Dongle Down! Can anyone help?

I am a Zero Downtime client, but I would prefer do not pay any other service after a purchase anyway. Moreover, Zero Downtime requires you log in every 90 days in order to reactivate the insurance clicking on reactivate. I did not understand why it was necessary but they require this step after 90 days. I think I have to remember a lot of things while I am working on a project and I do not want to be worried about other problems.

I mean, I invest thousand of dollars in sound libraries, plug-ins, sequencers and I would prefer avoid problems while I work for a project.

I need to be able to reactivate all my products whenever I need. If I have to repair or change my DAW and reinstall everything I have to invest time for that and I would not have problem in the reactivation process.

I would not have problems while I work for a client.

I think we are on 2014, I believe it is not impossible find a common solution for avoiding this kind of issues.

As far as I am concerned, I would choose just software that provide the license key with a personal account (like as Native Instruments, Cinesamples, Audiobro and other providers) where I can download the software I purchased whenever I need and the list of my own licenses. So I have just to download the always upgraded version of the software and reactivate it solely.

In this case I had not choice, Cubase for me is The Sequencer although I have DP8, ProTools, Sequoia, Ableton Live, Logic Pro. I work with Cubase and I rely on Steinberg. I am sure they are working on a solution for that.


I would suggest this kind of solution rather than the dongle:

1) Every user/studio will have a personal account with username and password
2) In every user/studio account the user will have his licenses registered
2) Every license key will allow to run Cubase up to 2 DAW/PC/MAC simultaneously
3) In the Cubase Menu bar a new voice Activate where the user has to login with his own username and password and then click Ok in order to authorize the software.
4) When the user authorized the software, the voice Activate changes in Deactivate so if you worked in a different Company you have just to click Deactivate before leaving the Studio. The user can deactivate the authorizations by his personal account everywhere because if he forgets to deactivate the software in another studio he can do it from the iPhone/iPad/Macbook Pro/PC/Smartphone :stuck_out_tongue:

Support is OK actually. As you say, you ARE “in the middle of nowhere…” Can’t expect everything I suppose. Could you not get thru on the support numbers listed here? As far as I can tell the trial lasts 30 days. Not sure how many times you could pull that trick though.

This suggestion looks an awful like any other C/R protection system out there. They all have one thing in common: They’ve been cracked. I seriously doubt that Steinberg has any interest in replacing their hard-to-crack dongle protection with an easy-to-crack C/R protection.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where copy protection is a necessity. That’s life, I guess.

Also your suggestion requires a Internet connection (mobile or fixed) to work. This is not always available, for one reason or another.

I’d say that SteveInChicago’s 25 hour ‘all steinberg’ license is the best solution yet, if it’s 25 hours of usage, not 25 “clock-hours”.

By the way, Steve, what do you do when the 25 hours are up? Is there any way to renew it, or are you up ****-creek if something happens on your next location recording?

I have spare dongles, but only one license. If I have a physical failure with the dongle, what’s the process of getting my licenses moved over to my spare - is that something that a support person can accomplish for me?

I’ll be going back to gigging in bars, so now that I have spare hardware I’d like to know the full process so I have a disaster reccovery plan in place.

Has anyone been through this with a failed dongle?

Hi Svenne,

the trial code never expires.

You can request one yourself from the products’ pages, or ask to receive one by phone or mail.

Note: you can’t activate the trial of the same version twice on the same dongle.

Hello Chris,

in case of broken dongles, we currently ask to have it shipped to HQ or the local distributor.
Support will then send a new permanent code.

Having spare dongles, you can request trial codes as per my post above.

Kind regards,

Thanks for the quick reply, Fabio.

I live in the US. Would I be correct in assuming that there are distributors here that I’d work with rather than shipping it ocross the pond?

Yes, indeed, there is the US Support Team.
Requests sent from MySteinberg registered in the US are routed to them directly.

Awesome. Thanks, man!

@ BoydPro:
Is your issue still current?
Feel free to PM me if it is.

Thank you.

@ChrisDuncan: you are welcome!

When my dongle was about to fail (it was a piece of plastic hanging off of a frayed USB input), I ordered another one, plugged both of them in and neatly dragged all of the licenses from one to the other.

Not sure what I’d have done if it had broke before the new one arrived.

EDIT: Looks like I would have needed to request a trial code.

Didn’t know you could plug two in and do a simple drag and drop operation, so that’s worth knowing. Thanks!

Oh, yes, it is possible to transfer licenses from one USB-eLicenser to another:

https://www.steinberg.net/nc/en/support/knowledgebase_new/show_details/kb_show/usb-elicensersteinberg-key-details-tips-and-troubleshooting.html (POINT 4).

So the trick is to sense impending disaster and act before the actual failure.

Now where did I put that crystal ball… :wink:

:laughing:

Usually, before a USB-eLicenser stops working, it is sometimes not recognised in the eLCC and acts weird.
In that case, put it in another port (perhaps reboot as well) and the license should be safely transferred.

Of course, if you happen to find your crystal ball… :wink:

I can confirm Fabio’s information there.

My USB had begun to intermittently not connect. Swapping ports gave it just enough more life to have me be able to make that transfer.

So might as well just go ahead and have an extra dongle hanging around, better to do it now, and not be worried about how long it takes to rcv.

I have lost my dongle!!

Cannot find it literally anywhere??

What shall i do? i cannot afford to pay for a full new cubase, i still have all the original packages and info with paper license code, just can’t find the dongle!

I have an album i can’t get too!! If it is lost i really don’t know what i would do!

Please Help

Adam

#1 You need to order a new Dongle immediately. You can find them all over the web for around $25-$30, or from your local Steinberg dealer for a bit more $

#2 Open a Steinberg Support request in the MySteinberg area of the website and tell them that you lost your Dongle. It’s a long process, but they have a way of basically canceling your lost dongle, and giving you new licenses to put on your new dongle; assuming you have all of the info they need.

#3 When you get your new dongle: Register it and then download the trial licenses for the software you use, and that will give you 30 days of use until you get your new licenses from Steinberg. (which will be a while. They take their time. -just sayin’.)

Good Luck!

Mines was an example and not “the solution”. I supposed dongle was not the only way to protect a software. So, as you say, dongle forever. No solution. Just dongles. :frowning: