cclarry Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 (edited) I'm not cutting anyone any slack. That's what Beta Testing is for...to work out the bugs. Nothing is perfect, but this was an easily avoidable fiasco. Anyone who registered Cubase 11 after 11/10 should have just been emailed a code for their upgrade to version 12 to be registered in the Activation Manager. The way they're doing it is completely wrong, and a scam. Also, they said they we're answering Support Tickets in the order received, and I emailed them early in the morning on the day it was released, it's now been 8 days, and they haven't said a word. That's crap! They are "too big for their britches"....and it's hogwash. But it's ok for you to do you! It's a free country...for now! Edited March 9, 2022 by cclarry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Steinberg support is always famously bad, I mean really bad ! Add the fiasco of the C12 rollout and it's obviously reached total collapse. I know it's no consolation but I'm sure they'll sort you out eventually - and there really isn't much in C12 worth using...plus the usual SB bugs. I'm sticking to C11 for the time being. For this upgrade you had to: Make sure your elicencer software was installed and up to date Install the Steinberg Download Assistant Install the Steinberg Activation Manager install the Steinberg Library Manager Log in to the Steinberg Download Assistant Log in to the Steinberg Activation Manager - it's a different bit of software but can't share a login so that's 2 logins Attempt to find a licence to upgrade with the Activation Manager and elicencer software Generate an email with an Download Activation Code Put the activation code into the Steinberg Download Assistant to generate a elicencer code Find out what software you need to download in the Steinberg Download Assistant, which miraculously has ZERO idea what you own, or what you have installed - despite being logged into your account and being able to see your elicencer Work out what needs to be updated (hint the Simon Philips drums have been updated but there is no way of telling in the SDA) Make sure your C11 licence now says "not upgradable" (how confusing is that ? why not say UPGRADED ?) so that a C12 licence is generated in your online account - although the elicencer server is an old 286 PC and is totally slammed - so this may not ever happen Go back into Steinberg Activation Manager and enable a licence on your PC/Mac Make sure any new content that has been downloaded is installed in the Steinberg Library Manager Install Cubase 12 What could possibly go wrong ?! And after all that you still need to use the dongle because ALL your other Steinberg licences that you use are still there. Also the new Activation Manager just grabs licences from your account without asking - I had c12 LE installed on my laptop and it just assigned a C12 licence out of my account - never told me - and if you look online all you see is a cryptic PC ID so you can't tell where your licences have gone. There are lots of other gotchas but this post has gone on long enough It's a MASSIVE mess - look at the steinberg forums, it's pretty bad. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoveCamper Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 28 minutes ago, simon said: Steinberg support is always famously bad, I mean really bad ! Add the fiasco of the C12 rollout and it's obviously reached total collapse. I know it's no consolation but I'm sure they'll sort you out eventually - and there really isn't much in C12 worth using...plus the usual SB bugs. I'm sticking to C11 for the time being. For this upgrade you had to: Make sure your elicencer software was installed and up to date Install the Steinberg Download Assistant Install the Steinberg Activation Manager install the Steinberg Library Manager Log in to the Steinberg Download Assistant Log in to the Steinberg Activation Manager - it's a different bit of software but can't share a login so that's 2 logins Attempt to find a licence to upgrade with the Activation Manager and elicencer software Generate an email with an Download Activation Code Put the activation code into the Steinberg Download Assistant to generate a elicencer code Find out what software you need to download in the Steinberg Download Assistant, which miraculously has ZERO idea what you own, or what you have installed - despite being logged into your account and being able to see your elicencer Work out what needs to be updated (hint the Simon Philips drums have been updated but there is no way of telling in the SDA) Make sure your C11 licence now says "not upgradable" (how confusing is that ? why not say UPGRADED ?) so that a C12 licence is generated in your online account - although the elicencer server is an old 286 PC and is totally slammed - so this may not ever happen Go back into Steinberg Activation Manager and enable a licence on your PC/Mac Make sure any new content that has been downloaded is installed in the Steinberg Library Manager Install Cubase 12 What could possibly go wrong ?! And after all that you still need to use the dongle because ALL your other Steinberg licences that you use are still there. Also the new Activation Manager just grabs licences from your account without asking - I had c12 LE installed on my laptop and it just assigned a C12 licence out of my account - never told me - and if you look online all you see is a cryptic PC ID so you can't tell where your licences have gone. There are lots of other gotchas but this post has gone on long enough It's a MASSIVE mess - look at the steinberg forums, it's pretty bad. That's All! Well upgrade time for me. 