Sorry to spam but this information might help others. It appears that the Cubase LE9 and Elements 9 share the same license and the purchase of the upgrade opens features so it’s possible that by getting a free version of Cubase via purchase of a Zoom R16 that I was never entitled to GA in the first place, that seems to be the case. I was finally advised by someone in Germany that if I only put the activation code in the elicenser, that it will unlock all the Elements 9 features that already exist in my current install. However, when I added the activation code, the upgrade was declined as invalid. I am still working with Germany to rectify the situation and sent screen shots of the events in elicenser. Hopefully I didn’t mess with the program too much to cause my own damage, I have deleted and reinstalled LE9 just in case and await my new activation code. Then, I am confident that I will get GA4 and then, get to writing and programming.
UPDATE: User error (of course) - my activation code didn’t work because they deleted it when I asked for a refund. confirmed that it was the correct upgrade despite them telling me at one point that it was the wrong package. Between Yamaha/Asknet/Steinberg you get different answers for things. At any rate, original purchase refunded, re-purchased again, installed this morning. Whee! Its a go.