Steinberg Activation Manager Nonsense

I just checked, my version is 14.0.843
So today I logged in whilst I was online and started WL without any problems.
Let’s hope it stays that way when I am offline again.

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It was beta tested of course, and it has been used by thousands of Dorico/Cubase/Nuendo users for over half a year. But it’s very difficult to account for every single possible system configuration, including any OS tweaks you may have applied.

If the problem persists after updating to SAM 1.4.0, consider opening a support ticket or a new topic including some details about your system. Maybe someone can help you get to the bottom of the issue.

Seems after reading the forum I am NOT the only one who is/was having problems with the Activation Manager… I don’t know who you are and if you are speaking for Steinberg or this just your opinion.

Thanks for your reply…

I don’t know if you follow the forums but lately Steinberg has been having some ongoing problems with releasing things and then having to quickly put out a “fix” so it may not be “very difficult to account for every single possible system configuration, including any OS tweaks you may have applied” and maybe instead a problem with Steinberg…FWIW

I’m not speaking for Steinberg, nor am I suggesting that this is only affecting you.

I’m around here almost every day. I don’t think this specific issue you described is very common, that’s why I suggested posting more info about your system if it keeps happening. It might be helpful for the developers.

Until there’s a definitive fix, if Wavelab freezes on startup again, try killing the Steinberg License Engine process using the task manager.

Thanks for your reply…

My “system” is pretty vanilla and clean. I don’t use any “tweaks” or have I modded my computer’s OS.
It does seem that lately everything that Steinberg puts out as an update or new product comes with a lot of “problems”. I had a devil of a time trying to get the latest version of SpectraLayers 9 authorized. Maybe Steinberg needs to freshen up their BETA testers and get some people who are really into testing their products. I am a BETA tester for a couple of high end software packages and I can tell you that it takes some hard work and dedication to find all the bugs in the software. If you do it half heartedly or don’t really use it then you will not flush out all the bugs or problems…FWIW
Be safe!

Thomas, I doubt it‘s the beta testers fault.

You are probably right…

Unfortunately when I tried to open WL 11.1 today (offline) the eLicenser was again not recognized and I got an error message complaining about me being offline.

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I just downgraded to 11.0.3 and will stay on that version as long as my OS supports it.
Way too much hassle for me.

I hear you as for some years my main machine was offline for exactly the same reason as yours … honestly, the one thing users should not have to talk about on a forum is licensing.

@Paul_Rat_Blakey FYI just to mention that once you have activated a license on your computer you don’t have to be online to use the software, as mentioned by PG (see above). You can carry on using the software regardless of the internet connection.

@Oliver_Lucas You mean the new SAM licensing right? not the old eLicenser. Which version of SAM do you have installed? Make sure you are using the latest version (v1.4.0.843). This will probably overcome the issues you were having.

WL 11.1 doesn’t use the eLicenser anymore, which is clearly documented here

and there is also a documented way of staying offline with the new licensing system.

Did you activate that?

That is true and very helpful.

The licensing isssues can get quite subtle and some users may be under the impression that you have to be online all the time in order to use the software on a dialy basis. This is not the case… so I thought it worth emphasising the following:

When using a computer which is destined to be offline most of the time and where connecting to the internet for a short time is not a security issue, you can connect it to the internet once just to install SAM and activate the new Steinberg licensing for Wavelab 11.1. Once complete, you can then disconnect that same computer from the internet. Once the license is active on your computer you no longer have to be connected to the internet in order to use it. You can carry on using Wavelab on that computer offline with no issues.

JürgenP,

the first link clearly states:

„You can continue to use your eLicenser-based license as before. In this case, there is nothing else for you to consider.„

It is exactly that, I was trying to do.
Which part of „there is nothing else to consider?“ do I misunderstand?

So to be clear.
With 11.1 I had the EuCon problem, for which I was on the phone to Steinberg about. We troubleshooted, uninstalled, re-installed, deleted and preferences folders, then the forum found the answer and I installed 11.1 again.
The documentation clearly states that it is still eLicenser compatible.

As it turns out it is not.

So i reverted to the previous version again.

This has easily cost me 2 hours time. As others in this thread have pointed out, Steinberg have a serious quality control issue. It is the reason I left Nuendo and now that is has somehow infected WL it is the reason I leave here as well.

I haven’t seen the hint that WL 11.1 can be used with both licensing systems, which is of course a bit weird, as it asks for trouble. Did you try the new licensing system at all, or did you try to stay on the dongle?

I’m not a WL user, just Cubase and Dorico and I had not a single issue with the new licensing system. It works like a charm and I hope to get rid of this dongle plug asap.

No I did not try the new licensing system.
I just wanted to do a small update from 11.x to 11.1.
Since the online resource says I can stay on the old copy protection (and I prefer dongles anyway) I do not see why I should sign up for even more fun than I already had.

The thing that really gets me is how this company turns once wonderful products into multiverses of grief and pain.

That is a common problem in the complete software industry and not a single problem of Steinberg. Users are asking for more features and usually they want them the day before. So developers are forced to integrate them and with the amount of features the complexity of code and testing grows into the universe (I know what I’m talking about, I had the pleasure of being part of such games).

I started to be patient, ignore .0 releases and upgrade (or buy) when a second or third patch is out. Even then you can get into problems, because fixing bugs can cause new bugs.

Whatever, I’m not like you throwing everything over the fence when a problem comes up (regardless of the kind of problem), I keep using what is working for me and get into the next release when it gets stable.

You still have WL 11 up and running, so why not just wait until a more robust release is out there.

To be honest, sometimes my patience is also exhausted, but that takes a while…

Your position is a perfectly sensible position to take.
My problem is that I cannot take this playful approach. I need reliable stuff that I can trust on to earn me money when I need it.
When a tool like Nuendo plays back the wrong VCA automation data a hobby musician can wait until the update, my customers just won‘t book me again, if I miss a deadline.
I get it. My use cases and Steinberg software just don‘t go that well together. Software that often or most of the time works is actually more of a threat to my business model than anything else.

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The even more ironic part of this new license scheme is in order to say - get updated software (like a new version of SAM) - you have to use the idiotic Steinberg download Manager which appears to be hardwired to also downloaded the latest eLicenser package - even tho it is now completely useless if you have moved to SAM.

Only Steinberg could make something like licensing such a major PITA.

VP

I can add that I continue to receive messages from professionals who do not post here or on Justin’s FB page that continue to experience serious issues with the ‘conversion’ to dongle free. As I have said before, it is 2022 and the last thing we should be talking about on a forum is licensing issues. This is, of course, a SB issue and nothing to do with the WL team.

Paul_Rat_Blakey

13d

I can add that I continue to receive messages from professionals who do not post here or on Justin’s FB page that continue to experience serious issues with the ‘conversion’ to dongle free. As I have said before, it is 2022 and the last thing we should be talking about on a forum is licensing issues. This is, of course, a SB issue and nothing to do with the WL team.
End Quote.

For this reason I have decided not to move on beyond Wavelab-11 Pro and Nuendo-11. I am quite happy with the eLicensor system and Steinberg Support and engineers have been unable to come up with a reason why Nuendo-12 will not run on my i9 PC (so I assume that the next version of Wavelab will not run either).