😛 NOT! Feeling for you Larry. Keep us informed how it is going. I think I've had the upgrade in my shopping cart for three months now. Glad I've waited. I'm still on Artist 10.0 The only reason I want to upgrade is they include Variaudio with Artist now and the new Midi Remote looks interesting. But from their forum it does not look ready for prime time either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Smith Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 On 3/8/2022 at 7:50 AM, locrian said: How far did you get? Were you able to install C12 (but got stuck at activation)? Yep this ^^^^ Something tells me that if I coughed up 99.00 for the update all would go well. A promise for a grace period license is a promise though and I can afford to wait a bit yet. 4 hours ago, MusicMan said: What's the support of other DAWs like out of curiosity? Especially around major version releases. I'm kind of used to constantly hearing of servers and support buckling during a new release, or even just a freebie at times.. A few easily come to mind 🤣 A good deal with a short window and large download files will usually cause these problems or a new version release from a well known DAW maker. I fully expected this to happen. I just didn't expect it to last this long or the major snafu with the elicensers. There are two sides to every story. I remember Steinberg cracks on old copies of Cubase once abounded. So they went completely lockdown with the dongle which they charged something like 30.00 for in addition to their software. I can't say as I blame them for going to increased security measures, but they took it a bit too far as Germans are prone to do sometimes. I'm sorry, I know that's a stereotype. The good news was they started to go more mainstream with their security and tried to make it easier for the user base while still maintaining security over pirate cracks. Their idea was an excellent one and I would be onboard with it 100% if it actually worked for me lol. They got too carried away with the dongle again. Like cclarry says, they should not have attached everything to the dongle. Just issue all of us a one time pass code that is tied only to our computers..........but noooooo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 8 hours ago, cclarry said: Most DAW's support is pretty quick to respond. I get that it's a new launch, but over a week? Nah....that's just not right.... https://youtu.be/nn2FB1P_Mn8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cclarry Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 15 minutes ago, Bapu said: https://youtu.be/nn2FB1P_Mn8 I LOVE The IT Crowd! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cclarry Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 So, after 8 Days I decided to have a chat with Support. Needless to say it was pointless... the moron tried to make everything MY fault! And then he said "well can you call us?" I said WHY...so I can stay on hold for 2 days? WHY IS THIS SO HARD? Check my account! Check my activation day, and FIX THE PROBLEM or just give me a Cubase 12 Serial # to register! We can't do that??? Get the F out of dodge! Steinberg crossed off the list...DONE! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcL Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, cclarry said: Steinberg crossed off the list...DONE! Yes, I think Steinberg and its Q-Bass is more for people like @Bapu ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Steinberg andNI are the worst for support. I I'm glad mine is working, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zargg Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 7 hours ago, simon said: Steinberg support is always famously bad, I mean really bad ! Add the fiasco of the C12 rollout and it's obviously reached total collapse. I know it's no consolation but I'm sure they'll sort you out eventually - and there really isn't much in C12 worth using...plus the usual SB bugs. I'm sticking to C11 for the time being. For this upgrade you had to: Make sure your elicencer software was installed and up to date Install the Steinberg Download Assistant Install the Steinberg Activation Manager install the Steinberg Library Manager Log in to the Steinberg Download Assistant Log in to the Steinberg Activation Manager - it's a different bit of software but can't share a login so that's 2 logins Attempt to find a licence to upgrade with the Activation Manager and elicencer software Generate an email with an Download Activation Code Put the activation code into the Steinberg Download Assistant to generate a elicencer code Find out what software you need to download in the Steinberg Download Assistant, which miraculously has ZERO idea what you own, or what you have installed - despite being logged into your account and being able to see your elicencer Work out what needs to be updated (hint the Simon Philips drums have been updated but there is no way of telling in the SDA) Make sure your C11 licence now says "not upgradable" (how confusing is that ? why not say UPGRADED ?) so that a C12 licence is generated in your online account - although the elicencer server is an old 286 PC and is totally slammed - so this may not ever happen Go back into Steinberg Activation Manager and enable a licence on your PC/Mac Make sure any new content that has been downloaded is installed in the Steinberg Library Manager Install Cubase 12 What could possibly go wrong ?! And after all that you still need to use the dongle because ALL your other Steinberg licences that you use are still there. Also the new Activation Manager just grabs licences from your account without asking - I had c12 LE installed on my laptop and it just assigned a C12 licence out of my account - never told me - and if you look online all you see is a cryptic PC ID so you can't tell where your licences have gone. There are lots of other gotchas but this post has gone on long enough It's a MASSIVE mess - look at the steinberg forums, it's pretty bad. I was missing step 3 and 6 for a while, before I got it (finally). But what a mess to get a piece of software in 2022. