Macromedia's Activation and Panther Woes

Well, its been one of those days. Actually, it started last night when I tried to start my installed copy of Macromedia Flash 2004. First some background.

Last friday (10/24/03) I upgraded to Panther from 10.2.8. When I performed the upgrade I selected the Archive/Install option. The upgrade went great...no worries...all my applications were still there in my dock after the upgrade. The first thing I did (after playing with some new features of Panther) was build Ruby 1.8.1. You can read my instructions on how to do this here. Last night I needed to jump back into a super-secret cool Ruby project I am planning that uses Flash. I will blog that project as I get something to show, but the problem arose when I clicked on the Flash icon. The icon started bouncing, then just stopped. No error messages, no dialog boxes...nothing.

I actually paid $$$ for a Macromedia Devnet subscription so I called the hotline (yeah right!). It was 7:30pm EST (4:30 on the west coast) and their tech support was closed! OK...so...I just started Googling around a bit and discovered that Macromedia now incorporates activation technology into their programs. One listing I found stated that you should deactivate the product prior to installing Panther. Nice suggestion, but too late for me. Suck!

So, I went on a deletion spree and removed all hints of Macromedia stuff from my computer. I removed the folders in the Applications folder, the /Library/Application Support/Macromedia folder and the ~/Library/Application Support/Macromedia folder. I then re-installed the application. I figured this purging would suffice, but lo and behold demons were still present. I double-clicked on the Flash 2004 icon and it bounced around and the quit...just like before. Suck^2!

The next day I called tech support and finally reached a human and told them my problem. They recommended that I remove all the Macromedia folders and try again. I told them I already did, and that threw them off the script a bit...then they told me they would call me back. I got many calls. Each one asking me to try something that I had already done, like installing other Macromedia apps (Dreamweaver, etc). All those apps behaved the exact same way. I did some more searching and stumbled across this page. About half way down you see a section titled Mac OS 10.3 user authentication dialog fail.

Just before reading this I opened up the Console application to see if there were any reported errors there. What I saw was re-enforced by what the release note said. I saw a message "Authentication Service: Started" appear just before the bouncing Flash icon died. Hm...smells like smoke. It seems that there is this creepy little application in this creepy little folder (/Library/Application Support/Macrovision/AuthenticationService). Ah ha! I cried and promptly removed this folder, removed all the Macromedia folders (again) and re-installed. I then clicked on the Flash 2004 application and it bounced a couple of times, then quit...just like before. Suck^3!

Fortunately Macromedia tech support called back and told me to try something. They said to delete this folder named /Library/Application Support/Macrovision. "Been there--done that!", was my reply, and they told me it was time to escalate the problem to the next level of tech support. I was really just pissed at this point. Then something struck me...plists. What if this damned Authentication Service had little plists somewhere. I went to the /Library/Preferences and there I found a Macrovision directory. "Move to trash" was what I said and then double-clicked on the Flash 2004 application and....

Bam! The dialog that said "You need to activate Flash on this computer..."

Yippie. I entered my 10^1000 digit license code and...chorus of angels singing...Flash worked (as did Dreamweaver, etc). So, like a good citizen I called back Macromedia and told them how I fixed their freaking activation service. They were so thankful that they closed the issue and charged me one of my tech support incidents.

A couple of lessons learned:

(1) If Macromedia did not have cool technology, I would never do business with them.

(2) Activation-based software license enforcement sucks^4!

Comments

[james]

I had this problem too, and basically did the same kind of stumbling around that you did. By luck, I think I checked the Console logs quite near the start of my woes (maybe after about 20 minutes of headscratching :)) and noticed it was an AuthenticationService problem.

Like you tried, I incrementally deleted all traced of Macromedia/Macrovision software and preferences until finally - once it was all gone for good - a reinstall of the apps finally worked.

But yes - this is totally unacceptable. Luckly I've had enough experience sorting these sort of insane bugs to know that you need to scan the logs like a hawk, and Trust No One (Or Any File).

[Jem Matzan]

Go here to complain to Macromedia about their product activation:

http://infopoll.net/live/surveys/s22559.htm

-Jem

[John Dowdell]

Sorry for the hassle... that's definitely something we're all trying to avoid. It's the archiving in the subsequent Panther upgrade which is the cause here.

