Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't?
 

Hi all, I've been running Komplete Ultimate 9 since it came out, on a Mac Pro 5,1 PT10 HD rig.

The setup went from Mountain Lion to Mavericks at some point without any drama.

Recently the machine died (motherboard failure I believe), so I duly pulled all the cards, drives, iLoks etc out & stuck them in my backup Mac Pro 5,1.

Most of my plugins are on iLok, but a fair few things required authorising over the internet, as I guess they detected the motherboard had changed.

Anyway, after much re-authorising etc, absolutely everything is working again apart from Kontakt.

The plugin itself loads just fine within Pro Tools, but any library/database/instrument I load just goes in demo mode.

The Plugin version is Kontakt 5.5.2, which I believe is the last version that Pro Tools 10 will recognise. The next version along (5.6.8) won't load into Pro Tools 10, as I'm told its 64bit.


Here is the issue, for years Komplete 9 used a bit of software called 'Service centre' in order to authorise its plugins & instruments. I still have it on my machine.

They then switched a few years ago to something called 'Native Access'

Native access V 1.1.3 runs fine under Mavericks, so you'd think I'd be able to authorise everything?

Well here's the bug, Native access *thinks* all my Kontakt libraries are already authorised, but when I load them up it, they go into demo mode, ask for authorisation, which then attempts to run the now defunct 'service centre', which 'phones-home' to find no one picking up at the other end.

I'm basically stuck.

I've been mailing Native Instruments back & forth for over two weeks now, & honestly, no one there really cares. They just tell me to update, which of course I can't, as no newer version of either Kontakt (for instance 5.6.8) will run on PT10HD.

I can't 'de-authorize' a library, & try 're-authorizing' as there is no mechanism to do so.

I've tried deleting loads of different preference type files, hoping to make it work again, but still no joy.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

What happens when you click the “Add Library” button in the Kontakt browser? Does it allow you to locate a library?

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

Hey Dave, thanks for the reply.


Yes, I can browse in the Kontakt plugin, & locate and add libraries (& delete them, re-add them etc)

From within Kontakt, they have an 'activte' icon in the bottom right of each library.

Clicking on this takes me to a Service-centre pop-up window that fails.

If I load my native access app however, it thinks my Libray (Alica's keys in this example) *is* authorized already.

If I could find a way to *de-authorize* a libray , that might be a route to a solution, but I can find no way to even do that.

Curiously, eveything else in Komplete 9 Ultimate works just fine. Its just Kontakt libraries that suffer from this.

See screen grabs for hopefully more clarity.

Higher resolution ones here on Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sqwy6e8ms...CKoWB_V_a?dl=0

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

Bummer.

I don’t know I’m afraid.

A couple of long shots:
1. Have you run Kontakt stand-alone and tried adding libraries there?
2. I’m surprised Native Access works but maybe try reinstalling a (small) library from there? (On the Installed products window, click on “Full Version” in the rightmost column.)
3. Ask on the Native Instruments user forums if you haven’t already. It’s often a better bet than NI support!

EDIT: Your third screenshot just appeared. It looks wrong that the serial number doesn’t show up! I wonder what would happen if you added the serial number for a product in Native Access? Maybe try a library you don’t like/use first.

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

1). yes I have, & if I run the standalone Kontakt 5.5.x I have the exact same problem, if I run the standalone 5.6.x Kontakt the libraries all load fine .

The issue is that Kontakt 5.6.AAX plugin is 64bit, & thus apparently won't run in PT10HD

2) Native access is version 1.1.3 which runs on Mavericks.

https://support.native-instruments.c...ating-Systems-

3) I'll try their forums next. I found this thread on GS last night. Looks like their are many other dissatisfied customers.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/elec...-products.html

4) Yeah I removed the serial number from the screen grab ! It shows up in all it’s glory though in real life, saying 'Fully Authorised'..ffs

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

Hi,


Had the same problem. abandon in the end. about £1000 of plugs down the drain.


If you get a resolve let me know.






Chris

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

Blimey, well if you can't fix it Chris, I'm not sure I can ! I will keep plugging away at it though...

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

Sadly, I think Chris is correct. The old NI service center was reliant on internet authorization, it’s at least 10 years old now. I think they dropped it about 5-6 years ago. So old libraries that were encrypted for kontakt player are probably not going to authorize on the older unsupported kontakt versions. Iirc, the demo mode allows them to work for 20 minutes... so you could still go back and bounce down old tracks to audio this way if you need to preserve old sessions. This isn’t going to help you keep making new music though.

Another option would be to load the samples on a newer computer with a newer version of kontakt, and send Midi out to that computer from your pro tools rig, then pipe the audio back into your TDM system either with spdif, light pipe, etc.. VE pro software can do audio and midi over an Ethernet cable, but I’m not sure if there would be any compatibility issues between your PT10HD system and the latest version of VEP. Iirc, VEP needs an identical version on all computers involved (keep in mind I haven’t used VEP for several years, so this may no longer be accurate info).

Re: Stuck with dead/demo-mode Kontakt 5.5 databases. Can the DUC help where N.I won't
 

I panicked until I remember Vienna Ensemble Pro. It works fine (although I'm using an earlier than current version. The library (MAS Heavyocity Ethnic Drum Ensemble) loads just fine.
But wait! I realized I had Kontakt 6 and it loads fine inside Pro Tools with no authorization weirdness. Two solutions!