My Elicencer is broken and I don’t know what to do about it, nothing works now and I haven’t had a reply from Steinberg, can anyone help.
Alex
Welcome to the forum.
What exact release do you have and do you have a USB dongle or just the Soft eLicenser?
Hi and welcome to the forum and merry Christmas!
If you log in to your MySteinberg account - can you see your licenses?
Hi.
Many thanks for your reply, I have a usb dongle which is broken, I am getting nowhere with the licences so I have ordered another dongle so I am hoping that it will work?
Any thoughts about this would be very welcome.
Thanks again for your help
Alex
No, that is not working anymore. The eLicenser server, which is required to transfer your licenses to the new dongle, has been shutdown in May 2025.
If your dongle is broken the only choice is the update to the latest release.
You ordered a new, empty dongle?
As mentioned…no, that will not work.
What were the licenses on the broken dongle? Someone asked and you didn’t answer.
Cubase? Nuendo? Spectralayers? Something else? What’s your operating system?
Hi.
Many thanks for your help, my dongle came with the C.D and it’s a cubase license.
Alex
Hi.
Thanks for your help, how to I update to the latest release?
Alex
First of all it is important that you have registered your current license with Steinberg. You can check that by logging in to your Steinberg profile and see what products are shown there.
If there is no registration (it should be there because the dongle required it usually) you need to contact Steinberg Support.
To buy the update go to the Steinberg Website and click the Buy Cubase button
Chose the version you want, Pro, Artist or Elements and then click on the “Updates & Upgrades” link
Make sure you select the correct version from where you are updating.
After payment you will receive a mail with a Download Access Code (which is also shown in the Payment confirmation screen) and that is what you enter in the Download Assistant to register your new license.
Hi there, which version of Cubase do you have?
I have a problem with my activation code, I have these details, here is some of it, MOCX JTTT OT00 1366 8880, I don’t understand what are zeros and what is numbers? the zeros are the same size as the numbers?
As for upgrades I want to work with Cubase 7, I have tried the free trial of Cubase 14 and I haven’t a clue how it works, so that’s now what I want.
The main thing is that I have bought Cubase 7 and I have all the details and I have sent 2 emails to them and I haven’t had a reply.
So I really need to know what the activation code is?
Thanks again for your help
Alex
Hi
I have Cubase 7
Alex
Yes, I may recap some of the information already mentioned here. However, Steinberg made a big announcement, stating that the dongle would be discontinued and all licenses would move online.
For those who wish to work with older Cubase versions, they can do so, but the Dongle would have to be in working condition.
So, the bad news is that (as far as I understand) you can’t work with Cubase 7 anymore, as SB doesn’t support it and there are no online licences to run the program.
SB supports online license from Cubase 12 and above (again, as far as I know).
As others said, what you have to do is to go to your Sternberg account, register your Cubase 7 on your account, and from there you can upgrade to the latest version, but if I am not mistaken, you can use CB Pro V 12 and above if you don’t fancy V 15, which is the latest one. The price to upgrade won’t be as high as it would be to buy the program from scratch.
Sorry, there isn’t anything easier/cheaper to offer, but the change SB made was very widespread, and warned people about the decommissioning of the dongle.
As @somecomposer already wrote, you can’t activate or use Cubase 7 anymore, if your dongle is broken. There is no way of getting it to work again.
And I don’t think they will respond here, because Cubase 7 is out of support for many years now.
When your Cubase 7 license is registered in your online profile you can update to the latest Cubase 15 and that license allows you to use Cubase 12 to 15, with the same license. Everything before that is not possible anymore.
Hi,
as a last resort to stick with C7 you could try to buy a working USB elicenser with a license <12 on it. Have a look at knobcloud.com for example.
Doesn’t matter. Activation code typed on a piece of cardboard was a one-time-use code….which you already used years ago to get Cubase running back then. It’s not a use-as-many-times-as-you-want code.
As others have mentioned, log into your steinberg dot net account with the email you used back in the cubase 7 days to register cb7 and take a look at your details….such as the original dongle being registered etc…..
and then based on the info there, you can decide your preference/options on buying Cubase 15.
As to “well, I only want to run Cubase 7 and no other version”, your option…the ONLY option…. is the needle-in-haystack road of finding an elicenser dongle for sale that just happens to have a license as well for cb. I haven’t seen a used one advertised for 2-3 years on ebay etc. Every time “knobcloud” is mentioned here, I take a look and every time I do….nada.
If you are truly holding out for Cubase 7, you may be in for a l-o-o-n-g spell of recording “no” music at all 
. And if you miraculously find an appropriate used elicenser…..whaddya do when THAT one breaks?
I love my elicenser and regularly run Cubase 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 on my Win11 pro systems. The older versions are often refreshing to run. I also own the newer Cubendos.
But the reality is that when MY elicenser is eaten by the pet alligator in the back yard, I’m screwed trying to run the old versions. Such is life. I guess I’d sell my elicenser for five meelion dollars, but not a penny less
I always hold out for some tech geek kid to approach Steinberg for permission to de-couple Cb6 or 9 pro from the convoluted dongle calls. Not that it would be granted, but a de-dongled Cb6 or 9 would be sorta cool for Sb to sell on it’s 50th anniversary out there many years from now.
I’d personally pay $499 for a de-coupled older version….really. I like them that much. However, in today’s world, kids don’t want to even pay $4.99 for software…so ..highly unlikely to happen. I just have to keep the alligator out of the house
You’re running Windows 11, right?
Well….no matter what, he’d have to buy Cubase 15 as it’s the only current Cubase made/sold.
The cb15 license would then, of course, allow the op to download, install, use cb 12,13,14 if preferred.
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There are a couple of Cubase 10 licenses for sale on knobcloud - they are old, though.
However, I have also seen offers on local platforms here in Hamburg in recent months.
I mean, there must still be a lot of eLicensers flying around, some obviously being used by people with older versions, but also a lot that have been updated to 12 and beyond. Even if some are actually still being used once in a while, or maybe kept for nostalgia or a sense of “never know if you might need it some day” (and I am not sure to which category I belong…) probably a lot of people just can’t be bothered to sell them, or maybe they don’t even know they can sell them.