We've been logging this in the blogs and technotes... the Macromedia Flash Emerging Issues technote or Panther Emerging Issues technotes are easy ways to get such breaking news too:
http://www.macromedia.com/go/18972
http://www.macromedia.com/go/18889

Panther can also break a number of other features in the apps besides that unique-serial check too... FileVault is a biggie as you probably know, and I'm seeing reports on some systems of color palette problems which we haven't nailed yet. Changes in font display come up in some systems too and these seem to be converging on a cofactor of a particular font-management tool. If you're an early adopter of a new OS, then keeping up on the news sources can really help.

Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Support

[nathan]

They charged you for the tech support even though you solved the problem yourself?

Nice.

Software activation is nice in theory, but it doesn't scale.

The more software vendors use activiation, the more burden users and call centers will bear when things go wrong. Eventually it will be a selling point for software to not have activation.

Have there been any positive reviews of activation schemes? My hunch is that the costs of lost productivity, call centers, development, and loss of customer goodwill costs more than piracy in the long run.

[N6ko]

That nose, mighty brown it is.

[Andrew]

I've stopped buying Macromedia (and Adobe) products that contain "activation". I'll stick with my current versions. Hopefully GNU apps will be available by the time my current apps become dated (I guess I'm done with Flash). Don't these companies know that they are killing themselves (and spawning OpenSource projects) with these anti-customer policies? Apparently not.

[lincoln]

i dodged a bullet. I've got StudioMX2004 and ordered panther on the first day from the apple store. I had a lot of client work in the mix and even though i know changing out the OS is rather painless, less then 30min at the most, I didn't have that time to waste. Here it is, weeks later, Panther is still on hold and I'm going to Transfer licences before I install the new OS. I learned a lesson here. Wait for the bugs to be stomped.

[Chris Dahl]

Thanks for the heads up. Was thinking of upgrading to the MX studio series. Not so sure now. I dislike product activation, and avoid products that require them. Do you know if Adobe has product activation for their new CS series upgrades for Mac? I know it has product activation for Windoze, but I thought Macs were exempt (at least this time around).
Also, it was interesting to see that the problems seem to be with archived upgrades ("Panther"). If I do upgrade Micromedia (sic) Studio stuff and it doesn't work, the first thing I'll try is deleting the plist file for the application. Thank You...

[me]

Adobe CS products on the Mac have no product activation (as of now), thank god.

[Alexander Barth]

Well, time to stop using that product activation crap then. bye bye Macromedia, Hello Notepad :-)

[Jeff Harrell]

Nathan asked, "Have there been any positive reviews of activation schemes?"

I don't know exactly how you draw the line around the meaning of "activation scheme," but FlexLM was a dream. Still is, I suppose. I used it extensively as both a developer and an end-user on the SGI platform. Every SGI machine, like most non-PC computers, has an embedded unique hardware serial number. FlexLM used that serial number to generate a license ID. When you bought a piece of software, like Maya or Flame, you sent the vendor that license ID, and they sent you back a license code. Copy-and-paste the license code into the right file (/var/flexlm/license.dat on SGI's, I think), and it's off to the races.

If you erase your hard drive or something, just back up that one file. If you lose that file, re-enter your encryptions from your saved copies. If you lose your copies, just give your license ID to the vendor and they can generate you another license code, usually on a web page, usually in seconds.

Because FlexLM didn't depend on any fancy-schmancy GUI applications, it was a breeze to use. (Ironically.) The process of having to open up a text file in an obscure location and paste in a multi-line string might be seen as user-hostile today, but it'd be a damn sight better than the process Rich had to go through.

Alas, because people are generally stupid--not individually, but in large groups; it's the herd mentality, I guess--the idea of including an embedded hardware serial number in all personal computers for licensing purposes would be shot down as a draconian assault on our fundamental freedoms... despite the fact that such a system has existed in the workstation and server world for decades. It's a damn shame.

