@musicman691 said:

Don't know where you get the idea that you have to wait for the 90 days to be up before being activated on the new dongle. The only thing the 90 days refers to is that to keep TLC coverage going you have to let the iLok site see your dongle every 90 days which can be done on any computer with the ILM s/w. Has nothing to do with licenses being voided.

This was my take-away as well.  Everything on their website indicates that a new dongle requires brand new ZDT+TLC, which - by definition - necessitates a new 90-day refresh period be instantiated.  It doesn't make any sense that a new dongle would be subject to an old, voided dongle's 90 day cycle.

For Instance I have two iLoks. Each has their own ZDT setup. I don't have to have ZDT on the second iLok but I choose to be safe and have both covered. That way if I have an iLok that seems to be flaky I can move the licenses over to the other one with no problem.

I've been dealing with iLoks for almost a decade now and know what's what.

@musicman691 said:

There's nothing on the iLok site that a new dongle requires brand new ZDT/TLC. ZDT/TLC is completely optional for one's ilok. The new iLok is NOT subject to any old 90 day cycle. You may be confused in that each iLok has to have it's own ZDT (if you want it to). You don't have to have ZDT on a new/replacement iLok. An old iLok's ZDT does not carry over to a new iLok. Each iLok is a separate entity.

Right, we're on the same page.  I was hasty with my wording.  What I meant was that if you want ZDT/TLC on a different iLok, it requires a new ZDT and/or TLC, thus necessitating a new 90 day refresh cycle that has nothing to do with an old iLok's 90 day refresh cycle.  I do appreciate the clarification (and I'm sure others reading along this thread do as well); it's re-assuring and helpful.

Great!. Now I get it. Thanks!

Now I'm going to go and buy 2 iLoks. This all makes my eLicencer arrangement feel rather vulnerable now.

Quick VSL!!!

@JBuck said:

Great!. Now I get it. Thanks!

Now I'm going to go and buy 2 iLoks. This all makes my eLicencer arrangement feel rather vulnerable now.

Quick VSL!!!

Just trying to separate misgivings from misinformation, feelings from facts, is all.  I hope the rest of the day/night/whatever it may be treats you well.

For years I've been irked and bewildered that VSL requires the physical dongle. But I figured, well, that's they way they set it up at some point long ago... and it's simply never gonna be a big enough priority to go back and change it. Restructuring the licensing handling would take too much work. Oh well, too bad for us users.

But now VSL is taking the time to restructure the licensing handling... and they're still choosing to stick with the physical dongle. Oooof.

I know that iLok Cloud wouldn't require the physical dongle, but that feels like trading a risk (losing/damaging the physical dongle) with a bigger one (potentially losing access at any given moment, due to internet behavior).

Especially for us that use VSL products while performing live, iLok Cloud is a non-starter.

@jhilsen01 said:

For years I've been irked and bewildered that VSL requires the physical dongle. But I figured, well, that's they way they set it up at some point long ago... and it's simply never gonna be a big enough priority to go back and change it. Restructuring the licensing handling would take too much work. Oh well, too bad for us users.

But now VSL is taking the time to restructure the licensing handling... and they're still choosing to stick with the physical dongle. Oooof.

Hi all, any time frame/schedule that switching to iLok thing is going to happen? Recently i wanna get into VSL world because their string sounds soooo good ... yet i found out they require elicenser usb that i dont have. Plus i don't wanna add another dongle i already have ilok. So the elicensing system is really the biggest reason i havnt already jumped on the VSL ship

Hello,

As Benzon said, the strings sound very nice but I also would be happy to know the migration date in order to dive into VSL for the first time. I'm actually considering the posibility of buying a VSL library without getting the Vienna Key at all and just let the product sleep on my computer until the ILok migration finally happens. But my second problem regarding the migration is related to USB Hubs.

Could someone help me choose a USB Hub thats friendly with ILok dongles?

I'm using a MacBook Pro (mid2012) with only two sockets (one for the audio interface and the other for the hub) and I read that a proper hub for these dongles would have to be a powered one. The thing is that I don't know which one will work and I'm aware that theres a lot of compatibility issues. I can't afford to buy the wrong one or having to go through a buy/return process because it would be very stressful and time consuming.

Of course the Cloud option can be useful but I still need the dongle for a stable workflow.

@153538 said:

Hello,

As Benzon said, the strings sound very nice but I also would be happy to know the migration date in order to dive into VSL for the first time. I'm actually considering the posibility of buying a VSL library without getting the Vienna Key at all and just let the product sleep on my computer until the ILok migration finally happens. But my second problem regarding the migration is related to USB Hubs.

Could someone help me choose a USB Hub thats friendly with ILok dongles?

I'm using a MacBook Pro (mid2012) with only two sockets (one for the audio interface and the other for the hub) and I read that a proper hub for these dongles would have to be a powered one. The thing is that I don't know which one will work and I'm aware that theres a lot of compatibility issues. I can't afford to buy the wrong one or having to go through a buy/return process because it would be very stressful and time consuming.

Of course the Cloud option can be useful but I still need the dongle for a stable workflow.

[/quote]The compatibility issue you may be talking about is with USB 3 ports as the iLok is USB 2. Some people have had issues getting solid communication between the iLok and USB 3 ports. The usual answer is to get, as you surmise, a powered USB hub. I like wall wart powered hubs and not bus powered ones so you're not pulling power from a computer port particularly on a laptop. I'm currently using a 7 port one from Startec.com that is externally powered. While I'm not on a laptop (I have a 2012 MacPro cheesegrater desktop) I need the extra ports a hub provides. There are several good sources in the US - I tend to use B&H - they're on the web.

