around, lets work out these kinks!!!

nebulae
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Post by nebulae » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:02 pm

The post about making a disk image is a really good idea. On top of that, you can also copy your "Unlock.cfg" file. On PCs, it's found at C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Ableton\Live 5.0.3\Unlock. So long as you haven't changed any components on your computer, just copying this file into that location will unlock Live. Therefore, you will only need to unlock the software once, regardless of the number of times you reinstall and/or format the system.

BTW, before you get any funny hacker/pirate ideas, this key file will only work for the computer that has been unlocked once. :)

peeddrroo
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Post by peeddrroo » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:05 pm

you know, some people rely on their car for working.
if a part of the car breaks on a sunday (especially if they were looking inside the engine!), do you think the person would complain because the car dealer isn't open 24/7?
that's just imature....

the guy reformated his hard drive on a friday. he can expect to have some stuff not working properly before the next monday. that's quite obvious to me.
and please don't give any "ableton ass licker" or whatever. every single company that provides online registration works the same. YOU've got to deal with it, not them.

[email protected]
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Post by [email protected] » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:32 pm

Hi Shi.

Yes we've been working like maniacs all week at Messe. It was a lot of fun, and loooong hours, but still we sat aside do unlocks all week as well, since this is very important to us all (being without Live when you need it is such a pain!)
shi wrote: I'm glad to hear it's at least a normal process. Also, I did not know about the Music Messe (that makes lots of sense). Seems I have bad timing re-installing my system.
The bad timing wasn't as much related to the Messe as it was related to the arrival of the weekend.
Feel free to forward your message directly to [wetterberg at ableton com] and I'll flag it as high priority - deadlines suck, and I hope to have it ready for you before noon Berlin time tomorrow, so that you can finish your project.

Cheers,
Andreas
ableton support team
[email protected]

martin808
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Post by martin808 » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:45 pm

nebulae wrote:The post about making a disk image is a really good idea. On top of that, you can also copy your "Unlock.cfg" file. On PCs, it's found at C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Ableton\Live 5.0.3\Unlock. So long as you haven't changed any components on your computer, just copying this file into that location will unlock Live. Therefore, you will only need to unlock the software once, regardless of the number of times you reinstall and/or format the system.

BTW, before you get any funny hacker/pirate ideas, this key file will only work for the computer that has been unlocked once. :)
does this definetly work? what if i change the size of my hard drive partitions before re-installing xp?

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