Pace's pain in the ass ! Down ILok !

[Aquarius]

I have to add another thread to the Ilok issues.
Those guys are not reliable AT ALL ! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
It's been 2 full weeks my key broke and after sending them 15 mails (back and forth with Digidesign France) I still got nothing !!!
The whole story is a bloody nightmare, here's a short resume :
I registered my key the 11/02/03 on their new website ; Everything seemed smooth at this time, and hopefully I printed my key authorizations to keep a record just in case of... Hell I was inspired that day !
The next day, my computer failed to boot and I soon found out the key was broken, no light on. It's the second time !!!
I then alerted them about it because I had some important work to deliver end of the week and they asked me to fill a RMA form.
First, it took them nearly a week to figure out that my Bomb Factory's Classic comps were part of my HD2 purchase.
They kept saying I was not registered to BF untill finally, after great efforts and special Jedi mind tricks they realized I was not lying...Ridiculous.
Same thing happened with Mc DSP...aaargh !!!
But Colin was there, as usual and solved it the next day : Thanks again Colin, keep the good work !
I have also to state that Digidesign France did the best they could to help me with this matter
THANKS AGAIN AURELIEN, you're a Pro understanding Pro users [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Then another 3 days gone by and no mail AT ALL...what the ????
I then send them a list of all my plugs (21 total), cross-referenced with my previous printing from their site.
2 days ago, they send me another list of what they thought was my correct list but it was totally WRONG, and new mails were sent.
Today, I received another one from Pace, with 2 Digi plugs not showing !!!
Man, those people have serious problems understanding how a Pro audio business should be run ! I can't figure out the point of registering a key and its affiliated plugs if they don't use it !!!
I am MAD at them and I had to share my griefs with you !!!
Be Warned, Ilok sucks - at the moment - and for those of you who believe in someone above, pray !!!
Thanks God, I have the Waves stuff !

[ODC]

Hi Aquarius,

I feel really sorry for you !
That must have hurted....

[Philthy]

Insanity. If I was in your shoes I could have lost a month's worth of gigs and had complete financial ruin. Not what you want from a platform at all. This Ilok mess is not ready for prime time.

[Aquarius]

Yes, that's exactly the point !
And as of today, nothing has changed...I'm stucked in the middle of a BIG F****** MESS ! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

[Mark Wheaton]

It seems that the biggest danger with the iLok concept is that it provides no real time backup of valuable software. by that I mean, if the iLok fails, you should have an instant way to still use the software.
According to US copyright laws, the developer must provide a way for the user to have a functioning backup. In the floppy days, this was accomplished by companies that provided a backup key disk (and multiple installs on each key disk). iLok should work the same way. Once you have installed and confirmed authorization, the iLok should be duplicated in some way, so if one goes, you have an instant backup. To insure that someone is not using it on two machines you could key the iLok off of some hardware id therefore you could have several iLoks that are keyed off specific CPU ids. Or provide a 3-5 user license. Of course this may require some other method other than iLok anyway... Imagine an iLok set, keyed to the same 3 to 5 machines, so you could actually spread the investment in software to a couple machines such as a laptop for traveling and your main machine in the studio.
The pro audio market will convert to dedicated turn key systems once again, if the software industry does not figure out a foolproof way to protect their legit intellectual rights with out infringing on the users equally legit rights to use the software they paid for. There has to be a better way. I personally like the Waves method of having the authorizations listed on your web account, although it needs to be simpler. the biggest problem with challenge response that is tied to the Hard Drive is Hard Drives die or you upgrade your machine, and it becomes incredibly cumbersome. this is where iLok concepts seems good at first glance, but they must have a robust method of redundancy and stability.

[Mark Haliday]

The pro audio market will convert to dedicated turn key systems once again, if the software industry does not figure out a foolproof way to protect their legit intellectual rights with out infringing on the users equally legit rights to use the software they paid for.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Absolutly right !!!!

Digidesign does not seem to realise that this whole issue is going to culminate in some kind of big crisis.

I have been talking to people who build, install and maintain Pro Tools configurations and they tell me they are confronted to growing client discontent with all these authorization issues.
The language barrier is no small problem either, since not all plugin makers seem to realise that not everyone is a fluent english speaker, a problem when exchanging emails. After all it is no requisite for making hit records...

Let's just hope Digidesign takes iLok problems VERY seriously because current bugs could destroy durably pro confidence in the PT platform if they where to continue.

On my side I will not transition to PT 6 or HD until I am certain that iLok is 100% up and running and safe.

[Aquarius]

Following this story, I had a mail today indicating the new ILok is on its way.... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I just hope it will contain all my authorizations... [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]
I'll let you know !

[beech]

On my side I will not transition to PT 6 or HD until I am certain that iLok is 100% up and running and safe.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'll second that. After 6 months of hassle upgrading plugins to HD, I'm afraid to even look at ILok.com's website in case I bring about more madness. No, this has been one big distaster as far as Digi are concerned. Do they not realize that some of us have to try and earn a living in between all this nonsense.

[img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
DW

[John McDaniel]

t seems that the biggest danger with the iLok concept is that it provides no real time backup of valuable software. by that I mean, if the iLok fails, you should have an instant way to still use the software.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Simple. Every plug-in should come with a time limited challenge/response or serial number that will allow the software to function for at least two weeks. ANY developer that can't solve your problem within two week shouldn't be in business. The key should allow one use on a CPU, then after your problem is solved, you get a new key for use in case of a future problem. A simple extension of the "one time demo" feature: renewable demo periods.

j

[ODC]

Hi everyone !
I'm with you on this matter.
This damn key should work ; This ain't no game here, we ARE working and Make money out of our jobs !!!!
As for Aquarius, don't loose it and keep us informed... [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
We will petition if we need to !