Hi Dorico- and Steinberg-Team,
I read that you are aware that the usb licensing is not what we as users like, but for now we’re stuck with it, so I dare to ask a question: Is it the way it should be and normal that Dorico (pro 2) freezes, an error comes up and nothing will go again until I restart the computer(!), as soon as I disconnect the dongle temporarily?
I’m often using Dorico while on the road (to be exact: trains) and it would be great to have the following thing work: Save the project I’m working on, disconnect dongle/put away things, e.g. change trains, reconnect dongle, continue working on the project. At the moment the fastest option is to quit the project and dorico (two times alt+F4 +waiting time to get it done) after saving, then disconnect and after reconnecting start up dorico again, load project… I fear to break my dongle if I put it away stuck in the laptop.
Thanks for your response and the ongoing development of Dorico!
Yes, you must not disconnect the USB-eLicenser while Dorico (or indeed Cubase or any other product where the license is located on the USB-eLicenser) is running. If you need to disconnect your USB-eLicenser, please quit Dorico first.
Hm, that is really crude. Why does it not just stop working as it detects disconnection and continue after reconnection?
Is there another version of the licenser stick that is smaller and allows to put a laptop into its case while put in? I cannot be the only user having this issue and it seems you do not want to put any further developing ressources into this before the complete overhaul of the licensing system… Thanks for your quick response once again!
I actually bought a second copy of Dorico for my laptop so I could use the soft eLicenser while away from home. This made Dorico substantially more expensive for me than other options, but at least I don’t have to worry about losing a USB dongle.
Thanks for your ideas. Well, even if I like it, I think Dorico is expensive enough, and I don’t like the idea to double my investment just to workaround an uncaught error in copyright protection - the current behaviour is way below the standard of the application to say the least, but yes, I understand it’s other parts of Steinberg’s fault, not the core Dorico team’s. :-/
The idea of a small extension cable is not bad, but the one you linked to is still quite big and I would not want to have to trust it in a not too stiff laptop bag. I wonder why there are plenty of extrasmall sticks (like this one) but neither one with just a cable going out to the side nor one capable of holding steinberg’s licenses… if somebody knows such an extension, I’ll greatly appreciate a link in this thread!
The problem is very complex, it’s not just an error in copy protection. The audio engine requires the dongle or soft-elicencer to run as part of its operation is routed to it; it’s not just a licence check. Just as you wouldn’t expect to be able to just close the lid of your laptop, remove the main system drive and then reconnect it and everything pick up where it left off (this is an extreme example, but comparable in terms of being some hardware that is currently in use by the system). Dorico is tied very closely to the audio engine, so that if it that goes down then Dorico may do too. We hope to be able to improve this in the future, by being able to relaunch the engine, but this is a very complex area.
(I tried one of that type of USB stick (for another purpose) and almost could not pull it back out of my computer. It was so small there was virtually no way to get a grip on it.)
Thanks at all of you for your responses! @PaulWalmsley: Thank you for the information. That explains that it’s difficult to solve, but of course it’s still a technical problem that should be possible to capture. The main difference between your example and the dongle for me as a user is of course that the system drive is safely kept in the machine, while the dongle is a lever sticking out just waiting to break it. I’m really looking forward to any update of the licensing system! @Derrek: Your problem would probably not have happened with a cable going out there. :-p @pianoleo: Thanks for the links, but those are exactly the ones that james2804 above linked to and that I found, too. They will stick out about 10mm, as I suppose looking at the photos (about the width of the USB A plug). I think that’s still quite a lot to find obstacles, use the leverage and break, don’t you think? I’d think that it should be possible to build something like that just sticking out half as far (that about as thick as the cable is). E.g. the power cables of the MS Surface or L-shaped Apple Magsafe models will seldomly be a problem and the same thing with a USB-plug shouldn’t, too.
