Davinci Resolve Dongle Nightmare....

[Robert Horwell]

So i took my Macbook pro on set, nothing new there. However this time i decided to take Resolve with me. You might ask - What do you mean take resolve with you? and it would be a good question.
It is of coarse impossible to use Resolve 8 without the Dongle plugged into the laptop. Something that has always made me feel insecure about buying certain software, is the fact of a DONGLE!!!! GGGrrrrrrr.
I've always felt that it seems such a clumsy way ti license software. Constantly having something hanging out of the USB slot.
I once heard of a company who had a member of staff, who when the left the company thought it might be funny to take all the dongles off the hooks, the company was crippled until they could replace them.

So, let me get back to my story. My Davinci dongle went missing, i don't think for one minute it was stolen, i think the tiny little thing probably was pulled out of the macbook before it was put back into it's case on wrap and left somewhere.

I called Black Magic support who told me, basically...well....hard luck. There was no way of buying another dongle, having the dongle replaced etc, without purchasing Resolve again. I provided my proof of purchase and software number from my Resolve box....

Now this has always been my fear with dongle based software, and it was finally realised. There is NO WAY to back up a dongle. If i had a software key, then that number would be kept in a folder with the rest of my keys, protected. I would simply re-install the software, if there was a problem, and put the key in.

So be very very careful people, Blackmagic Design do not have any resource for lost or stolen Dongles, they will not help you. Which i think is pretty poor practice.

 

[Sidney L. Plaut]

Damn. good to know.

 

[Luis Otero]

...Which i think is pretty poor practice.

Actually, it is so last century practice...

Any major software company that I own a version of their software which started with such control system and has elected to join this century's practices, has moved out of the paranoia of controlling via "dongle". Do they think it will prevent savvy people to work around it? Such practice is a disservice to the clients. Bottom-line: loose your dongle, pay $995.00. Otherwise, you company (and income), is paralyzed.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Yeah, dongles are just a hassle for people that pay for the software. They do nothing unique to prevent people from cracking the software and using the program illegally.

 

[Robert Horwell]

Yes, dongles provide no more protection over piracy then key codes. Those who pay for software will always do so regardless of piracy as we know how important it is for us to support developers. We also have to feel the software developers are supporting us, and Dongles are just a pain in the ass, even worse for me BlackMagic's response to me was the pits, very poor. To be honest i was just about to book on a coarse here on the UK for Davinci, and invest in the Full Davinci panel for my studio, but this type of support from them and the whole dongle issue has put me right off investing in them.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

You know there is a problem with your software when it is safer, easier, and more convenient to use a pirated copy than a legitimately purchased one! It has been proven time and again that over-the-top digital protection measures are not good for customers, create ill-will towards developers, and do not prevent piracy.

If Robert had been using the readily-available cracked version of Davinci Resolve he wouldn't have had any trouble at all. Since he can no longer use his legitimate license it appears that his only recourse now is to use the cracked version. How's that for a legal grey-area? You own a license to the software but have to use a hacked version because the manufacturer has deserted you. Does losing the physical USB dongle negate the fact that you are licensed to use the software? I would argue that it doesn't.

Does Black Magic feel that they provided good customer service to Robert? Do they expect Robert to use their products for his business in the future? Are their competing products that are almost as good with less draconian rights management?

 

[Gunleik Groven]

I used to like dongles...
Untill I lost a lot of them in theft...

 

[Luis Otero]

...To be honest i was just about to book on a coarse here on the UK for Davinci, and invest in the Full Davinci panel for my studio, but this type of support from them and the whole dongle issue has put me right off investing in them.

Robert,

I feel your pain; been there with a former "donglemaniac" supplier I had issues about 6 years ago. But they came with a magic bullet solution: Key Codes. I think that by voicing more and more our opinions, they will understand and react to the fact that this is not the best way to provide support to their loyal clients, and that this has become a rare practice among the software suppliers of this industry to maintain control over their software. For God sakes, hey have the same Lite software available for free!!!

However, I for one, should I have the resources to get their panel, would not hold on it for the dongle issue. I am sure it will go away soon, specially now that it is not only available for the elite. (Now you have the leverage...I think).

 

[Robert Horwell]

I would be really interested to hear Blackmagic chime in here. It's overwhelmingly clear how we feel about the use of dongles to license software, for many reason, most of them completely practical and all sensible.

Brent i never thought of it like that, but yes you are absolutely right, i paid for my licence and right to use Resolve.....so i should be able to use it, with or without a dongle?.........purchasing the full davinci panel, and risk another lost or broken dongle and the loss of work and lack of support that could ensue....doesn't fill me with glee right now.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

My deepest, most heartfelt condolences on your loss.

Yes, dongles suck. I have three dongled apps on my mobile production / DIT cart; Resolve being one of them. They all plug into a USB hub that's mounted inside a locked drawer. Plenty of good ways to protect software without resorting to a dongle, which can become lost or damaged. I've had both USB and older parallel dongles go bad for unknown reasons in the past. That always leads to unnecessary down-time as well. Usually getting them swapped out isn't so much of a problem -- buy a new dongle for $100-$200 at times, ouch. But you have to send the bad one in, then they send out a new one. What a pain.