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicMan Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 11 hours ago, cclarry said: That's what Beta Testing is for...to work out the bugs. Nothing is perfect, but this was an easily avoidable fiasco. Anyone who registered Cubase 11 after 11/10 should have just been emailed a code for their upgrade to version 12 to be registered in the Activation Manager. The way they're doing it is completely wrong, and a scam. To a certain extent that's what beta testing is for, but it would be difficult to capture the load testing at scale of something like this conversion. The process for the most part likely would've worked fine and for many people did, if their crappy old eLicenser servers could keep up with demand. We know they normally can't and this time was no different. In terms of just emailing out codes, they also needed to cover the existing licence on the dongles. Otherwise it would mean that people would have a full version of below V12 and then a full version of V12 as well. People would've for sure exploited that and been upgrading that as well and selling them, hence them wanting to mark them as non upgradeable. I'm sure there likely could've been other ways to address it, but not everyone would want to upgrade to 12 and have their 11 of whatever version they had upgraded, so they needed an opt in to an extent and I don't think just emailing a code would've been sufficient. Staggering the licence conversion process likely would've been better. So maybe people couldn't download V12 when the conversion was done, but the licence was available for the release date. The new licensing servers apparently handled the load OK, but were hamstrung by the link to the overloaded eLicenser servers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xoo Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 11 hours ago, MusicMan said: The process for the most part likely would've worked fine and for many people did, if their crappy old eLicenser servers could keep up with demand. We know they normally can't and this time was no different. Isn't this kind of situation exactly what cloud computing is for? Scale up when you need it, then down when you don't. Poor planning as this should have been expected. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicMan Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 35 minutes ago, Kevin Perry said: Isn't this kind of situation exactly what cloud computing is for? Scale up when you need it, then down when you don't. Poor planning as this should have been expected. That's exactly what they're getting rid of, which is the eLicenser servers that don't scale for that very reason. For a system they're decommissioning it wouldn't be worth the re-development, costs and downtime to make it scale to then simply turn it off. I would hope/expect the new licensing platform are using microservices and scale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 2 hours ago, MusicMan said: That's exactly what they're getting rid of, which is the eLicenser servers that don't scale for that very reason. For a system they're decommissioning it wouldn't be worth the re-development, costs and downtime to make it scale to then simply turn it off. I would hope/expect the new licensing platform are using microservices and scale. They always blame the elicenser servers - and they have been doing that for many, many years.....as if it's something they have ZERO control over. They obviously didn't want to spend any money or development time improving them, but that was Steinberg's decision. The elicenser servers are only one part of the issue here though - even in the new system they seem to have developed a suite of different applications to: - manage - download -authorise None of these applications talk to each other - and even when logged in they mainly haven't got a CLUE on what software you actually own or what needs to be installed or updated. ALSO Instead of waiting until they had more software ready to move over to the new licensing system before going live they push GO on their flagship product. So maximum strain on the broken system and also meaning that after all the pain most people are stuck with the dongle anyway. I could go on as the issues don't end there ! - Steinberg have created a total shambles of their own making - and that would be bad even IF they actually had a working support service....but they don't. /RANTOFF PS I'm a Steinberg software fan ! but it's painful to watch such bad management over at SB HQ and most of the time they have their heads stuck in the sand (or elsewhere!) pretending it isn't happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicMan Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 12 minutes ago, simon said: They always blame the elicenser servers - and they have been doing that for many, many years.....as if it's something they have ZERO control over. They obviously didn't want to spend any money or development time improving them, but that was Steinberg's decision. The elicenser servers are only one part of the issue here though - even in the new system they seem to have developed a suite of different applications to: - manage - download -authorise None of these applications talk to each other - and even when logged in they mainly haven't got a CLUE on what software you actually own or what needs to be installed or updated. ALSO Instead of waiting until they had more software ready to move over to the new licensing system before going live they push GO on their flagship product. So maximum strain on the broken system and also meaning that after all the pain most people are stuck with the dongle anyway. I could go on as the issues don't end there ! - Steinberg have created a total shambles of their own making - and that would be bad even IF they actually had a working support service....but they don't. /RANTOFF PS I'm a Steinberg software fan ! but it's painful to watch such bad management over at SB HQ and most of the time they have their heads stuck in the sand (or elsewhere!) pretending it isn't happening. They would've known for quite a while if the direction was going to be to get rid of the dongles, so I dare say they've just been hoping the thing wouldn't fall over completely! Totally a business choice and the call was probably wrong back then to not scale them, but at this point in time the spend wouldn't make sense. As for the multiple apps, I thought that was a bit weird too.. almost had an IKM type of vibe to it.. 