I am using sonarworks from the sister site. I am having a weird problem here and I need help. Sonarworks activates and works fine for a few days. Then, when I open cubase, it needs activation again, but when I open studio one everything works fine. I tested a bunch of releases but I get the same result. I am doing the steps from the readme file correctly, blocking urls on the hosts file etc, but I dont have a clue why it works with one daw and not on another. Also systemwide doesnt have a problem with activation. Only the plugin when I open it in cubase.

 

Spoiler: Re-setting the Cubase plug-ins cache manually Print

Re-setting the Cubase plug-ins cache manually Print

macOS and VST2 format:

1. Close Cubase.
2. Using macOS Finder go to “~/Library/Preferences/Cubase 11/” (without the quotes).
3. Manually delete the Vst2xBlacklist Cubase.xml file (to delete the blacklist).
4. Manually delete the Vst2xBlacklist Cubase (x86_64).xml file (to delete the blacklist).
5. Manually delete the Vst2xPlugins Cubase (x86_64).xml file (to force a complete new plug-ins scan).
6. Re-open Cubase.

macOS and VST3 format:

1. Close Cubase.
2. Using macOS Finder go to “~/Library/Preferences/Cubase 11/Cubase Pro VST3 Cache/” (without the quotes).
3. Manually delete the vst3blacklist.xml file (to delete the blacklist).
4. Manually delete the vst3plugins.xml file (to force a complete plug-in to rescan).
5. Re-open Cubase.

Windows and VST2 format:

1. Close Cubase.
2. Press Windows key plus R.
3. Enter “C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg\Cubase 11\” (without the quotes), and click on OK.
4. Manually delete the Vst2xBlacklist Cubase.xml file (to delete the blacklist)
5. Manually delete the Vst2xBlacklist Cubase (x86_64).xml file (to delete the blacklist)
6. Manually delete the Vst2xPlugins Cubase (x86_64).xml file (to force a complete plug-in to rescan)
7. Re-open Cubase.

Windows and VST3 format:

1. Close Cubase.
2. Press Windows key plus R.
   Enter “C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg\Cubase 11\Cubase Pro VST3 Cache\” (without the quotes), and click on OK.
3. Manually delete the vst3blacklist.xml file (to delete the blacklist).
4. Manually delete the vst3plugins.xml file (to force a complete plug-in to rescan).
5. Re-open Cubase.

After deleting the plug-ins cache files, on the next run, Cubase will re-scan all of your VST2/VST3 plug-ins, and depending on the number of VST2/VST3 plug-ins installed, the process may take several minutes.

 

Last edited: May 12, 2021

Are you sure blacklisting has to do with an activation request??? At least in former times, when a plugin was blacklisted, it didn't even show up.

 

Hi " No Avenger " no i am not sure. I thought of Blacklisted and thought maybe that's a way!

 

Thanks for the replies. I will try that.

 

Unfortunately this doesnt work. Both daws have access to the internet. I cannot block them since I use reason 11 as a plugin. But why studio one holds the activation while cubase doesnt. This is really weird.

 

Did you follow all of the installation instructions? Which operating system do you use?
If you use Window 10 and don't know how to edit a host file:

How to Edit Your Hosts File in Windows 10
www.liquidweb.com/kb/edit-host-file-windows-10/

 

I know how to edit a hosts file. In fact most sonarworks installations come with a bat file that you run as an admin and blocks all sonarwork stuff. I believe that I couldnt activate the plugin if it was a hosts problem. But sonarworks is partially activated in my machine. Systemwide is activated and when I use the plugin on studio one is also activated.

Here is the deal. I am running sonarworks on 3 pcs. 2 are windows 10 and 1 is windows 8.1. I am having problem on the windows 8 machine and on the cubase installation. Also some more info. Windows 10 machines are running legit cubase 10.5 and studio one. Windows 8 machine is running legit studio one and a cracked cubase 10.5

 

Can I use my license on multiple computers?
Yes! Regular Reference 4 licenses can be activated and used on up to 3 devices simultaneously.

2 operating systems - 2 old and 2 new. No wonder that there are problems. Do you need them all? That would be too much for me - problems are inevitable. Maybe another user has an idea here. I would say goodbye to Window 8. 2 DAWs should be enough. I wish you luck.

 

Here is a video of the problem

 

Thanks for the help @BEAT16. It doesnt matter if I use 2 other pcs or 10. Lets say that I only have this windows 8.1 machine. Sonaworks is from sister site so it doesnt have a license limit. Anyway I think I am gonna format this machine at some point and try a fresh install. I only asked cause its really weird to work on daw a and not or daw b.

 

Have you tried to block Cubase on your Win8 machine in the firewall (rules)? I mean, just for testing purposes.

 

No, but I will try that. I need to reinstall and reactivate the thing again, and I have done it at least 10 times this week. Thanks for the reply. I will post the results later. I believe, I need to format the damn thing and start over.