Native Instruments legacy activation fiasco

Discussion in 'Software' started by Mike Bonanza, Dec 3, 2022.

  1. Mike Bonanza

    Mike Bonanza Newbie

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    Hey guys, ocassional lurker here that now has the need to ask for help from the proverbial brotherhood!

    I have a frozen in time ‘ancient’ but highly productive system running OSX 10.6.8. Recently my motherboard gave up so I bought a mirror system and placed all my drives/RAM in it. As you can guess I had to authorise/activate all plugins but shit hit the fan when I came to Native Instruments and their restrictions when it comes to activating software on old operating systems and their doscontinuing of service center (I wasn’t aware this was going on). I get both sides of the argument but frankly it’s irritating that I have all the freakin’ DVD’s and serial numbers possible and I still can’t use my software… Got in touch with NI support, they couldn’t care less.

    Anyhow, I’m in desperate need for solutions and for a number of reasons (also finances) as I’m unable to upgrade to a current setup and I have a bunch of projects that use NI, some of which I need to work on asap.

    Searched everywhere to no avail. At this point I’d consider the non legitimate route and activate in whichever way possible (you get what I mean). So any benevolent creatures that see this and could point me to a workaround that worked for you I’d be thankful, many thanks in advance!

    Komplete 7 -
    (These are some of the plugins I used the most)
    Absynth 5.1.0
    Massive 1.3.0
    Kore player 2.1.4
    Battery 3.2.3
    Kontakt 4.2.4.5316
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 3, 2022
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  3. JohnEncore

    JohnEncore Kapellmeister

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    sorry to hear about that trouble man, at least Kontakt 5.x should be available on sister site, probably more, hope you'll be succsessful, stay safe!
     
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  4. Xcarnation

    Xcarnation Ultrasonic

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    Hey man check your inbox for a message
     
  5. madbuzzin

    madbuzzin Platinum Record

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    I also have komplete 9 on discs.... try installing battery 3, absynth, and the old reaktor... its impossible. And since NI is a shit company, all of my battery 3 projects are rendered useless because battery 4 doesnt install like an update like nexus 1 - nexus 4 or vanguard to vanguard 2. NI is dead to me, they are unoriginal, cringe, and make playable sample packs and havent released anything new in the way of synths in over 10 years.
    NI = GARBAGE

    I Very much feel your pain. I would love to go back to some old bangers but NI doesnt give a shit about their long term customers so I dont give a fuck about them and crack anything I can from these fuckers
     
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  6. waverider

    waverider Rock Star

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    at the risk of being slightly off-topic, i always wondered why there are no full komplete releases that include the entirety of the included plugins and instruments including all offline data for an easy offline install. yes i know it's huge, but there's other huge releases as well.
     
  7. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    That's exactly how the Mac release was of the last version. It doesn't include optional/additional sample content. Everything else just goes right where it should. That release is perfect, for Intel Macs.
     
  8. nomnom

    nomnom Guest

    NI sucks ass. Sorry, but as much as I love love love some of the synths and products, they are one of the worst when it comes to updates, keeping things compatible, informing owners of shit and customer service. Best advice is already stated above.
     
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  9. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    @OP; if you read some release information about the "other" route, I believe you *may* only really need the first dvd. Interesting note may suggest otherwise. Then v7 is about 50 gig. I'd most certainly pass. :

    " The installer is requesting the discs slightly different on WiN & OSX. For
    this reason we listed below what exactly is included on each disc.

    Disc 01 - Installers"
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2022
  10. Mike Bonanza

    Mike Bonanza Newbie

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    @madbuzzin Man, I get you - I think it totally sucks to buy something and not be able to use it indefinitely if you have the hardware to run it. I understand they can cut you off from updates/upgrades and so on, but stop you from using it because of a simple activation proceedure really feels like betrayal and malpractice. I don’t understand how it wasn’t a possibility to release a patch for legacy users or maintain offline activation via email, I think it would have saved them a bunch of pissed customers and support tickets.

    Still trying to find a solution - will carry on trying.
     
  11. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    They have the ultimate tool to deal with pissed off users. Free update to shut up. Even trade. Other people will just go buy the new thing without complaining. If they do it on Twitter, FB, and sometimes even YT; they simply watch the comments and complaints. Then write a reply to the customer to iron it out. The Squeaky Wheel gets the grease, and for everyone else there is lube. For you? There is 12+ Years, and time to "Buy a New One".

    Activating old versions should not be a problem if you are using old scene releases. You firewall programs and plugins like these to prevent outbound connectivity anyway. Why is NI even involved? Run the correct version for your old OS and it will work.

    You should at least blame Apple. It's them c-blocking you from installing an OS version on your old outdated, even dinosaur-like, hardware. Not NI. Their product will work on the OS versions that it was designed to run on. Neither "owe" support for anything past 5 years.

