John - about the video. There was an update to the program that added
VideoCodec-Apple-ProRes.dll
in place of the videoengine.dll
I don’t use the video much, because I have the crappy integrated graphics.
I just checked it to see if it works, and it sort of does.
No input from me on the chord pads thing, but I’ve seen others who also have that problem.
I haven’t updated 11 yet - I’m kind of scared off right now.
What about my problem
I now have got rid of a video dll and i got in once
Try to do it again and now it freezes on initializing chord pads .
This really is not good enough for a program like this.
I have had to re- image C drive twice now.
I have not got a clue about deleting preferences as when i reach components and then go to Steinberg, there is a load of folders in there and i do not know what to take out
So if you take out the video dll , then you are stumped if you want to do a video just saying. This all does not make any sense to me ony a day so far of headaches .
All the best
John
I wouldn’t delete anything. Just use the disable preferences option on the startup splash screen.
Hi felis
ok the video dll is now out
I started Cubase 12 and i got in Hurrah!!
Next time i tried everything now stops at Chord pads initializing GROAN!!
So now i did what Ben suggested and deleted on safe screen the preferences.
Started up Cubase 12 and now yes you guessed ,stuck at chordpads initializing!!
Neurofen please or a double whisky would now be in order.
It seems like a chain reaction, sounds like a song that!!! Diana Ross sings.
Just gave my age away then!! Lol
All the Best
John
Tried that as well - Stuck on Chord Pads initializing
Just ran Norton Utilities ultimate and it wiped Cubase 12 completely out as a no good file .
It did not do that to Widows 11 everything is running speedy fast again
What is wrong with Cubase 12 ???
I am getting fed up with being treated like a beta tester and £86 worse off.
I have had cubase telling after a couple of starts that i have no licence even though activated in Activation manager, also telling it cannot load everyhing and giving me a list of what they are and stuck at chord pads , and other strange things.
The program needs going back to the programmers and release it when 100% working.
Nothing at all wrong with Cubase 11 Pro
This is getting worse as councils trying to repair pot holes in the roads!!! lol
Everything is getting slack in this day and age
I have wasted two days over this. I now have to go back to the trusty Cubase 11.
All the best
john
As @Steve says - we’re working on something that will avoid you having to use a USB eLicenser that should be available this week.
Hi Ben
Hi now have uninstalled everything and gone back to Cubase 11 where all is stable and running fast.
It is not worth the hassle. It seems to me that if you solve one problem it creates another.
I used Norton Ultimate utilities and wow my machine is running faster than ever. It wiped out Cubase 12 as a no good program , but not Cubase 11. That must say something.
Things have also been upsetting my graphics card Nvidia G Force 1030 with a three second black screen after the login screen and desktop appearing. Re-installing the driver from Nvidia Experience solves that if anyonone is getting the same. Some windows updates i think are not that great either.
Let us wait until the forced beta testers are out of the way.
All the best
John
Hi To everyone who has troubles
I have cleaned my system with a re- image from date end of January when i last made a system image
Cubase 11 works like a dream.
1 I updated the download assistant
2 Downloaded Activation Manager
3 Updated Download assistant
4 Entered my licence from email sent to me from Steinberg into the Download assistant
Then to second screen .
There is another code and says “Do you want to upgrade now”
I press Upgrade on the red button.
5 Another screen tells me that the licence activation was recognized correctly.
Another code is displayed and asks you to continue, so i press that.
6 The licence screen appears only to say No Licence to Upgrade Selectable.
So now you have No entry signs on the upgradable licences which now to me makes sense as now cubase 12 i dongle free.
Now i also have activated my licence in the Activation manager and now shows activated.
So now comes the startup of the Cubase 12 program.
First time it went as far as initializing audio system and just hung.
Second time i had safe box appear and i just ran Cubase 12 again.
Bingo i am in.
I closed program to have another go and now it went as far as Video initializing and just hung again.
I tried again and disabled preferences and again it hung on video Initializing.
All times i had to go to the task manager to end program.
Previously i even had it hanging on Chord pads Initializing
Also another saying that i have no licence.
So now, i have concluded that this Cubase 12 is too buggy to continue with it.
There has been no real effort from Steinberg to say we are on it as far as i can see.
The program needs sorting out quickly as there are quite a few disappointed customers out there.
My machine is running 100% and a fast one and no problems whatsoever with Cubase 11.
The only way as far as i am concerned is to uninstall Cubase 12 and all of its components and keep to Cubase 11 for now.
This program should work without resorting to getting rid of drivers to make it work or diabling preferences. Steinberg are using people as beta testers.
Well that is my rant over!!! 