[Quaggy]

Embedded hardware serial number? What exactly is it embedded in? The CPU?, The Hard Drive?, The System Board? A PC user has the ability to replace any of these components and a right to expect that there software will continue to be licensed (although it may need a re-install). This is why Microsoft's Product Activation is so heinous. This embedded hardware serial number would be effective only on those systems that did not under "normal" circumstances replace the system board. Mac G4, Sun Sparc, etc...

[Ricardo]

I think Activation schemes are foul. I am staying away from any software which requires simply because it puts me in such a bad mood I can't get any work done after.

[Jeff Harrell]

"What exactly is it embedded in?"

A special chip on the system midplane. (The midplane's kind of like the motherboard, only... well, sort of.) The chip is called NIC, for "number in a can." Its sole purpose is to store the system serial number.

"A PC user has the ability to replace any of these components and a right to expect that there software will continue to be licensed."

On the first part, I of course agree. On the second part... no. Quite the opposite. If you replace the part of your computer that uniquely identifies it (a part that remains as yet mythical), then you have no right to expect your software license keys to continue to work. What you *do* have a right to expect is that the vendor who provided your license should be able to get you a new license for your new hardware in a matter of minutes, any time of the day or night. Which is exactly how it works in most cases.

It's just those shabby little half-assed activation schemes from companies like Microsoft and Macromedia and Quark that cause the problems. Software licensing in general is a sound and good idea, one that's worked for years and years.

What we need is a return to the days of the hardware dongle, but taking advantage of new technologies. For example, imagine you've got a generic USB dongle: available for $19 in any office supply store. There exists a ubiquitous API for writing encryption keys onto the dongle, and for reading those keys back, in a secure fashion. When you buy Adobe Photoshop 33.5, you give the vendor your serial number, they generate a license key for you, and that key gets burned into your dongle. You can use Photoshop 33.5 on any computer that has your dongle plugged in.

The only trouble is, every time some software vendor tries to come up with a more user-friendly license scheme, the punks throw hundreds or thousands of man-hours at breaking it, and we end up right back in the cycle of piracy again.

What this means, of course, is that software licensing can never be user-friendly until we no longer need it.

[Joseph Pollone]

The software license should follow me and not each computer I may use.

I really don't mind carrying a dongle. But, I want to carry only one dongle with all of the softwares licenses that I am entitled.

I am one of those freaky small business guys with a PowerBook, PowerMac and a PC. I think it is pretty obvious that I am not running Photoshop on more than one machine at a time.

I just upgraded to the Adobe Creative Suite, and I was elated to hear during a speaking engagement that Adobe recognizes the fact that people actually take work home! There is no cross-platform license agreement, but then again I don't care about graphics on the PC.

Further, is it fair to consumers that we should have to "re-buy" software because the company now includes performance enhancements (i.e. Virtual PC). As if performance were an option...

[k dowd]

Thanks you for this tale of woe - reading it has saved me a least a day of pain and fruitless searching....

[stef]

I respect product activation, but it's a matter of how it's done:

Not the least problem here with a USB dongle that Logic Pro uses. I can work ahead directly from a backup of an older OS version, or from my laptop, or on a friends machine, and if i do an archive and install on OS X, things just work again!

Not so with Macromedia Product Activation, as it seems. I was ready to spend some hunreds of bucks for the Studio MX 2004 upgrade, until i read about the new activation sheme.

The point i have is not with the first two activations, but with the third, fourth and fifth in the next few years; I'll buy a G5 -> new activation, I'll upgrade or reformat my HD -> new activation, I'll upgrade to OS X 10.4 -> new activation. All for myself, only one use at a time.

Now Macromedia wants me to treat their software in a special way: of course i can deactivate and reactivate on the new system. But sometimes that's just not possible: If the system gets broken, there's no chance to deactivate first. If I forget to deactivate first, I'm lost.

And what about multi partition environments? What about Virtual PC? What about the situation you need to work from a backup system?

Macromedia says: "Product activation is...with a minimal effect on our loyal customers." - I do not agree on that, it clearly has an effect, negative feelings included.

[Kasmilos]

We are customers, not criminals!!!