    After 5 years, they have said you are on your own. Oh well, hello Audion*ws or RuSomething.

    Update the MacOS as far as you can. Snow Leopard was released to manufacturing in 2009. You should be able to make it to something like High Sierra. Your GPU will be wrong type and not metal compliant and will not run Mojave (certainly). So you will be stuck there. So what. My Pro I am using right now is 2010. No difference.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2022
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  12. PifPafPif

    PifPafPif Rock Star

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    Apart going ALL sister site, i don't see any solution sadly
     
  13. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    there is no other way. even if he is able to update the machine to High Sierra (or close), there is no chance he will be able to update to Mojave or newer. He did not mention a 3rd party graphics card, so it must be assumed to be the original non-METAL compliant GPU.
    So it will not install Mojave.

    Apple support your machine and it's OS for 5 years. Obviously thats not planned End of Life for the machine, but Apple has no commitment to making the OS compatible with the machine or updated past those (5) years. NI can do whatever they want beyond this, but if Apple's OS does not let their version X software be installed; then that is the end of the road.

    The real answer was of course, buy a newer machine. or ask first next time! I'm using a 2010 cheese grater right now, and I might like it more than my 2017 mbp in a few specific ways. I think I paid about 400$ for it. It also needs a Metal GPU for Mojave, but I don't even care about it. It can just stay High forever. If I need more than this, I'll make a space in a power strip somehow and use a midi cable to connect it. You can use specific old machines and get value from them. But you usually have to end up with them on purpose.
     
  14. Mike Bonanza

    Mike Bonanza Newbie

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    Yep you’re right!

    El Capitan is the last OS supported by my Mac Pro 3.1 - but there’s a conflict with digidesign. Core Audio drivers and that’s a whole other rabbithole that sucks. Anyhow tried it because the guy who sold me the machine (I had an identical Mac Pro replaced) was running El Capitan, so I downloaded Native Access on that drive and downloaded a couple plugins through it, and even on there they won’t allow you to activate because it’s not the latest version of Native Access that you can run on that OS. Anyhow, going to El Capitan doesn’t solve anything for me at this point, if I want to go to that OS or full up to date, I just don’t see how without spending a couple K which I don’t have right now. And to be honest it doesn’t even excite me at all since it feels like I have a solid workflow with what I got. All other plugin companies let me live in peace and allowed me to activate on my dinosaur machine, but not NI…

    So I guess I have to just accept it and see if I can spend some hours of my life trying to go the ‘siter site’ route to see if I can avoid this damn ‘Demo Mode’ and work as I used to before my motherboard flipped out.
     
  15. NickL

    NickL Newbie

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    Hi Friends,
    First time poster here.
    Did the OP or anyone else ever find a solution for this problem? I'm trying to bail out a paying client who is in literally the same boat and needs stems from an old iMac session that includes NI plugins. Can anyone elaborate on what is meant here by "sister site?" Any help is appreciated.
     
  16. madbuzzin

    madbuzzin Platinum Record

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    My work around was going to that old computer and pulling off the presets I made out of the library folder for logic, NOT the patch files for the synths, but presets I made using the logic window. I was able to use old fm8 and massive sounds... Some reactor 4 or 5 (i forget what is included in komplete 9) patches I made loaded in reaktor 6
     
  17. phidelity

    phidelity Newbie

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    Has anyone found work arounds? I am also in the same boat - swapped out an old motherboard and now theres no way to get back my old tracks and a ton of presets .... I would be fine to upgrade but that is a massive can of worms and cash because the newest the old machine can go to is osx 10.11 and I that means trying to get authoriztions for live , logic, cubase, uhe, soundtoys and waves (yeah gL w that lol) everything is fixed on my machine except NI. If any one has a 'recommendation' I would be so greatful.

    ty
    phidelity
     
  18. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    the only problem with replacing all that stuff will be SoundToys. All others, you can install newer versions which will match the OS version you install. Installing a 32bit version of SoundToys, without a headache; will mean you will need an older OS than options available to replace the rest.

    Depending on the machine, if it is an Intel; I would want to install High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina. That depends on the GPU in the machine and wether it is "Metal-Compliant" or not. You can "trick" it into installing newer OS versions using OpenCore Legacy Patcher; but in many cases your applications will still only work like you still have the older OS version installed. Read about that: https://dortania.github.io

    If you do not have a bunch of client work you need to be able to access old presets, etc; I would just go to Mojave, High Sierra, that you can.

    Install an older version on NI Komplete. You can probably install up to something like 11 or 12. Waves, you will probably make it back to v11.
    Logic 10.4 or 10.5. Cubase may be a separate problem for you. U-He things will maybe depend on the individual plugins you were using.
     
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