# ILok non-dongle activations - what are they locked to?



## Gruust (Feb 24, 2022)

Does anyone know what exectly non-dongle activations (harddrive activations?) are tied to? I wonder if it's more than just one component in your PC/Mac. Because then there'd be the possibility to just replace the faulty component to recover your licenses. Anyone got any clues?


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## liquidlino (Feb 24, 2022)

It's usually a mix of the internal serial numbers in your CPU and motherboard, as well as the general build of your computer. Even simple things like adding more ram or sdd can sometimes trigger protection systems. Always wise to remove licenses and re add them when doing any significant upgrades, just in case.


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## Jett Hitt (Feb 24, 2022)

Is there any reason to not just continue using the dongle?


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## jbuhler (Feb 24, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> Is there any reason to not just continue using the dongle?


It still takes a port to plug into. But aside from that I don't see much of an issue with dongles these days. Unlike in the old days, when they could be very finicky.


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## Jett Hitt (Feb 24, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> It still takes a port to plug into. But aside from that I don't see much of an issue with dongles these days. Unlike in the old days, when they could be very finicky.


I’ve had the same one for like 10 years, and I’ve never had an issue with it. The eLicenser, well now, that’s a different matter.

Edit: I should add that I have some $10 usb 4 port expander that the ilok is plugged into, and it has always worked. So I feel like I didn’t even lose a port.


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## Paj (Feb 24, 2022)

My experience has been in line with what liquidlino and Jett Hitt posted and that iLok has become much less buggy and much more stable the past few years and it is appears to be tied to the motherboard, OS and/or CPU identifiers. I actually appreciate iLok much more now than I did in the past. Every now and then a vendor comes along with proprietary authorization that flags a change in HDD/SDD storage. XLN Audio is one that forces me to reauthorize when I swap drives---even a mechanically cloned one, which leads me to suspect the drive's hardware identifiers.

Paj
8^)


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## liquidlino (Feb 24, 2022)

Paj said:


> My experience has been in line with what liquidlino and Jett Hitt posted and that iLok has become much less buggy and much more stable the past few years and it is appears to be tied to the motherboard, OS and/or CPU identifiers. I actually appreciate iLok much more now than I did in the past. Every now and then a vendor comes along with proprietary authorization that flags a change in HDD/SDD storage. XLN Audio is one that forces me to reauthorize when I swap drives---even a mechanically cloned one, which leads me to suspect the drive's hardware identifiers.
> 
> Paj
> 8^)


Spot on - XLN forced a reauthorize on me recently when I added a M.2 SSD to my desktop, iLok didn't care.


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## Gruust (Feb 27, 2022)

well, I don't have a dongle. That's why I'm asking. If software locks are bound to multiple components, why use a dongle if you can just replace the damaged component? That, of course, would require that those components are independent enough.


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## liquidlino (Feb 27, 2022)

Gruust said:


> well, I don't have a dongle. That's why I'm asking. If software locks are bound to multiple components, why use a dongle if you can just replace the damaged component? That, of course, would require that those components are independent enough.


The dongle makes you hardware independent. So you can change computer, have multiple computers that you switch between, or even take your dongle to another persons computer. No reactivation required. You can also buy dongle insurance from ilok that gets you up and running immediately should your ilok dongle fail, or be lost etc.


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## Gruust (Feb 27, 2022)

Insurance. Sounds like Mafia to me.


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## liquidlino (Feb 27, 2022)

Gruust said:


> Insurance. Sounds like Mafia to me.


Lol. Depends on perspective I suppose. Lots of people moan about it... I personally don't use a dongle.. yet anyway.

But imagine the alternative. Your computer config changes due to say a faulty motherboard, and you can't recover the licenses. To get new licenses re-issued requires you emailing each developer that you bought a license from that's on iLok, and getting them to reset your license on iLok. Most will do this, but it takes time and effort (UVI for instance have a stated policy of doing this, at https://support.uvi.net/hc/en-us/articles/202582671). Some developers are incredibly slow at sorting this out. So imagine being a professional, and suddenly half your plugins/sound libraries stop working. Nightmare.

So the $30 dongle and $30 a year ilok insurance is very much worth it for professionals. Compare that to VSL, who if you don't have the insurance they charge you 50% of all the libraries you lost - now that's a mafia racket!!!


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## termux (Feb 27, 2022)

Non-Dongle linked to your motherboard. 
One day my motherboard broke then i replaced with new one. Once i try to open my plugins it's asked me to activate the license, then i try to deactivate through iLok license manager but iLok Manager recognized my new motherboard as different machine so i asked iLok staff to deactivate from their system.


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## liquidlino (Feb 27, 2022)

Paj said:


> . . . or, don't you just install the iLok software on your new computer, login to your account, and wait for your licenses to update and list? That's what I recall doing the last time I updated a system.
> 
> I do appreciate the have-dongle-will-travel advantages but changing my desktop/server did not involved contacting any developer/vendor for any of my licenses. I believe at one time it was actually necessary to de-authorize a license on the hardware where it was originally installed (like, I believe, Arturia still does until you run the gauntlet in your Arturia account) but the iLok software now allows you do this from any of your systems for any of your other systems if you're logged into you're account. Everything gets updated/adjusted by logging in to your iLok account from the iLok software.
> 
> ...


Oh yeah for sure a planned change of machine is very straightforward, as you can deactivate yourself on the old machine. It's the unplanned scenario that's a bitch. Hasn't happened to me yet thankfully.


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## Paj (Feb 27, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Oh yeah for sure a planned change of machine is very straightforward, as you can deactivate yourself on the old machine. It's the unplanned scenario that's a bitch. Hasn't happened to me yet thankfully.


"I see!" said the blind man (moi).

Paj
8^}


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## Paj (Feb 28, 2022)

liquidlino, termux, Jett Hitt:
I'm thinking that the dongle just might be a good idea, especially if it works from a USB hub. Can you back up all the files on the dongle to prepare another one in case it fails?

Paj
8^?


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## termux (Feb 28, 2022)

Paj said:


> liquidlino, termux, Jett Hitt:
> I'm thinking that the dongle just might be a good idea, especially if it works from a USB hub. Can you back up all the files on the dongle to prepare another one in case it fails?
> 
> Paj
> 8^?


Do you mean back up on the other non-ilok dongle?


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## Paj (Feb 28, 2022)

termux said:


> Do you mean back up on the other non-ilok dongle?


Just being able to have a archive of the files on the dongle that can be copied to a replacement dongle should the original fail.

Paj
8^?


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