[/quote]

I don't know if I'm using the "quote reply" in the right way but thank you Musicman691 for the info! I'll look for wall wart powered USB2 Hubs on the web. With this specific info I gain confidence that the purshase will be succesful and have me back in the music making as soon as possible.

Since I'm not a native english speaker I had to translate the word "cheesegrater" and saw some very funny memes about this Mac model. Thanks for the good laugh! ;D

Cheers

It's a shame there's no machine licensing. Steinberg just announced it's upcoming licensing, basically you get a three moth license before you have to connect to the internet again, also it looks like they're offering a one year license as well. This is for TWO computers.

With VSL, I'll either have to be online 24/7 or still carry a bloody dongle around...I don't mind on my desktop but with my new Mac M1 it would be so nice to be dongle free!

@beatpete said:

It's a shame there's no machine licensing. Steinberg just announced it's upcoming licensing, basically you get a three moth license before you have to connect to the internet again, also it looks like they're offering a one year license as well. This is for TWO computers.

With VSL, I'll either have to be online 24/7 or still carry a bloody dongle around...I don't mind on my desktop but with my new Mac M1 it would be so nice to be dongle free!

@musicman691 said:

What's so bad about carrying around a small dongle anyway? Compared to the size of the computer it's minimal.

Exactly! Easy to lose. Also, new laptops (like my new M1 Air) have fewer and fewer ports available so you have to also have usb hubs...

With iLok cloud, how do you move between multiple machines? Is there a limit?

I liked the key because I could just physically move between machines and plug in the key.

What if you reformat your computer's harddrive or an OS update breaks something? Can a license on the cloud be recovered? There's no way to deregister a computer that's been "deleted" as far as I know, or is there?

Also, I remember that PACE drivers cause all sorts of issues.

@synchronizer said:

What if you reformat your computer's harddrive or an OS update breaks something? Can a license on the cloud be recovered? There's no way to deregister a computer that's been "deleted" as far as I know, or is there?

As I understand, the reasoning behind opting for the cloud is exactly to avoid this situation. If the license is saved on the cloud, it doesn't need to be recovered.

@synchronizer said:

What if you reformat your computer's harddrive or an OS update breaks something? Can a license on the cloud be recovered? There's no way to deregister a computer that's been "deleted" as far as I know, or is there?

As I understand, the reasoning behind opting for the cloud is exactly to avoid this situation. If the license is saved on the cloud, it doesn't need to be recovered.

I see.

Also, how easy is it to move between computers? It's useful to be able to run things on one computer at a time without having to transfer things manually.

@beatpete said:

It's a shame there's no machine licensing. Steinberg just announced it's upcoming licensing, basically you get a three moth license before you have to connect to the internet again, also it looks like they're offering a one year license as well. This is for TWO computers.

With VSL, I'll either have to be online 24/7 or still carry a bloody dongle around...I don't mind on my desktop but with my new Mac M1 it would be so nice to be dongle free!

I agree, Steinbergs upcoming licensing system seems superior to the ilok from a customer point of view. Still, ilok is pretty flexible compared to the e-licenser, and I assume ilok offers greater protection against piracy. My DAW is always connected to the internet, so I will probably opt for the cloud solution to get rid of all my dogles once and for all. I hate dongles marginally less than I love VSL's software and sample libraries. 😊

@beatpete said:

It's a shame there's no machine licensing. Steinberg just announced it's upcoming licensing, basically you get a three moth license before you have to connect to the internet again, also it looks like they're offering a one year license as well. This is for TWO computers.

With VSL, I'll either have to be online 24/7 or still carry a bloody dongle around...I don't mind on my desktop but with my new Mac M1 it would be so nice to be dongle free!

I agree, Steinbergs upcoming licensing system seems superior to the ilok from a customer point of view. Still, ilok is pretty flexible compared to the e-licenser, and I assume ilok offers greater protection against piracy. My DAW is always connected to the internet, so I will probably opt for the cloud solution to get rid of all my dogles once and for all. I hate dongles marginally less than I love VSL's software and sample libraries. 😊

Cloud is a pain because what do you do when (not if but when) you lose your internet connection? You're stuck and if you're in the middle of a session you look stupid to anyone else in the room. I love having a hardware iLok and will be happy to get down to just the one.

@musicman691 said:

Steinberg's upcoming system will be a disaster. Already living through that type of system with BFD 3 drum program. You have to stay logged in to their license manager even when offline. And you're computer has tp log in to their site every few months to re-up one's licenses. Trouble is right now that time period is fluid and everyone gets a different amount of time between renewals. My daw isn't connected to the net unless it really has to for updates and downloads.

Cloud is a pain because what do you do when (not if but when) you lose your internet connection? You're stuck and if you're in the middle of a session you look stupid to anyone else in the room. I love having a hardware iLok and will be happy to get down to just the one.

There is no solution which will suit everyone needs and I agree on both above counts. Just built new PC, de-bloated Win10 from useless rubbish and it will stay off-line, just as my previous Win7 did, for the past 2 yrs. I usually download stuff over the Linux (the only OS I use for the net) and move over, using external SSD (there are some rare exception and VLS, which I'm looking to buy will be in that basket). Internet outages happen. I only have dedicated desktop PC and for that reason, physical dongle doesn't bother me even, if I'd have to use a hub, but  can run extra USB ports off the motherboard header, if needed.

V