legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install PT 11 [SOLVED]
 

Hey all,

I want to share with you my nightmare experience attempting to install Pro Tools 11 on my new Windows 10 machine, and share the solution I found, so that anyone in the same boat as I was in can be saved hours of headache and hair-ripping.


I couldn't install Pro Tools 11 on my brand new Windows 10 PC due to Pro Tools forcing me to install an outdated and unsupported PACE License Support. Every time I would run the PT11 installer, when it asked for a reboot after the install completed, my computer would not boot back up. It would repeatedly crash on the "dots spinning in a circle" startup screen, turn into "attempting repairs," and then bring me to the boot recovery menu. From there I would have to select "startup repair" which would seem to act as a sort of system restore - when it successfully boots up again my computer would not have Pro Tools or the iLok License Manager/PACE installed anymore but everything else would be intact.

At this point I was very scared that Pro Tools 11 wouldn't work on my PC, but my previous Windows 10 laptop ran it just fine so I was very confused. I tried installing Pro Tools 10 as well and got the same crashing. After some experimenting I found the culprit: I began the installation of Pro Tools 11 only to where it installs PACE License Support, and didn't actually install Pro Tools. It asked me for a reboot and then the same crash sequence happened.

This told me that PACE License Support was the cause of the crashing. But I remember I had previously installed the latest version of the iLok License Manager, which is the same thing as/includes the latest PACE License Support, without any issues. So I downloaded it again separately, restarted my computer, no issues.

After lots of digging, and checking the "legacy installers" section of iLok's download website, I figured out the problem was that Pro Tools 11 installation was attempting to force the install of the legacy "interlok driver" software (which is the legacy component of PACE License Support) for some reason, even though I already had the latest iLok license manager installed and functioning properly. I found out that "InterLok Driver Setup Win64" was the culprit of the issue because I tried installing it on its own through the legacy download section of iLok's website, and encountered the same crashing error as when I would run the Pro Tools 11 install regularly.


The Pro Tools 11 install would tell me "Avid requires the following software to be installed before proceeding" and lists "PACE License support" even though I have already had the latest version (v5.2.1) downloaded and functioning correctly. When I would inevitably have to restore my PC once the crash loop occurred after installing Avid's version, I tried a system restore point instead of a startup repair. I noticed that, when Windows listed the programs I would lose when restoring, two instances of PACE License support appeared on the list of installed programs. One would be the current v5.2.1 (which always installed without any issues), and one would be the legacy 2.4.3! (Which is the version found in the PT11 install directory.)

So after ripping my hair out for hours a few nights ago, I finally reached a solution! When PT11 prompted the install of PACE License Support (as it always did, even though I had the newest version already installed), I clicked install, as I was always forced to do in order to continue. But, when Windows 10's action center popped up, asking if I trust the developer and wanted to install the software, I hit DON'T INSTALL. The PT11 install software did not error out and continued on as normal, allowing me to install PT11! I've tested Pro Tools and everything runs as it should.



I had tried everything else on iLok's support website, including doing a Windows "repair" install, but this loophole turned out to be the only solution. PT11 installer should have recognized that I already had a later version of PACE License Support installed, and not tried to force me to install the broken legacy version as well. I had even contacted iLok customer support, but received short and disappointing replies - they didn't seem sympathetic to my situation.


This was their first message back:

TPKD.sys is only installed if you are using our legacy*Interlok*drivers. The*Interlok*drivers are not supported on*Windows*10. If you are using software that requires the*Interlok*drivers, you'll either need to use an older operating system to use that older software or you can contact the publisher of the software to see if they are willing to rewrap their software using a supported driver.

After I responded to them, explaining the solution I found on my own, they simply replied with,

Avid is already aware of this. The legacy version isn't installed with later version of Pro Tools.*

Well that's great, but what about everyone on Windows 10 with Pro Tools 11 or older? I urged them to make a note of this on their website to help people in my scenario but they didn't respond.


I want to make everyone aware of this issue so they can continue to use Pro Tools 11 and earlier on Windows 10 systems! I understand that Windows 10 isn't officially supported on Pro Tools 11 or earlier according to Avid's website, but I had been using my same PT11 software on my previous Windows 10 laptop for years without any issue. Perhaps this was due to a recent update to Windows 10 that caused those legacy PACE drivers to make Windows 10 completely freak out?

Case in point, I'm not sure why Pro Tools 11 and older's installs require PACE's legacy driver to install even though PACE's newest drivers are already installed on the system, and I'm glad I found a loophole. I hope this helps out even just a couple of people out there with older versions of Pro Tools on a Windows 10 machine - I can't be the only one!!


Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any thoughts.

Best,
Kevin

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

I've finally found someone who is going through the same issue as me. (Well, almost)

I've recently upgraded to Windows 10 and I've been trying to run Pro Tools 10 perfectly like it did before on my Windows 7 OS. I did the exact same thing as you, whereby I skipped the installation of the PACE Interlok drivers during the Pro Tools 10 installation, as I wanted to do that separately.

I got ProTools 10 running fine, and I've downloaded the latest iLok drivers, but now I've run into an issue with Pro Tools reading the licences from the iLok.

In order to read those licenses, I NEED to install the Legacy Drivers from PACE, because I need that TPkd.sys file on my OS in order for ProTools to read my licenses...but Windows 10 doesn't trust that TPkd.sys file at all, and Blue Screens me every time I try restart/reboot my system after I've installed the legacy drivers. I've done it this way before on Windows 8 and Pro Tools 10, and it worked...but Windows 10 is not happy.