🤣 The download one is odd, as if you register the download code in there it shows it, but apparently if you redeem the download code on the web, it doesn't, or something along those lines. One app for download, register, authorise would be way better. To IKMs credit, even they have made some headway there 🙂 On doing the flagship first, in ways I somewhat support their choice. They were always going to have a 0.5 release due/expected around then, so to develop and then stick to the old licensing meant it would delay Cubase being dongle free for quite a while. I would think that the majority of the people with other Steinberg products that require a dongle, would likely have Cubase as well. So if they did the others first, the majority of people likely still would've needed a dongle, whereas by doing Cubase many of us that only have Cubase from Steinberg and new customers can use the new licensing without a dongle. So I expect load would likely been similar, or less. That means more sales and new users, which is great for all of us. In software development it often makes more sense to make release as you go, which is what they've done too. For support, can't really argue that.. I've only ever used it recently and I'm still waiting 🤣 But I expected this to be the worst period and I could easily just have waited a few weeks before logging a ticket, or trying to upgrade anyway and the queues would be much better... the support may still suck.. but the wait shouldn't be as long! From what I've heard recently, their dev and support team is surprisingly small. Sounds pretty clear they need to invest more there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 Full disclosure - I got my grace period updates in very, very early way before meltdown - and it all went smoothly. (sorry not trying to rub it in!) But basically that's because I know the software well and lucked out getting the right procedure. It's overly and complicated and tortuous process that has so many ways to fall over or confuse. Email, download codes - elicencer codes etc etc I think we can all agree that the transition was going to be difficult - but Steinberg have made some very odd decisions on how to implement it. It's all down to Steinberg's intense paranoid about piracy. BTW It's fairly normal with Steinberg to never get a reply from support and you are best asking over at the forum is you have a 'tech issue' - licensing issues need to be dealt with by them obviously. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locrian Posted March 10, 2022 Author Share Posted March 10, 2022 On 3/9/2022 at 9:28 AM, simon said: For this upgrade you had to: Make sure your elicencer software was installed and up to date Install the Steinberg Download Assistant Install the Steinberg Activation Manager install the Steinberg Library Manager Log in to the Steinberg Download Assistant Log in to the Steinberg Activation Manager - it's a different bit of software but can't share a login so that's 2 logins Attempt to find a licence to upgrade with the Activation Manager and elicencer software Generate an email with an Download Activation Code Put the activation code into the Steinberg Download Assistant to generate a elicencer code Find out what software you need to download in the Steinberg Download Assistant, which miraculously has ZERO idea what you own, or what you have installed - despite being logged into your account and being able to see your elicencer Work out what needs to be updated (hint the Simon Philips drums have been updated but there is no way of telling in the SDA) Make sure your C11 licence now says "not upgradable" (how confusing is that ? why not say UPGRADED ?) so that a C12 licence is generated in your online account - although the elicencer server is an old 286 PC and is totally slammed - so this may not ever happen Go back into Steinberg Activation Manager and enable a licence on your PC/Mac Make sure any new content that has been downloaded is installed in the Steinberg Library Manager Install Cubase 12 From my perspective, the process above is a perfect example of 'turnkey' (with the proviso that you have to turn the key 15 times!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Smith Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 And I did all of the above multiple times. I had an older syncrosoft dongle. I also had a VSL license on the same dongle among others. Not sure if it was due to it being older hardware, but the server doesn't see my dongle basically saying "no license found". This only happened because I initiated the maintenance routine on it. Before that I had everything and was using pro 11. Steinberg lets me register the dongle but then doesn't see it when it comes time to look at it to load my licenses. If it can't see the dongle then it can't located licenses. My computer sees the dongle. It's just empty. I sent screen captures to Steinberg of my empty dongle hoping they would get the point. I received a cookie cutter answer from one of their reps through email. Yada yada yada. I hope I can break through. At this point I'm ready to throw in 99.00 to get it working. Believe it or not I looked to see if there was an upgrade path I could buy on the Steinberg site. There isn't. Apparently they have all of their marketing through the download manager sheesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Smith Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 (edited) Duplicate. Might as well post the latest news. Edited March 10, 2022 by Tim Smith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 55 minutes ago, Tim Smith said: I sent screen captures to Steinberg of my empty dongle hoping they would get the point. I received a cookie cutter answer from one of their reps through email. Yada yada yada. I hope I can break through. At this point I'm ready to throw in 99.00 to get it working. Believe it or not I looked to see if there was an upgrade path I could buy on the Steinberg site. There isn't. Apparently they have all of their marketing through the download manager sheesh. Tim - have you tried posting over on the SB forum - there's a specific thread where SB staff are attempting to help people individually - you may get a quicker and better response there. I know you shouldn't have to but sometimes it's worth just going 'around' the problem. I think the helpdesk people are overwhelmed (and useless) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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