I hate iLOK

steadystate

Fractal Fanatic
I'm trying to transfer Cab Lab 3 from my old computer to my new one.

I logged in to iLOK on my old computer and deactivated the licenses for the plug-in and standalone.

I logged in to iLOK on my new computer, activated both licenses for that computer, and installed the program and plug-in.

When I open the program, a message appears for about 0.1 seconds stating that a license could not be found and the program is non-functional.

When I scan for the plugin, it is never found and never appears in my DAW list.

Any suggestions, before I smash my system with a sledgehammer? Why is this so difficult?
 
I swear, I've uninstalled and reinstalled both Cab Lab and the iLOK manager. I've tried every combination of steps, in every conceivable order. I'm not new to this; I know what I'm doing. I've read all the documentation for Cab Lab and iLOK.

I totally regret buying software that relies on this bullshit. Never again. NEVER. I've wasted an entire fucking day. WASTED. Am I pissed right now? You betcha.
 
I recently changed computers and transferred the cab lab 3 licence, but it worked straight away. Not sure if it was dumb luck (I wasn't sure about what I was doing) or normal luck. But anyway. Hope it works out.
 
Happened to me last week. I sent fractal support an email and Mark Day promptly sent me a new license key to use.

Although that doesn't mean I like iLok! I would guess Mark doesn't care for it much either.
 
Feel you man... I tried to swap over to my new laptop but failing as well. Keeping my old laptop only for dedicated AXE-FX and Reaper... Dont dare touch anything
 
So now, iLOK manager is telling me my new computer is actually two different machines, and won't let me deactivate either Cab Lab license on the "old" new machine ("Source location is not accessible). Nothing but problems, hassles and wasted time. I absolutely HATE HATE HATE HATE iLOK. It is keeping me from using software I paid for. I'M PISSED.
 
So now, iLOK manager is telling me my new computer is actually two different machines, and won't let me deactivate either Cab Lab license on the "old" new machine ("Source location is not accessible). Nothing but problems, hassles and wasted time. I absolutely HATE HATE HATE HATE iLOK. It is keeping me from using software I paid for. I'M PISSED.
 
So now, iLOK manager is telling me my new computer is actually two different machines, and won't let me deactivate either Cab Lab license on the "old" new machine ("Source location is not accessible). Nothing but problems, hassles and wasted time. I absolutely HATE HATE HATE HATE iLOK. It is keeping me from using software I paid for. I'M PISSED.
I feel your pain man. I am sure FAS will look after you.
 
I feel your pain man. I am sure FAS will look after you.

I'm sure they will. My question then is, what happens when I then make the slightest hardware change to my machine? I plugged a storage HDD onto a free SATA port (had nothing to do with the iLOK or Cab Lab installs), and not only does iLOK now think it's a different computer, it won't, no matter what I do (including plugging in the drives as they originally were), give me access to what it thinks is the licensed machine to deactivate the licenses. I'm permanently locked out unless I get an entirely new access code. Will I have to go through this BS every time I make even the slightest hardware change? I make changes to this machine periodically. What kind of nightmare should I expect with iLOK as a constant enemy?

I'm almost ready to just give up on Cab Lab and consider it a learning experience. It's just not worth it. I could have gone to the beach with my son today. Instead of spending time with the person I love most in this world, I put him off ("this won't take long sweetheart") and wasted a beautiful day fighting this disgustingly shitty copy protection scheme.

Bottom line: iLOK sucks ass and should never be considered for copy-protection by any company who doesn't want their customers to get screwed when they need the software they purchased. AlbertA, you are absolutely correct. If I had known anything at all about iLOK, I would not have purchased Cab Lab. It's the first and last iLOK protected product I will ever buy.
 
Given your long time use of the Axe FX and your standing in the community, I am certain FAS will consider other options here, as I would expect other customers to be pissed off like you, given similar situations.

As much as I would like to be critical, I do find it difficult when it comes to Cliff and Co., as I have never seen another company operate in the fashion FAS does. Cab Lab 3 is too much of a handy tool for you to give up on it. I haven't experienced these types of issues yet with iLOK, but believe me, I have wasted way too much time on Win 8.1 driver related issues, with no one to listen to my woes on the dark side. At least, Cliff reads the forum constantly, and is always aware of the weak spots in his arsenal, and always ready to make it easier for us power users. I don't see this issue as any different.

Since you make your living using this stuff, I am sure your son will understand, if not now, later in life.

Good luck man and go have a tasty beverage!
 
My beef is with iLOK, not Fractal. If iLOK were anything like Fractal, it would be the most robust, stable, reliable, and hassle-free copy protection scheme that ever existed. I do, however, hope Fractal understands just how much frustration iLOK can cause.

I'm sure Fractal assessed most if not all of the copy protection options. Perhaps the others are even worse.

The tasty beverage is a great idea. I need to cool off.
 
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My 2¢:
iLok is annoying. I do have several iLok programs, like Slate, Sonnox... Fine when it works which it mostly does. BUT, to get an error like "try rebooting your computer or re-download and install iLok"(installing, updating, or reinstalling takes forever) when it was simply the PACE service not starting, is ridiculous. Which answer I finally found on a forum after a LONG search.
 
What one is unlikely to hear are the voices that find the iLOK works perfectly fine and has done so for years
 
Fractal apparently thinks that their customers are sufficiently criminal to warrant DRM, and they are absolutely responsible for what you are going through. And.. you give them a pass, and blame the DRM company, PACE? I view this as strange, but each to his own. :)

I'm not really following PACE, but I note that they are possibly in the news...

https://torrentfreak.com/ilok2-drm-system-appears-to-have-been-cracked-151224/

Based on the number of torrents available for expensive and well-protected programs, I don't blame Fractal for using some type of protection. At the same time, these torrents also show how futile copy protection ultimately is. The fact that Cab Lab is not as universally desired as Photoshop, AutoCAD, or After Effects might dissuade crackers from spending their time on it.

Fractal must know by now that iLOK is locking their customers out of their product, at least temporarily, but considers the customers' inconvenience, wasted time, and anger to be no price to pay for protection that will eventually most certainly be defeated once a cracker sets his mind to it. Yes, I blame iLOK and PACE. Fractal's only other choice is to trust the public (a fool's errand), charge so little that they won't recoup their investment (the Reaper model only works when the numbers are large), or give it away.

To Fractal's credit, they sent me a new code this morning. I hesitate to use it, however. I still want to make minor changes to my new machine, and I don't want to go through this again. As I said at the top, iLOK sucks.
 
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That's why I used the Ilok usb key. Yes it can fail, but it's much more rare than having issue with a slight hardware change.
Software keys are the worse for it. Waves is the same with the waves manager.
Hell, even Windows will tell you to buy a new license once you change your graphic card. You have to go through hoops to reactivate your PC.
 
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