IMO, I see no reason for software developers to hamstring an application and inconvenience their paying customers with a dongle. It adds extra effort in development and support on their end, more expenses related to that. It adds more expense to the cost of the software on the customer side. No matter how fancy that dongle is, the warez version is racing around torrent sites within a few days anyway. No such thing as a copy protection scheme that hasn't been broken. And I doubt there ever will be.

 

[Dustin Cross]

There is a place for dongles. I just got a dongle for Avid MC 5.5. I needed to be able to use it on multiple systems and did not want to buy multiple copies since I will never use it on more than one system at a time. So for me the dongle for MC 5.5 was the best solution. Loosing a dongle would suck, and I think companies should offer the option of dongle or hard coded to a system. I had to jump through some hoops to get a dongle for MC since Avid doesn't sell them anymore.


Dusty

 

[Luis Otero]

...There is a place for dongles...

Sorry, but it was too funny that while I was reading it, I just had another picture on my mind to answer that implied question...:w00t:




(At the bottom of the ocean...just in case...)

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

There is a place for dongles. I just got a dongle for Avid MC 5.5. I needed to be able to use it on multiple systems and did not want to buy multiple copies since I will never use it on more than one system at a time. So for me the dongle for MC 5.5 was the best solution. Loosing a dongle would suck, and I think companies should offer the option of dongle or hard coded to a system. I had to jump through some hoops to get a dongle for MC since Avid doesn't sell them anymore.

There are so many other ways to lock software to single-use incidents without resorting to dongles. Cyclical distributed keys are good example -- see DigiPass. With current technology and a multitude of options available, I honestly cannot think of one situation where a physical dongle can't be replaced by an alternative method that doesn't have a tiny little key that can be easily lost, stolen or damaged. Options do diminish if you're operating somewhere without communications / internet access. However, there are still means by which it can be done. I used to like dongles. Back in the day when I had a couple parallel port dongles and didn't think much of it, they never left the office, no employees or real theft concerns. Didn't take long for that to change.... I've got several gloom and doom dongle stories, most of them involve the dongle going AWOL.

And yes, there is a place for dongles...

(At the bottom of the ocean...just in case...)

I was thinking more along the lines of "bend over and I'll show you". Hehe... No, not directed at Dusty or Luis at all, just figuratively speaking.

 

[Alex Carr]

Software with dongles cannot be protected from piracy. Both Resolve and Avid have been cracked. The software is just recompiled jumping the dongle check. It's better to just make it easier for the people who do use the software professionally and pay for it. Most of the people who steal it don't even know how to use it, half of which are usually students...

 

[Luis Otero]

Jeff,

Good instincts... :cheers2: However, "the bottom of the ocean" is still valid too... :arf: Just following forum etiquete, if there is one set...:emote_hanged:

 

[Dustin Cross]

Options do diminish if you're operating somewhere without communications / internet access.

I spend much of my time on location with limited or no internet access.

I agree, there are options that companies could choose that would be better, but of my choices, I prefer dongle in some situations. It is a pain to have to go online and turn off the license on one system so you can turn it on on another system. And if that system is in the middle of know where, good luck. You are in the same boat as if that guy took the dongle he didn't need.

I have multiple DIT carts that go on location, but I don't have a copy of every software for every cart. I set up the carts as needed, 3cP dongle with one cart, MC with another, and Adobe license on another, but I am a special situation.


Dusty

 

[Stefan Scherperel]

A few years ago, I was on a photo shoot, about 2 hours from any known internet connection. I was shooting some fairly involved composite shots and I had to check my shots on location with Photoshop to make sure things lined up. I opened my laptop, booted up Photoshop and was presented with a screen that said something along the lines of "your hardware configuration has changed, Photoshop will now close. Please click the button below to re register." Sure no problem if you have an internet connection, but I didn't, and I wasn't even presented with the option that I believe they give you now 30 days to remedy the situation. I was literally up a creek! So what did I do, Drove for 2 hours, found a Starbucks, opened my laptop, pressed a button, everything was fixed, and drove back out to my location. What a pain in the ass. Whether it be Dongles or just shitty security code this drove me to finding a cracked version of almost all of the software that I own, so that just in case, the software that I purchased legally could be used in the case of some over protective security system. It really is stupid that I have had to resort to this. Fingers crossed, I have not had that issue happen since.

 

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Putting my geek hat on... with 15 years+ in the IT business...

I would NEVER use a program than needed a dongle. Period.

For exactly the reasons stated.

I know of very serious businesses that relied on and absolutely had to use dongle-protected software. What they did was, they bought the software, they put all the dongles in the safe, and they would ONLY ever run 'cracked' pirate versions of the software in production.

They were geek enough to be confident with the cracked software. I wouldn't be surprised if this was done with the very tacit and unofficial support of the software account rep, to make the sale.

Using dongles is dumb. Telling a registered paying customer that a lost dongle can't be replaced is cretinous. I swear I will never buy Resolve or any associated products - that's obviously what they want, with that attitude.

Mike

 

[Michael Olsen]

You know there is a problem with your software when it is safer, easier, and more convenient to use a pirated copy than a legitimately purchased one!

This man speaks truth.

Too many times have people been forced to break the law simply to get a product to work because of its "protection".

 

[Peter Moretti]

I have to say that when Avid attempted to get rid of the dongle for Media Composer some users went absolutely balistic. I mean really, it got ugly. So there are people out there who LOVE their dongles.

As for BMD's policy, that's a shame. There should be better solution.