After PCI > PCIe & G5 > Mac Pro swap Got 2 iLoks.Confused

[Chris]

Apple was unable to repair my G5 (was told parts no longer available) so replaced with a Mac Pro. This transition has been very difficult for me. I am somewhat visually impaired. My last system I purchased as a turn key from my dealer for this exact reason. I changed to PCIe Digidesign Accel cards from PCI cards and had to upgrade from Pro Tools 7.1 to 7.3. At this point I have loaded most of my non-musical software and am starting load all my audio plug-ins. I have loaded Pro Tools 7.3 from a disc in the Digi box and downloaded from Digi's website and installed the 7.3.1cs4 update. I have not launched Pro Tools yet. There was a new iLok key in the box. My old iLok key is currently plugged into the front of the Mac Pro and the new one is in front of me (I use a machine room). Up to now I thought my old key would work just fine. I would just have to update my plug-ins to the latest versions. My dealer said this is not right. So now I'm lost. I thought the whole point of the iLok system was to make it possible to for me to go to another studio with my iLok key and be able to use any plug-ins I am licensed for after downloading the software to the computer I was visiting. I would like to end up with one iLok key with everything on it.
I would also appreciate any advice on how to update my plug-ins more efficiently. Companies change the names of the products and unbundle bundles and bundle up separate products in new configurations. I have Waves Platinum, Digidesigns "Bundlemania", Digidesigns Massive Pack 3, various other Digi plug-ins I have gotten from one promotion or another (MasterList CD, DINR, Turbosynth, Revibe, Pultec, etc.) AutoTune 5, Bias Peak Restoration Bundle Peak Pro XT5 and SoundSoap Pro (I think I understand how to do the Bias plug-ins). I was looking for bundled downloaders. I found a bundled Massive Pack 3 updater for PowerPC, but not for Intel. Did you know that a lot of help menus can not be zoomed "bigger" so I can read them? You can use a trick of holding down the "control" key and scroll in with a mouse wheel but that just makes it blurrier as it gets bigger. Other solutions have the same problem. The one I use the most is Command +++. I have a 30" monitor. When trying to install from original Apple discs I bought a special pair of magnifying glasses. I measured my nose is 6 inches from the screen which cannot be changed until after the software you are trying to put in is already in. The bigger the screen the smaller the type. The screen can be pretty warm and you get a "strange" feeling from the screen when you are six inches away. I shouldn't digress. I have upgrades coming for Finale 2008 and Logic Studio. I have Contour Shuffle Pro2 and Frontier's Tranzport. Reason and Ableton Live were with my original discs but are not on my hard drive now. Did I missplace a new disc? I only used one to install. My old system was called "Pro Tools HD2 Accel 6.7" when I purchased it. What is the name of it now? I have 2 PCI cards; one says HD Accel (for PCIe) and the other says Accel Core (for PCIe). I also have a 192 interface and a Midi I/O.
So to summerize: What key or keys do I put into my computer and when? What do I do at the iLok website? What is the name of my Digidesign product? Is there a more efficient way of gathering the latest version of each plug-in? Do you know any tricks to make all objects on my screen bigger without getting blurry at the same time? Did I lose a disc with with all the plug-ins and Reason and Live on it?
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
Christopher Kimball
C.K.'s Musical Workshop
4090 West Eaglerock Drive
Wenatchee, WA 98801

[email protected]

[TVPostSound]

The new key most likely has the PT7.3 authorization.
Sync the new iLok to your account, and transfer the authoriztion to your old iLok. The one with all your
plugin auths.

[rguerin]

posted to wrong forum

[rguerin]

duplicate post

[rguerin]

triplicate post

[JFreak]

I would like to end up with one iLok key with everything on it.

It is not wise.

First of all, even Protools license is delivered as two separate instances. There is the primary license that you should have on your primary iLok but in addition to that they provide you a backup license that you really should have on another iLok just in case something happens. If Digidesign backs up Protools, then you should also think about how to secure your plugins.

One of the most annoying thins are Waves plugins. As we all should know, Waves do not play fair with iLok systems. They do not let iLok replace or move licenses but insist on doing it themselves. That means if you have even *one* Waves license it should be on its own iLok because if something happens you will have to send that key to Waves for service and whatever other licenses you might have on that key are not available to you during the time the key is being serviced.

Another aspect is that should something happen on *one* of your license keys, you would most likely want to keep your system up and running to some point at least. You want to have your bread-and-butter plugins distributed between two license keys, because if you lose one for some period of time you could still continue working with another key. Say you have 6 favourite EQ's and 6 favourite compressors and 6 favourite reverbs, then it would be wise to have two iLok keys that both have 3 EQ's and 3 compressors and 3 reverbs. Then, if one key has to be serviced at any time, you avoid downtime.

I would also appreciate any advice on how to update my plug-ins more efficiently.

Have all your plugin installers stored on one directory. Keep that directory updated and burn it to DVD every once in a while. Stay on top of things, don't just use them not knowing what you have.

Do you know any tricks to make all objects on my screen bigger without getting blurry at the same time?

If you have a mouse with scroll wheel (such as the Mighty Mouse) then you can zoom the display content by pressing a control key while scrolling. It is not perfect with Tiger (10.4) but it can help. They say it looks sharper once you install Leopard (10.5) but it is not out yet.