Upgrade to 10, still able to use 8?

[Gunnell]

I have PT8 MP. I'm considering the crossgrade to 10. I'd like to install 10 on a different machine so I don't risk any downtime. Will I still be able to use 8 after the upgrade? Thanks!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Gunnell

I have PT8 MP. I'm considering the crossgrade to 10. I'd like to install 10 on a different machine so I don't risk any downtime. Will I still be able to use 8 after the upgrade? Thanks!

Yes, since the "license" for PT8MP is really tied to the M-audio interface, it will continue to work. (I know you wee not asking this, and may know this already, but just to be clear...) you cannot have Pro Tools 8 MP installed on the same computer as Pro Tools 10 (or any other Pro Tools version).

Darryl

[tombrewer]

When I first UPGRADED to 10, it required that I surrendered a license from my iLok. On my first system, I had a PT 9 authorization. It took the v9 Auth off, and then installed a bundled authorization that had both 9 and 10 in it. Worked great. My second system had a version 8 Authorization. It took my 8 Auth off of my iLok, and just put a 10 Auth only. I had to message Avid to get that 8 Auth back. They were gracious enough to help me out... I don;t know if they have resolved that issue.

Related to Darryl's second part from above. The easiest way to have both versions running on one computer, is to have two internal hard drives, each with a separate operating system on it... keep in mind that PT 8 is most likely going to allow an older OS whereas PT 10 will want a much newer one... so, this might be a requirement. once you have the two hard drive with appropriate systems on them, just install the corresponding pro tools version on each start-up. When starting up the computer, hold down the option key to get a window that allows you to choose which drive to start up from. Lastly, this process works really well with iLoks, but, not as well with cloud based authorizations (such as waves 9).

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by tombrewer

When I first UPGRADED to 10, it required that I surrendered a license from my iLok. On my first system, I had a PT 9 authorization. It took the v9 Auth off, and then installed a bundled authorization that had both 9 and 10 in it. Worked great. My second system had a version 8 Authorization. It took my 8 Auth off of my iLok, and just put a 10 Auth only. I had to message Avid to get that 8 Auth back. They were gracious enough to help me out... I don;t know if they have resolved that issue.

Oops Duh, I forgot Pro Tools 8 MP involved an iLok asset, I was just transposing it in my head with Pro Tools 8 LE, where there is no iLok asset involved. And in my case when I cross-graded from Pro Tools 8 LE to 9 I kept 8 LE on a second boot drive until I knew 9 was running. So yes you are correct and I understand the usual flow is you surrender the iLok asset, but maybe contacting support and the can help help out if there is a really issue/concern here.

Another option here is to use the free trial download of Pro Tools 10. Make sure everything works and then buy a license. That is really what that program is for. http://www.avid.com/Trial/ProTools/

Darryl

[Gunnell]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I'm eligible for the faculty academic version of 10. Do you think that would complicate things any further? From what I understand the academic version is identical to the "normal" version but a different price...

What would be the best way to go about contacting their support to make sure I'll still be able to use 8MP after getting a license for 10? It seems Avid tries to push things towards this forum or FAQs...

[tombrewer]

Are both versions faculty academic versions? If not, there might be a problem with upgrading from a non-academic to academic... (the other way around is ok) but, not entirely sure on that.

Assuming that they are both academic, once you get the new software installed and registered, you will get a 30day complimentary support code. This will allow you to log in to the support section and register a ticket/case. From there you can discuss directly with avid the issue if it arises.

You might also try calling them, as it is somewhat of a sales type question since you haven't purchased the upgrade yet. Just takes a long time to get in, and even then, they might require a support code.

[Gunnell]

As far as I can recall, there wasn't an academic version of 8. My version is simply MP. From what I understand, it doesn't matter what version of PT you are upgrading from:
http://shop.avid.com/store/product.d...25148288208480

OK, I'll try calling and talking to sales. I'd rather not wait until I have the problem to try to solve it. If the case is that I will NOT be able to use both, I won't even upgrade so I'd rather not find my self in a 10 only situation in the near future.

[Gunnell]

As expected, Avid support was no help. I couldn't find a phone number anywhere (if anyone knows of one, please let me know) so I emailed sales. I will say they were pretty quick at getting back to me, however, they did not actually answer my question. Again, I'm looking for a simple "yes" or "no" to the question "will I still be able to run 8 one my old machine after purchasing and installing 10 on my new machine?" Here was their indefinite and therefore unhelpful response:

"Thank you for your inquiry.

Normally, when you upgrade to a new license of PT, the previous product
license is overwritten by the new.

With the crossgrade to PT 10, you will need to enter your iLok ID and
Avid hardware interface serial number in order to activate your
software. You will not be able to activate this product if you do not
have these."

-----

The word "normally" is the precise reason I'm trying to find an answer to this... Will it work or won't it? If not, I won't upgrade because I can't afford the down time that I am sure to have (based on past upgrade experiences).

[Darryl Ramm]

That woudl be a "no".

Again you can download a trial version of Pro Tools 10 for free to check out if things work OK for you before you purchase (and you just then surrender your old license and update the license on the iLok if it works, you leave the working actual software in place).

You also are buying Pro Tools at a deeply discounted academic price, so if your really want to keep Pro Tools 8 to use in future you could always buy a full academic version of Pro Tools 10 at a great price.

Whichever way you look at it Avid is accommodating lots of options here. I'm not quite getting what needs special attention from Avid.

Darryl

[necjamc]

Your other option would be to purchase a "used" mp8 auth on eBay. Then you would be able to have both. They are pretty cheap these days.