RSL Activation disk - no more.

Since we will need to activate our version through the web, what will happen when in the middle of nowhere we have to re-install from new.

It happened to me a couple of time, my laptop whent dead and I re-installed with my backup copies (which always I carry).

Will it include agrace period of a month or some sort of way to go on working for a few days?

Hopefully. GE has had internet/telephone activation for a while now. You usually have a few days to activate after installation.

This whole activation key is poorly thought out and done with cavalier disregard for the needs of the poor end user. This is not true of A-B alone. I have the same contempt for the software protection schemes from Modicon and Siemens. None of these systems indicate the software developers and managers have ever been out in the field or done an actual industrial project.

I believe in intellectual property rights, and certainly the manufacturers have a right to protect themselves from rampant piracy. Let's face it, though - locks keep honest people honest, and software protection won't stop the real pro that is pirating software and selling it on the black market or whatever. All these cumbersome and poorly thought out protection schemes do is make life tough for the honest user and cause a fifteem minute hiccup for the real crooks.

This kind of nonsense makes sense if you are selling nothing but software. In the PLC business it just makes sense to me to cover the development and support costs in the price of the hardware. The distrubution only costs could be charged with the software, keeping the price low enough to make piracy pointless.

I've experienced the same sort of thing - plant in the middle of nowhere, no phone line, no internet, no mailing address (oil and gas industry in northern Alberta, for example). When buying software I simply explained this and that there was no possible way of activating it and Rockwell was able to supply the old floppy activation. I don't know how long they will be doing this though...

Sometimes it seems that manufacturers believe that everyone is in a location like downtown Cleveland...

I absolutely refuse to use any GE software or products anymore, after the horrors of trying to get two sets of their *(&(*& "Authorized".

Maybe they've improved in a year, maybe not, but they will never get another shot at me.

I recently moved all my software to another computer, in the process I had to call GE to have VersaPro activated. I would like to have been able to do it faster but I bought this software 4-5 years ago so can not complain.

I thought you could still have activation on a USB stick for AB products, if concerned about after hour problems then having two licenses may be appropriate OR getting with RA to have a backup method.

If the laptop is that important then why not clone it to another hdd? I know for a laptop this can be harder than a desktop but it can be done numerous ways. It is also possible to clone it onto DVD, CD/RW, or other storage mediums.

It is your choice but if it is important for your job and time then I would consider the backup a sound investment.

I really doubt anybody from RockSoft is monitoring this, but this new activation method is HORRIBLE

It's happened to me several times... You have to get a bunch of big numbers off your computer, then phone them, then they'll generate a new big number that you have to put in. Or they can email you a file that you have to put in a very specific, not intuitive, place on your harddrive.

If all we ever did was in the lab with hi-speed internet, then this method would be fine, but we have absolutely NO internet access at all in several of our sites.

Already, there have been several times where I've had to go back to the hotel to take care of it, then downloaded the authorization file to a flash-drive to take back to the plant...

Stupid, stupid, stupid idea RS!

Amen Tom
Get the money in the hardware, Give the software as an incentive to use the product and Support because it's the right thing to do.
Lynn

I do not get it.

ALVIN DAVIS said:

Amen Tom
Get the money in the hardware, Give the software as an incentive to use the product and Support because it's the right thing to do.
Lynn

Click to expand...

I know that some companies may do this but so far there has been only 1 of those I remotely liked the software.

Someone(s) design a plc or ???? and gets paid for it.
Someone(s) assembles the components to build the plc or ???? and gets paid for it.
Someone(s) writes the software to simplify the programming of the plc or ???? but do not get paid?
Someone(s) supports the software but does not get paid?

Using that logic, since the software is free, then anytime someone uses that software their time should also be free. Makes sense to me.

    NotPaidfor       NotPaidfor                Work

|------| |-------------| |----------------------( )-----|

      software       programmer               beingdone

This whole activation key is poorly thought out and done with cavalier disregard for the needs of the poor end user. This is not true of A-B alone. I have the same contempt for the software protection schemes from Modicon and Siemens.

Click to expand...

At least Siemens now provide a 14-day backup licence and when that is used up, if there is a full licence installed, but no longer activated, then you can still carry on working, although you'll get a nag screen every few minutes and every time you open a new block or save a block you're currently working with. It's a pain in the neck if you've got a lot to do, but for simple mods, it's perfectly adequate - and at least you can keep on working!

