It’s a good question but I think the answer is the release cycle for eLc is much quicker than application updates and once complete, updates themselves go through a QA process, which does not mean that installers will be repacked.
To my way of thinking, there should be NO eLc included and the process should be completely separated (my preference would be to use the Steinberg Download manager for this exclusive purpose, that also tells you when eLc is out of date) rather than bundled as they are since I find myself checking a website more often than not from day to day when I’d rather just use the About menu, similar to Vienna Ensemble.
If enough people ask maybe SB will change this, arguably the quality of documentation and the website has vastly improved over the last year or so, and the whole upgrade/payment/value for money situation is way better than before SB purchased the technology, and when Yamaha became a partner.
I agree that Cubase software maintenance updates should not include the eLicenser Control Center software installer.
FWIW… I was told that maintenance updates are packaged a few weeks prior to release and that the eLicenser software could be older than what is currently available. The eLicenser installer is supposed to skip the installation (or at least not overwrite newer files) if the installer detects a newer eLicenser version.
It has been my experience that it will overwrite newer files and install an older eLicenser version. So typically I immediately check for the latest eLicenser software, download, install, and do the maintenance routine right after any Cubase update or new version.
Just thinking out loud here but, I wonder if this could be a contributing reason for some users having eLicenser issues after new software is installed?
The update works and installs. I had on the project currently working on no probs.
It seems the Elicense is not the lastest version but runs. I downloaded the latest EL and works ok.
So no probs here.
That requires pre-requisite knowledge, which is likely the reason that SB package eLc with ALL their installers, and is quite possibly a contributing factor to issues that users experience.
Due to the fact that Windows is now Software as a Service (SaaS), SB and everyone really have to think hard about this situation in order to fix bugs and what not because feature updates immediately bring problems to the platform for intricate and complex applications such as Steinberg programs.
In any case knowledge of the dark side of Steiny apps (elcc) is needed to use the programs, for example just the other day I upgraded a really old version of AI to the latest version for $9.99, what a great deal, I was able to have the license on a backup key should my main license fail (my production copy of Cubase 9.5 Pro was showing broken in the eLicenser Control Center).
The great thing about Steinberg applications is that it doesn’t matter which program you open a project in, if there are features that are unavailable, then any data using them is ignored and not deleted so the next time you open a file in the app that created it; all the data is there, with edits maintained.
Talk about Zero downtime, and seamless integration!
Steinberg has the ability to have the installer check online for a newer eLc version - maybe they should consider that. For a while now, the base Cubase installer would check if there was a newer version of Cubase available at the time of installation.
A bit of problem with Windows 10, ASUS latop.
Got message “update failed, another installation already in progress”.
I recognized this from other ASUS function key software. The trick is to perform a “clean boot” first, i.e. shut off all extra services and startup programs.
Clean boot: search for “msconfig”, run as admin.
Tab “services”: hide all Microsoft services, then disable the rest, “all”.
Tab “startup”: start Task Manager, Startup tab, disable all.
Reboot.
Install the update.
Use msconfig to reverse (enable) all the above services and startups.
Reboot.