Old iLok and upgrades

[Saynom]

Hello,

I'm managing the account of one of a Pro Tools customer who just had to reinstall her Mac OS and changed it to High Sierra (old Macbook Pro).

I tried to install Pro Tools 2020.12 on this computer and iLok Manager. iLok manager recognize the USB iLok but Pro Tools don't. I guess it's because it's an old iLok (the black one with blue light) and because it says it's a license for Pro Tools 10 (it also indicates that it's an active license and without time limit) but I don't know what to do to make it work with the 2020.12. I'm not a Pro Tools customer myself so I'm a bit lost.

Can I upgrade it for free ? Should she buy again a perpetual license ? Is there an upgrade pricing ? If I upgrade the license can I use it with 2020.12 ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

(Also, I managed to reinstall PT10 with the "distribution trick" but I get some visual glitches and I no sound coming out of PT, that's why I think I will have to make PT12 work...)

[albee1952]

This simply is not going to work. A license for PT10 will not authorize any newer version. Also, its doubtful that a version of PT that old is going to be compatible with an OS as recent as High Sierra. She needs to either downgrade the OS to a version that works with PT 10, or buy a newer version of PT. The black and blue iLok is fine(its the 2nd generation) with all Pro Tools, up to the very latest(though you might need to dig around the iLok.com site for Legacy software to work with older OS). There may be no upgrade deal available as traditionally, those deals are for upgrading one level(like from 10 to 11), but do check with some of the bigger dealers to be sure(Alto Music, G Sharp Music, Dale Pro Audio and Sweetwater are a few to try).

BTW, this is not a shortcoming of Pro Tools. Its Apple's fault for not giving a rat's rump about backward compatibility

[JFreak]

Hi, welcome to the community.

Compatibility info here. For compatibility with High Sierra you need at least PT12.8.3 which would require license that says "Pro Tools Perpetual" on your iLok. Licensing changed in version 12.6 and even if you have license for PT12 it only opens versions older than 12.6.

So you have two choices. Either find a dealer that still has old stock "reinstatement" (of support and upgrade plan) codes, or buy a completely new license that comes with active support plan. This way you can download any version from 12.6 and later from Avid Download Center. Bear in mind you need "reinstatement" code which is more expensive and hard to find, do not buy "renewal" code which only works on active support plan and is cheaper. Avid stopped selling reinstatements long ago, so I wish you good luck. Either way, make sure your support plan does not expire as that would mean yet another full license some years later. You need to renew the plan yearly (or buy several years of support plan at once).

[Saynom]

Thanks albee1952 and JFreak for these detailed explanations.

I don't know if I try to use Dual Boot to reinstall Tiger (which is now really outdated) or if I suggest her to buy a new perpetual license. We'll have to discuss that.

I'm reassured that one can still use PT12 with newer license though.

One last question: Even with the perpetual license you have to pay yearly?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Saynom

Even with the perpetual license you have to pay yearly?

Yes and no.

With a new perpetual license, you also get 12 months of support and update plan. During that time, if you find that your system is working nicely and you want to park your software to those versions (as in not upgrade OS or PT or plugins) you can stop paying for support and update plan. This is the good news, but there is a downside too. Will explain later.

However, if you use PT on a regular basis, that may not be wise because many things change and sometimes at times you would not wish to have any changes. The PT license has a special RELEASE LIMIT date which says any version released on or before that date can be authorised, but later ones cannot be used. Support plan also means you do not need to pay for individual support ticket but instead just contact Avid Support if you have problems.

And because Avid stopped selling "reinstatement" (of support and update plan) codes long time ago, keeping your plan active with cheaper "renewal" code might sound like a good idea. As a rule of thumb, you save some if you buy a new perpetual license after four years, but it also means years 2-4 do not give you updates or support.

I hope this explains everything you needed to know about current licensing rules.

[Saynom]

Oh ok, so you can still use PT even if the support and update plan isn't renewed?

That's great. Because she will very likely not upgrade her OS anymore.

Thanks a lot for all these details!

[JFreak]

Aucun problème. Bonne chance. Espérons qu'il n'y ait pas de surprendre.

[Saynom]

Merci ! :)

[JFreak]

Just one more clarification for you and everyone else.

If you want to keep using PT in perpetuity with your parked system, be sure you buy PERPETUAL license and not SUBSCRIPTION. Because once you stop paying for subscription, PT will stop launching.

Just wanted to make this point, because some people consider "support and upgrade plan" as subscription, but there are two fundamentally different kind of licensing. And you need perpetual license if you want to keep using your parked system "forever".

[Saynom]

Ok, good to know.

We agree that this is this license (with standard support), right ? : https://shop.avid.com/ccrz__ProductD...sku=DYNAP20000

They say that we loose the ability to use plugins after the end of payments though...