XSI 7 Activation rules

#1

I’m contemplating upgrading to 7 from 6.5, but am a bit concerned re my exposure to Autodesk as a result, since there is no dongle, I assume the app is activated everytime you run it via the web?

Can anyone clarify the technical/legal implications of who actualy ‘owns’ the app if I upgrade- it seems to me that Autodesk will be in a position to ‘rewrite’ my access at some future date if I am dependant on their ‘goodwill’ for access- I dont want to be in this position.

Is it possible to guarantee access into the future, given that I will be paying for the acccess?

#2

you get a license that now, instead of a dongle, is tied to an ID of your box (most likely the mac address of the eth0 adapter).
Once the license is active you’re done, connected to the intarweb or not, and you can access that license over the network from any other box.

In case of laptops, or failure/change of the license server the license is tied to, you might want to transfer the license (which you can do as many times as you want). That means you deactivate the license first, and then ask for a new one from another box you want to tie it to and new keys for that are generated, and the previous ones invalidated.

I don’t know if AD will change this or change the license serving, although I doubt they will be able to do it before well over a year considering the amount of infrastructure and rewriting it involves, but even if they do once you have a license on a box you can use it and serve it anywhere on the network without issues and without any authentication.

The only moment Softimage servers are contacted is when you deactivate or activate or request a key, not during use.

#3

I’ve had a ton of issues with the licensing system under Softimage. If Autodesk can keep the system running smoothly and reply as quickly about licensing requests as they’ve been able to for Motionbuilder it’ll be a non-issue. If the thing isn’t maintained properly, and/or they reply at the speed of the licensing guys before the Autodesk purchase, it’ll be an absolute nightmare for XSI7 owners.

Time will tell.

#4

Thanks for the replies. I guess my worry is that Autodesk will leverage the control the non dongle set up gives them to force future upgrades- I really wish they had stayed with a dongle based system. Guess I’ll give 7 a miss at present and see what they do with XSI.

#5

It’s very unlikely they can do that, I don’t even think they could legally, and if they can they wouldn’t be bothered, at least for previous licenses.
Maya uses a similar system, and insofar I haven’t been “forced” to update my 3 years old license.

#6

Must confirm that new licensing works really well for Academic version.
I just had a problem with anti-virus software and installed uninstalled and wiped the registry.
And the license server lived on though all that :slight_smile:

Once active there’s no getting to it looks like.
And it’s apparently easy to activate so really no big deal.

#7

Actually, wiping the registery should be enough to invalidate a “no-dongle” license.
You should always deactivate the license first.

An SLP license is tied to the computer, but not by the MAC address.

#8

Once you have your license, you can disconnect from the Internet and never connect again, if that is what you want to do. There’s no way to “force upgrades”.

#9

Once you have your license, you can disconnect from the Internet and never connect again, if that is what you want to do. There’s no way to “force upgrades”.

That works as long as I don’t want to upgrade to a new computer. There is a degree of trust involved with purchasing a licence that requires the cooperation of the seller to facilitate it into the future- I may not choose to upgrade past 7 ever. With a dongle I am self suffiiciant- without it I am to some extent at the mercy of the host company- not a position I want to be in re AD. How long would they keep allowing me to migrate to new machines?

AD better hope that no viable competitor emerges in the future- their legacy of antipathy in the industry is practicly a legend- I am seriosly considering dumping a significant investment of time and money just to evade them- that cannot be good news for any company, no matter how dominant they appear to be.

#10

i didn’t realize it worked that way. for a time i was having problems with the license server crapping out on me and at the same time having trouble staying connected to the net. both problems seamed to correct themselves at the same time also. i guess it was just a coincidence then?

<edit>
hmmm, for some reason now that i remembered this, i get a pop up that says license connection lost for the first time in a while(it never reconnects on it’s own) . i haven’t been doing any work in a while, but kept xsi open. a restart should fix it as usual but pretty funny that it starts again within minutes of posting here.

#11

not sure on how the xsi licesne works but here’s how the 3dsmax licence works in case they adopt that in future.

once you have licenced 3dsmax you can export the licence to another pc which has 3dsmax installed…this pc will give you an i.d to point the export toward so you can quite simply update to a new computer, install on that and then export from your old pc to the new pc.

this procedure does not involve the internet or autodesk…once you have max running you can freely move it around to other pc’s anytime you wish…you just need a floppy disc or usb mem key/crom etc…or an email!

#12

but whether if you can get another activation code for your “old” license is a different question.

example: I have a Kaydara MotionBuilder 5.0 personal, and my computer just gone dead. And it seems that I can not get a new activation code for a new computer any more… ie… all that money is gone now… totally usless…

so, I wish your computer can last till you find your next 3D app…

#13

once you have licenced 3dsmax you can export the licence to another pc which has 3dsmax installed…this pc will give you an i.d to point the export toward so you can quite simply update to a new computer, install on that and then export from your old pc to the new pc.

this procedure does not involve the internet or autodesk…once you have max running you can freely move it around to other pc’s anytime you wish…you just need a floppy disc or usb mem key/crom etc…or an email!

Can anyone confirm if this applies to XSI’s system? Or is Windwolf correct that a move to new hardware exposes you to the risk that your local freindly software vendor has airbrushed you out of history?

#14

With SLP licensing for XSI, you have to deactivate the license first.
Then on the other computer, you re-activate the license.

#15

With SLP licensing for XSI, you have to deactivate the license first.
Then on the other computer, you re-activate the license.

Thanks for the reply. So it works in a similar way to the 3dMax system, without needing to get the vendors permission to move to a new box?. Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I am used to dongle based systems- it’s a bit unclear to me how the licence ‘knows’ that it has been moved instead of duplicated.

#16

To deactivate, you need to connect to softimage.com. Your softimage.com account keeps track of how many licenses you have, and whether they are assigned or unassigned. When you deactivate, the license goes from assigned to unassigned.

#17

To deactivate, you need to connect to softimage.com. Your softimage.com account keeps track of how many licenses you have, and whether they are assigned or unassigned. When you deactivate, the license goes from assigned to unassigned.

So, the thing is ‘policed’ remotely- that’s what I was trying to establish- thanks for taking the time to explain.

#18

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