Any idea on how to solve this conundrum? I'm losing my mind here.:confused:

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

Huh, that's bizarre, I have not run into this problem! All my plugin licenses are working fine (waves v11, melodyne 4, Soundtoys Decapitator, to name a few). Are you using old plugins / licenses? Could this have something to do with that?

I also had the newest version of iLok License Manager installed before installing Pro Tools 11, not sure if that even matters.

Where do you see / how do you know that you need "TPkd.sys" in order for Pro Tools to read your licenses? Does the plugin manufacturer or Pro Tools tell you that? What plugins/licenses are these, are they older ones? Are they cracked?

Does your system blue screen after restart when installing the legacy interlock drivers, or does it crash loop and bring you to the boot recovery menu? These are different errors; a blue screen will give you a more specific error message. The crash loop that happened to me didn't give me any specific error message, just sent me to the boot recovery menu.


These are the first questions that came into my head, let me know and I hope you can figure it out!

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

So most of the Plugins that come with ProTools 10 are not working and need the legacy drivers to operate. These are basically the AIR suite of plugins, ranging from the EQ's, to the Instruments (Xpand!, Boom, Vacuum etc.)

Those are some really expensive plugins, and I can't really afford to buy the updated ones on their own. Let me also mention that I have the perpetual license for ProTools 10 and all it's included plugins.

The reason I know I need the TPkd.sys file is because there is an Initialization error for every single plugin that needs it (which is a lot). The errors state:
"User privileges insufficient to start a low level driver" (when I don't run PT as an Administrator)

and when I do run it as Administrator:

"This software requires installation of the Interlock(R) device drivers..." or
"This software requires installation of device driver TPkd and a reboot before running...".

The Read Me file that resides in the "Old Installers" folder of the iLok License Support explicitly says that if I come across these errors, I need to install the legacy drivers for iLok.

Once I've installed the legacy drivers, it asks me to restart my computer, which I then do.

My computer then fails to boot up and gives me a blue screen. At the bottom of the blue screen, I see the message "What failed: Tpkd.sys".

It then 'attempts' to restart the PC itself, but to no avail, which then leads me to try restart it until I get the boot recovery menu, where I System Restore to the point before I installed the Legacy Drivers. And then I'd try again.

I've tried installing the legacy drivers, then immediately deleting the Tpkd.sys file afterwards, then restarting... which worked (in terms of getting my computer to boot up successfully), but then ProTools still can't retrieve those licenses from the iLok because it is looking for a Tpkd.sys file...

It's a catch 22 and I don't know how to solve this.

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

Oh wow, thank you for elaborating. That's different than the errors I experienced - Pro Tools 11 never asked for TPkd.sys to be installed. I'm thinking this could be a by-product of Pro Tools 10's old 32-bit infrastructure. It was the last 32-bit version of Pro Tools, which is coded and built fundamentally differently than 64-bit applications. This might explain why it might require this older 32-bit TPkd.sys software to run it properly. But, as we figured out, the latest versions of Windows 10 cannot handle this old incompatible software.

I don't think buying updated plugins would solve this because Pro Tools 10 is fundamentally a 32-bit application and you'd run into the same issues.

I'm really sorry to say, but it looks like there may not be a way around this one. :( Pro Tools 10 may actually not be compatible with the newest versions of Windows 10. I lucked out because Pro Tools 11 is fully 64-bit and doesn't actually require these legacy Interlock drivers, but still tries to force an install for some reason. Perhaps only Pro Tools 12 and up are officially compatible with Windows 10 because Avid got rid of the need to install these legacy drivers, among other reasons.

I wish Avid would offer a simple way to upgrade from 10 to 11, or 11 to 12, but I checked their website and they only seem to offer the latest version at full price. That puts people like us in an annoying position.

Not sure if this information will help you, but this talks about plugin compatability: https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...ility/en343311

Hope this helps and let me know what you end up doing.

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

My friend had the same problem. I will check out your link and show it to him. He might use this info.

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

HELP GUYS!!!! Please



I had the EXACT same issue after installing the PACE Licenser from an older version of XPand2 plugin. After the installation, it asks to reboot and Windows is on repair loop. However, my restore point feature on Windows 10 is disabled.



Does any one know to recover it??? Please!!!



PS: I tried using a different machine on a VM and the same happens. I also tried another plugin called Hybrid3 (that also uses iLok), and the same problem happened.



Tks

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

Are you asking how to recover your Windows 10 machine to a point before you tried to install the software? You should be able to do a "Startup Repair" in the boot recovery menu, under Advanced Options, as seen in this screenshot. This worked for me:

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9k...atj-650-80.png

As we've figured out, this is happening to you because the latest versions of Windows 10 cannot handle the legacy PACE License Support software. What version of Pro Tools are you using? Or which DAW if not Pro Tools? I haven't encountered the XPand installer asking me to install the legacy PACE software.

Hope this helps, and let me know.

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

This details Pro Tools versions compatibility with Mac and Windows OSs.
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...nload/en355241

Re: legacy PACE License Support crashes Windows 10, couldn't install Pro Tools 11 (RE
 

I have the same issues!
Last year i had a new pc and the install was flawless, no issues.
Now, after a HD crash, i reinstalled windows 10. then this issue allready started when i installed the asio drivers for my digi 003.
even when i unsellect the option for the pace thing.
this is very frustrating!
i still use pro tools LE 8