Another iLok Question, mine is GOING bad.

[jpoprock]

Hey guys. My iLok seems to be going bad. There is a "short" somewhere in it, and you have to hold it just right in order for the USB port to see it. Mind you, it's not "yet" broken.

So my question is... does this mean I should buy the iLok "insurance" plan? If so, then what? Send it in to iLok? I guess I don't understand how it works. I can't just go out and buy another iLok and transfer my licenses to it??

Having an iLok with yer plug ins on it is one thing, but they make it way too hard. I understand the whole thing about piracy, but come on. If we're honest enough to own an iLok in the first place, that should count for something. There are TONS of cracked plugins one could download and use if the way. But for us honest people that actually use an iLok and pay for our plugins, they make it really hard to just "Buy a new one and transfer" if our iLok unit is going bad from use.

This isn't a "rant" per se, nor am I trying to start a debate. I just wanna know what I should do about my iLok that is starting to go south.

Thanks!
Jason

[jpoprock]

Looks like I DO have to buy ZDT, and then I'll be able to buy another iLok, inform Pace, then they will allow me to transfer my licenses to the new iLok, send the defective iLok back to them, then once they confirm it's defective, they transfer my licenses for good to the new iLok.

Does that sound right?

I found this on their site:

Sign up for Zero Downtime™ and use spare iLoks for fast license replacement:

* When a covered iLok breaks or is lost/stolen, log in to iLok.com and submit an RMA.
* Will deposit eligible, time-limited temporary licenses in your ilok.com account.
* Download these to a spare iLok (you're up and running!)
* Send us the broken iLok. We validate the broken iLok, and provide you with permanent replacement licenses in your iLok.com account.
* You can download the replacement licenses to any iLok on your account.
* If the iLok was defective and under warranty, we send you a blank replacement.


So, it seems the first step is to buy another iLok. The "spare" they mention, would be my new iLok since I don't have a spare now! Then once they confirm my old one is bad, they allow me to dl new "non-temp" licenses to the iLok. Or so it seems.


j

[jpoprock]

Here is something interesting...

If you can reliably Update your broken iLok with iLok.com:

The Move Licenses utility can be used to move licenses from the broken iLok to another iLok when both iLoks are registered to the your account. If your iLok connector is loose or broken and you can get the iLok to connect only some of the time, you should not try to move more than one license at a time.


I doesn't say anything about having to purchase ZDT. Because I really don't mind having downtime since I'm just a hobbyist. Dunno!

I'm in the middle of the RMA process now... and a screen popped up and said this:

"If you wish to purchase this optional coverage now and immediately receive temporary licenses for use during the RMA process, you must agree to purchase Zero Downtime coverage for $30.00 and pay an expediency fee of $100.00."

Expediency fee of $100? Yikes! So, what does the $30 get you? The ability to spend $100 more dollars?

[jpoprock]

I don't know about the $100 fee, but I basically had to back out of the RMA process because since I didn't purchase ZDT, and because the RMA process was irreversible (and I haven't got a new iLok yet, nor am I ready to send the broken one back).

So, from what I gather... I would have to be without my plugs for a minimum of two weeks while they inspect the broken iLok. Once they confirm it's broken, they move my licenses off it, so that I can transfer them to my new iLok.

Haveing ZDT would mean they would transfer temp licenses to my new iLok, then once the old was confirmed broken, they would make the permanent. But what the $100 is for, I'm not really sure. I just read the fine print of ZDT, and it didn't say anything about it.

I wonder... can you buy iLoks in different colors? Or do they only make the one color?

[DigiTechSupt]

You don't need ZDT unless you have auths that do not allow transfer between iLoks registered to your own account. I think Waves may be the only one that doesn't allow transfer, but there may be others.

Just buy a new iLok, register it to the same account and you can move licenses between them at any time, free of charge, without having ZDT.

ZDT is there if your iLok dies completely and you need auths immediately.

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by jpoprock

Looks like I DO have to buy ZDT, and then I'll be able to buy another iLok, inform Pace, then they will allow me to transfer my licenses to the new iLok, send the defective iLok back to them, then once they confirm it's defective, they transfer my licenses for good to the new iLok.

Does that sound right?

I found this on their site:

Sign up for Zero Downtime™ and use spare iLoks for fast license replacement:

* When a covered iLok breaks or is lost/stolen, log in to iLok.com and submit an RMA.
* Will deposit eligible, time-limited temporary licenses in your ilok.com account.
* Download these to a spare iLok (you're up and running!)
* Send us the broken iLok. We validate the broken iLok, and provide you with permanent replacement licenses in your iLok.com account.
* You can download the replacement licenses to any iLok on your account.
* If the iLok was defective and under warranty, we send you a blank replacement.


So, it seems the first step is to buy another iLok. The "spare" they mention, would be my new iLok since I don't have a spare now! Then once they confirm my old one is bad, they allow me to dl new "non-temp" licenses to the iLok. Or so it seems.


j

Sounds a little complicated to me.
Buy a new iLok, and move the licenses from the one that's going bad to the new one.
throw the one that's going bad away, and call it a day.

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

You don't need ZDT unless you have auths that do not allow transfer between iLoks registered to your own account. I think Waves may be the only one that doesn't allow transfer, but there may be others.

Just buy a new iLok, register it to the same account and you can move licenses between them at any time, free of charge, without having ZDT.

ZDT is there if your iLok dies completely and you need auths immediately.

Waves does allow moving from iLok to iLok within one's account, but not to another's account without permission.

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by Benoni

No you cant just transfer the plugs to a new ilok, but ilok.com can help you. Iloks are good for auth'ing plugs when you do a re-install or move your rig to other PC's but their rules are insane. They should allow everyone a fully loaded backup ilok IMHO.

Actually, yes...you CAN transfer your licenses from your current to a new iLok, any time you want, any day of the week.
Allow a fully loaded backup? Gee...I can't see any problems THERE.

[ejwells]

Sorry, have to disagree.
Allowing a second, fully loaded iLok would make the whole iLok system pointless.
Folks would be selling the backups right and left.

Personally, I love the iLok system.
I'm willing to pay the paltry 35.00 for an iLok, if only so I can take it to another studio, and use all my plugs.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by ejwells

Waves does allow moving from iLok to iLok within one's account, but not to another's account without permission.

When did Waves relax their policy? When registering/authorizing/downloading Waves iLok auths, they have always locked the authorization to the iLok it's originally downloaded to. If this has changed, it would be nice to know.