Using PT with Internet connection!?

[samtrino]

Hi,

I totally understand Avid needs to protect its software from unauthorized use, but the reality is that many of us use two machines, one in the studio/office (desktop) and another on the road (laptop), and we don't always have stable Internet connections when we're out...

For example, today I wanted to finish few edits in a Starbucks while waiting for my next meeting - Their connection is notoriously flaky, but when I started PT it successfully authorized the (iLok cloud) session and I dove right in... After around 15min, while editing an audio clip it seems that their WiFi dropped for a shot time but I didn't really notice it, I just got an error message that popped up and complained that PT failed to authorize, the clip that I was playing at the time just hung there and then went into a feedback loop frenzy, and eventually PT crashed!

Since I successfully authorized PT on my laptop at the start of the session, why can't iLok just relax a tiny bit and give us some space to finish our work instead of continuously pinging a server over the network or whatever? Besides being a workflow killer (literally), who knows how those interrupts affect PT's operation and performance (no wonder it keeps throwing various error msgs on a maxed out 2018 MBP!)

but really... my question is, what for? Is Avid seriously expecting someone will start a legitimate session using their legitimate Avid/iLok account, then half way through, hand over their laptop to someone else to use PT illegally? Seriously?

[Sardi]

Because what’s stopping someone starting PT on one machine, disconnecting from the internet, starting PT on another machine, disconnecting from the internet, starting PT on... you see where I’m going.

If you want a reliable connection, just use the physical iLok dongle. They’re not that big. It’s not like we’re using the original iLoks. Now they were annoying.


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[samtrino]

Sorry but that can't happen because you would only be allowed to use PT on 2 pre-authenticated and pre-registered machines, for example using MAC address and other bits to uniquely identify those two machines (which is actually used by several software devs using iLok licensing) - So the worse case scenario is you could use PT on both of your machines simultaneously, but no more (Avid / iLok can actually track how many open session you concurrently have).

Yes I have a physical dongle but it's not practical, it's easy to forgot, not too sturdy, can be stolen, etc.

I just hope someone at Avid comes up with a better solution that ensures proper cloud-based authorization while offering an improved user experience and a workflow that takes into account the need to constantly juggle between a desktop and a laptop (with intermittent internet connection)!

[Sardi]

I’m not a coder so won’t profess to know exactly how it works, but I wouldn’t be surprised if what I said is actually the case.

Do you know that PT pings the physical iLok continuously as well? If you remove the dongle whilst PT is open, within a minute or so, the app with throw up an activation error and you can’t proceed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like it to be the way you suggest it to be, but I’m sure there’s a reason they do it this way beyond making it a PITA for their customers. Both AVID and Pace are masters of that, but I’m not sure that’s what’s behind the constant with checks.


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[its2loud]

What iLok cloud should have is some sort of time-out feature for software licensing for the case of disconnected WiFi. Say, for example, you have a cloud session going and you lose WiFi, PT will stay active for a set time (30 min, 1 hour) to finish up what you’re working on or at least save the session and give you time to find new WiFi before locking you out of the application.

There is some type of pinging happening between Pro Tools and the physical ilok to make sure it’s still plugged in so it makes sense the same thing happens over the cloud.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by samtrino

Yes I have a physical dongle but it's not practical, it's easy to forgot, not too sturdy, can be stolen, etc.

Red herrings all that have remedies:
Easy to forget - make it part of your pre-travel routine to take it with you
Not too sturdy - get a dongle buddy extension cable - that way the iLok isn't hard connected to the computer
Can be stolen - have ZDT coverage along with TLC coverage; at $30 US per year it's the cheapest insurance you can get (besides having a second iLok). Besides who would steal just the iLok connected to your laptop? You'll have a bigger issue because then you computer is gone. Most people wouldn't know what the iLok is or does.

[samtrino]

If physical dongles fit your workflow great! nothing's gonna change, you can keep using them without any problem - But what's the point of technology if not to put it to good use and offload all those non-value adding tasks so we can instead focus on what's really important?

Anyways, I've been using PT for a year now and never complained about cloud authentication (even though it always felt clunky) until I hit that bug yesterday which caused PT to crash in the middle of a session because of a flaky wifi connection!

There is a better way to deal with this. It could be as simple as the poster above suggested, a timeout "grace" period with a non-intrusive warning so we have time to finish what we're working on!

Originally Posted by musicman691

Red herrings all that have remedies:
Easy to forget - make it part of your pre-travel routine to take it with you
Not too sturdy - get a dongle buddy extension cable - that way the iLok isn't hard connected to the computer
Can be stolen - have ZDT coverage along with TLC coverage; at $30 US per year it's the cheapest insurance you can get (besides having a second iLok). Besides who would steal just the iLok connected to your laptop? You'll have a bigger issue because then you computer is gone. Most people wouldn't know what the iLok is or does.

[Sardi]

Ok. So you don’t wanna use the physical iLok.

How bout instead of trying to use Starbucks free WiFi that half the block is leaching, you tether your laptop to your phone and use that instead. More than likely more stable and its not like its going to chew more than a megabyte in data.

Not playing down your request, but at the end of the day, you’re killing time editing a session in a cafe. Probably not that mission critical.


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[K Roche]

Originally Posted by samtrino

If physical dongles fit your workflow great! nothing's gonna change, you can keep using them without any problem - But what's the point of technology if not to put it to good use and offload all those non-value adding tasks so we can instead focus on what's really important?

Anyways, I've been using PT for a year now and never complained about cloud authentication (even though it always felt clunky) until I hit that bug yesterday which caused PT to crash in the middle of a session because of a flaky wifi connection!

There is a better way to deal with this. It could be as simple as the poster above suggested, a timeout "grace" period with a non-intrusive warning so we have time to finish what we're working on!

I wonder how "simple" completely rewriting code to allow a buffer that wound then probably require significant upgrade in bandwidth and storage, would really be ? Particularly since as others have pointed out, measured against how unnecessary it is, given that the technology to circumvent any internet drop out problem already exists, in the form of physical iLok. Kinda seems like a "tempest in a teapot".

[BScout]

People would literally scam ilok in the very early 2000s by starting a session, pulling the USB key, and then starting another computer with it. Later that same concept was used to create an intercept that cracked ilok security and everything protected by it.

The ilok not only protects ProTools but the plugins.

So if you want to blame someone for this, blame the “users”. If ilok did what you asked, I can see exactly how ilok would be cracked again and no one would use it (ie, software developers would not pay ilok and ilok would collapse as a company)

Buck up and use the physical ilok key if you have a poor internet connection. They’ve given enough options.