Have done more trying and the problems is initializing at startup a lot of things
1 Chord Pads
2 Audio system
3 Video
4 Vst mixer
It changes the more you fiddle it seems
I give up!!! There’s more “No licence”!!! but Activation manager is activated
Also just got Application Steinberg Engine has caused the following error
Process with ID not found click ok to abort
After that "no valid licence found The program will quit now
Activation Manager is hanging now . What is going on???
When are going to get an announcement???
All the best
John
(+1)
Hi,
I do feel a little guilty simply desiring a working C12 Pro upgrade (and a nicely working program once it’s upgraded), since so many others have written about being in a much worse situation than I (my C11 Pro is working fine, and also i didn’t actually pay for C12 Pro, it will be a “free” Grace Period upgrade when i do download and activate it).
Nevertheless, i also would appreciate Steinberg releasing something along the lines of,
: “Here’s where we are (C12 upgrade),
: Here’s what we’re working on and,
: Here’s our best estimate as to when we’ll get there”.
IMO the concept of “Maximum communication during a crisis is usually the best thing to do” would apply here as well, and users would understand if best-faith targets outlined in such a Steinberg statement weren’t able to be met.
It’s important to keep in mind of course that the word “crisis” can be overused, and for some of us, myself included, these are arguably very much “first world problems” being discussed …
Thank you! 
I totally agree
There is no apologies yet from Steinberg for messing us about
I am a long time customer and i think that they should refund me and give me some of that grace.
Three days of headaches now , i think i deserve a free grace from losing £86 without any answers
Only suggestions to take dll’s out etc it is a dis-grace
They are tending to apologize in each of their individual troubleshooting replies.
I haven’t actually paid money for C12 (grace period), but i think I definitely understand how you must feel.
(I’ve been around since VST 5, though I’m such an intermittent user one wouldn’t know it from the shallowness of my knowledge base! 
)
Sorry to hear that - what browser are you using? Could you try changing your default browser to a different browser temporarily and let me if the problem persists.
Hi John,
Thanks for all your lengthy posts which gives a good heads up to the C11 users like me who were about to upgrade. I really want the new C12 features but I can’t afford the time on the headaches. My decision to wait has been made even easier as my Steinberg Download Assistant is stuck in an update loop once again and can’t find any forum info to fix it so I’m going nowhere past C11 which works fine (except for some crashes on startup which aren’t an issue to just restart then all is ok).
I’ll check back in a month or so & see whether my download asssitant has come off strike by then 
UPDATE:
SORRY BUT I COULDN’T RESIST AND HAVE UPDATED TODAY 26/3/22 & ALL WENT PERFECTLY!
Congratulations Ken.
Are you using a PC or a Mac?
If you are on a Mac could you please post the steps you took to upgrade in the order you took them. I have never had an issue initially installing or upgrading any audio software in the past but having read all the various posts describing the problems they have had and the myriad of steps, back steps, and side steps they have taken has confused me enough that I would appreciate hearing what steps you took and in what order to successfully upgrade.
I appreciate your help. Thanks!
Hi Dave,
I’m in Windows 10 pro I’m afraid.
I guess the process is similar but unfortunately I can’t remember exactly which order I did things as I went back and forth a bit. The main difference to know is that C12 and Dorico are the only apps presently to use the new licencing software so you must log in to Steinberg I believe and download the Steinberg Activation Manager.
Firstly after buying the software and receiving the activation key stated on the final purchase page, open your Steinberg Download Assistant and press the + key on the top left and paste your new code in.
I’m not sure how important it is whether to run the Steinberg activation manager before or after.
In my case, I upgraded from 11 pro to 12 pro and think I ran the E-licencer which showed ‘C11 (upgraded to C12).
In the download manager C12 shows with 250GB of downloads w hi ich took me a while to download. I paused just before the last download and it said ‘not responding’ and I couldn’t restart it so I rebooted then the download assistant opened but showed ‘install’ as if I hadn’t started yet, but once I clicked ‘install all’ again it whizzed through them all, recognising that the installations were already there’.
I think it took a little while for the Activation Manager to change the status of my Cubase 12 licence from ‘verifying’ to confirmed.
I hope that helps and not hinders!
Thank you for your help. I may just wait until the 12.2 or 12.3 release to upgrade. By then the install bugs should be resolved. Have a great day!
You are wise to wait. I was working fine until I recently updated my C12 to latest version 12.0.3 which has all sorts of issues. I am trying to downgrade to pervious C12 version but Steinberg Download Assistant just updates and closes - won’t actually open properly to use it so I’m stuck trying everything and wasting hours once again 
Thank you for your response.
I upgraded to 12.0.30 a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, everything went well for me on both our our iMacs. We have not experienced any major issues since then.
I hope you are able to get you system up and running again quickly. Have a great day!