The only thing that is a bit of a pain is that if you install some new S/W and then run it up without the full authorisation installed, up pops a window asking if you would like to activate the 14-day licence. Unfortunately, the default answer is "Yes", so if you unthinkingly hit "RETURN" - tough!! - once the 14-day licence is activated, there's no way to stop it counting down - bye bye emergency licence!

rsdoran said:

Using that logic, since the software is free, then anytime someone uses that software their time should also be free. Makes sense to me.

Click to expand...

Ron, I totally fail to grasp how you came to that conclusion. Is anyone working on a Linux based system required to forgoe compensation?

Besides, I didn't say the programmers shouldn't be paid. I said that the programming software development costs should be folded into the PLC hardware cost, just like engineering expenses and marketing expenses. Since you can't pirate hardware as easily as software, the manufacturer could eliminate the cumbersome protection schemes and still recover development and support costs.

I would rather pay more money for the hardware and not have those stupid questions (on this site) on how to fraudulently steal a copy of the license.

“how can I get a license for free? I’m to damn cheap to pay and would rather all of you pay”

I agree with Tom on this one. The software, or at least the basic software, should come with the equipment.
By that same scenario it would be ok to first purchase a car then have to buy the keys. Tires? oh you wanted to drive it somewhere? that'll be an extra charge.

better yet try buying a sound card then have to purchase the drivers for it as an "option".

Its a bad business model all the way around. Copy protection does absolutley nothing to stop me from pirating. Other than creating a minor annoyance at going around the protection. It is far more of a hassle trying to comply with the way copy protection is set up. Like having to keep your CD in teh drive while playing a game. Its just BS.

The purpose of the new RSI activation mechanism is twofold: to be more durable and to be more secure. Let's talk about durable.

The most common activation is "node-locked", in which the software serial number and a unique characteristic of a PC (usually the Ethernet port MAC ID) are combined by RA to create an activation code. That activation number is stored in plaintext in a file on your PC.

That activation code is very durable. It can't be corrupted by antivirus software or hard drive defragmentation or automatic compression. It can't be lost. It can't be contaminated by dust or corrupted by magnets. It can't be staped, spindled, folded, or mutilated. It can be e-mailed, printed, transcribed via radiotelephone, or tied to a homing pigeon's leg. It does not require a floppy drive.

None of those things are true of the current floppy diskette activation mechanism.

If you have your CD's or DVD's with you to reload an OS or a software package, then you can have an activation code file backup too. If you have that activation code, in any format, you can reactivate your software at any time in any place without communicating with any person or machine in any way.

With the new mechanism, in the absolute worst case, you will need to make a telephone call. With the floppy-disk activation mechanism, what would you need ?

OK, Ken, I understand the objective. Now let's review a real world scenario.

I purchase one licensed copy. I only intend to use it on one PC at a time, which is consistent with the intent of A-B.

The logic is written by Tim on his laptop, which has the license activated. Tim is on vacation, and has taken his laptop with him so he can look at email. I get an emergency call to go to Left Elbow, Iowa to service a system at their sewage treatment plant. I grab my laptop and the CDs and copy the program files from the server. In my rush I forget about the authorization scheme.

How do I get the authorization transferred when I get to Iowa? After all, Tim still has a valid copy loaded on his laptop, although he isn't programming. And, let's just say neither the plant I'm at or the motel I'm using has internet access. Can I call A-B at 6:00 AM from the jobsite and get a key? How long will this take? Should I start having the plant call everyone in town and tell them to cross their legs? Will the A-B call center have a clue about how to handle this unusual situation? Should I have to do this much screwing around to use software that I paid $2,000 for? Will A-B reimburse me at $150/hour for the time I have to spend being able to use my perfectly legitimate software?

Now, let's make this even more real world. On my laptop I have three (that's 3) different programs for A-B HMIs and RSLogix 500, and C-More software, and Concept for Modicon, and Directsoft for Koyo, and Cimplicity Machine Edition for GE HMI and PLCs, and Exor HMI software, and EZ-Touch software. On Tim's laptop he has Step 7 for Siemens' PLCs, WinCC for Siemens' HMI, Unity for Modicon PLCs, Lookout Development, and RSLogix 5000.

So how much time do you think I'm going to throw down the rat hole maintaining and transferring licenses each week. If a customer calls in while I'm out of town, and they have a SLC-500 and I have the RSLogix 500 on my laptop, should Tim tell them to just run raw sewage into the river until I get back because he can't open the logic to diagnose their problem?

It is purely and totally a crock!