I just installed Cubase Artist 12 on my new PC. I used the USB dongle during installation, but I now see that it runs happily without it. I took out the dongle and put it back in my old PC. When I open Cubase Artist 6.5 on my old PC, I get a message box saying ‘No valid licence found. The program will quit now’. There is also an option to ‘Start Licence Activation’. Is it ok to go ahead and do this? Will it allow me to have Cubase Artist 6.5 on my old PC and Cubase Artist 12 on my new PC at the same time? I’ve got a lot of unfinished business on my old PC! Thanks.
I think you need to update the licensing software on your old machine for it to work.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess something has changed inside the dongle, otherwise it would have worked straight away in my old PC. At the moment, I’m wary of hitting that ‘Start Licence Activation’ in case it somehow messes up my licence on the new PC!
Cubase 12 doesn’t use the dongle anymore. It keeps and checks your license online in your MySteinberg account.
I am not sure why you would have used the dongle during installation of Cubase artist 12. Was it by chance an upgrade version to upgrade from 6.5 to 12 ? But then I think the 6.5 should still work with the dongle.
I think indeed that you might need to update the licensing software on your old computer.
Hi again. Yes it was an upgrade situation. That’s why I thought I needed to have the dongle plugged into the new PC while I was installing Cubase 12. I’m pretty sure that the dongle was activated when I did the installation. Since installing, I’ve now learned that Cubase 12 doesn’t need the dongle! I’m wary of clicking that "Start Licence Activation’ on my old PC.
I think that since it’s an upgrade then you can not have 6.5 and 12 both versions, doesn’t matter if they are on same or different machines…
You paid less for having version 12 because of the upgrade.
If you wanted to use both versions then you would need to buy full version of 12 (not upgrade) and keep 6.5 as is.
I think that’s the way it goes, not a 100% sure though.
Hi there. I understand your logic. I’ve read comments that say that the dongle can still be used to activate older versions of Cubase, even after the upgrade to Cubase 12. There are also comments that say that you can’t do that. I’m hoping that someone from Steinberg will chime in with the definitive answer!
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Yes, that should be right. @Doug_Campbell, make sure you have updated the Elicenser Control Center to the latest version available for your system, and run Maintenance in the ELC.
Post an image of your ELC window if you want verify you have understood.
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Thanks for your help. I updated to the latest eLicenser software on my old PC (Windows 7 64-bit) and ran the maintenance. After that I could see my very old Cubase VST-32 license on there, as well as my new Cubase 12 license. When I first tried to open Cubase 6.5, I got a recurring message saying ‘Protected Object Server has stopped working’. That message kept popping up, but eventually it stopped and Cubase 6.5 started loading! I loaded a recent project and everything was fine. Just to be sure, I closed Cubase and opened it again. All good! And Cubase 12 is running fine on my new PC. That’s a relief! As I said, I got so much unfinished music on the old PC (I guess it’s a common thing). Now I can access it when I need it. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
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That’s sweet,
So I guess I can use my 11 license and dongle on one machine, and version 12 on 3 more.
I didnt know I was able to do so, great, thanks
I have a problem with Cubase on my old PC. I’m unable to open Cubase 6 64-bit on this machine. My eLicenser has only allows me to open my very old Cubase VST-32. Is there a way to activate Cubase 6 64-bit instead?
Your Cubase Artist 11 license should open Cubase Artist 6. Are you certain you have the software actually installed on that machine?
Hi Steve. Thanks for the quick response. Before replying to you, I checked to see if Cubase 6 64 bit would open - and it did! The last time I tried (on Friday), I kept getting the attached message saying the "protected object server has stopped working’. It must have been a temporary glitch.