I bought a copy of Macromedia Studio MX, and for the sake of my convenience I tried to install it on the computers I have at home (2) and on my laptop too. During my third try I got an error message citing too many installations. The thing I cannot understand is that I only tried to install software that I personally own on computers that I own, but Macromedia won’t allow me to.
The lady I talked to over the phone didn’t have any answer to give me on that except, that I already activated the software 2 times and that I should have read the agreement before I installed the software; but how about Macromedia advertising this issue with the product too, that the user can only install the program 2 times.
What will happen if my machine crashes down a year from now, what will happen if I buy a new computer (for my house in the country) and I need to install it there too so I can have access to my website? Is this really the way you are thinking to crack down on piracy -by making rules that restrict other people’s rights? Or is this just an elaborate way to increase your revenue? We are customers not criminals!!!
I bought this software, Macromedia didn’t give it to me for free and I only tried to install on machines that I own!

[graham wren]

I got burned by Macromedia's scheme. I believed that Studio MX 2004, having both platforms on one disc, would work on my Powerbook and my generic PC. We are allowed two installs, but NOT CROSS PLATFORM. You cannot tell this by looking at the box, and all the salespeople believed that it would work, so I bought it at considerable expense. Once opened, I could not return it. Macromedia's customer service is quite snotty, but they would offer a "one time - this time only" platform switch. They eventually offered a refund, but I would lose more money by mailing it. Besides, I enrolled in a couple of summer courses for even more money, and if I ditched the software I would waste the tuition, too.
An analogy would be if the police beat up people for not stealing.

[Jay]

Building a system image for 70 macs isn't fun when all your apps die after a panther upgrade. Thanks for saving my ass dude.

[Scott Reynolds]

THANK YOU! Thank god I Googled "Authentication Service Dreamweaver" or I would never have found your solution!

[Doug Nelson]

Just googled in, and ****ing THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS.

I've spent a month trying to figure it out without paying to call them. You're a godsend.

[Pissed off developer.]

Macromedia Sucks Studio MX - A worthless product.
Do not buy it. Do not use it.

They say they have cross platform support, and you can install it on two machines, but when you try to install it on your Mac and PC - they change their story and tell you, you have to buy two copies !

Their price is very high to start with, and now to work on one project, they tell you you gotta buy two copies.

Macromedia sucks, they are a rip off, their pages are too slow to load and and you are better off buying products from some other company.

It's like a car dealer selling you a car, and After you pay for it, he takes off the back two wheels of your car. 'Oh, if you want to be able to drive on all four wheels, you'll have to pay me another $26,000'

Did I mention that Macromedia Sucks?

[macromedia will die]

I have been through this too. Can't wait for fun w/10.4. I have felt for some time now that Macromedia products are cool, have good initial intention, and that they suck in practice, have oddles of bugs, and are hyped beyond reason. Flash is really kind of stupid anyway guys. It's cool for about 3-5 seconds usually. 95% of full flash sites I return to for a second visit are annoying, slow, and make me think, this company/designer is really full of themselves, so much that they think it is cool to waste my time. Case in point: Macromedias extremely sucky navigation menu. What a piece of junk. The best thing Macromedia ever did was sell Final Cut Pro to Apple. I wish they would sell their whole company to Apple, or me, or your neighbors grandmother. Anything would be an improvement.

[Ben]

Macromedia posted a "HotFix" for this on July 2, 2004:

http://www.macromedia.com/go/tn_18933

Remember to run 'Repair Disk Permissions' in Apple's Disk Utility before you run it. Thanks for the original post, Rich.

[bookreader]

Never ever buy any type of software that requires "activation" ! This includes XP .

The ONLY way to stop this is to NOT buy it.

[Maria]

Hi i want the serial number for xdvdripper and other videoediting softwares and i can't buy them because i don't have money.

If some one can help me please mail me and i'll do something in return

[Tom]

What I really hate about product activation (Macromedia, Microsoft, or whoever else for that matter) is that when they decide to stop supporting the product and the activation servers are deactivated, you're screwed. I should be able to use a retail product a purchased for as long as I want, no matter how outdated it is. What if mechanics stopped supporting your car after 5 years because it is outdated? Pure crap.

[Peter]

You’ve got that down pat.

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