Please allow remote license recovery

So, I just updated to windows 11 and formatted my SSD during the process. SynthV seems to work on win11 just fine, there is, however, one problem. Apparently, you have to deactivate your license on the machine it is currently being used on before you can use it on another. While that makes sense to me between two different devices, in my case I am trying to activate the software on the exact same hardware that was used before. Since I never deactivate my license before formatting, it seems that it is now permanently lost. While I have tried contacting support, I feel it would be beneficial if users could freely deactivate all devices from the website, so this kind of issue can be avoided altogether.

Windows11にアップデートし、その過程でSSDをフォーマットしたところです。SynthVはwin11で問題なく動作しているようですが、1つ問題があります。どうやら、現在使用しているパソコンでライセンスを無効にしないと、別のパソコンで使用できないようなのです。しかし、私の場合、以前使用していたのと全く同じハードウェアでソフトウェアをアクティベートしようとしています。フォーマットする前にライセンスを無効にしたことがないので、ライセンスは永久に失われてしまったようです。サポートに連絡してみましたが、ユーザーがウェブサイトから自由にすべてのデバイスのアクティベーションを解除できるようになれば、この種の問題を完全に回避することができると思います。

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I’m sorry you are having this issue and it’s good to know for the future. I have always known modern licensing to use a hardware fingerprint in some way so it’s strange that their licensing would eat a license after reformat.

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Remote deactivation would require the software to check your license every time it starts up. This means that users with unreliable internet connections would have difficulty using the software, and it would be completely unusable during an internet outage, while travelling, or if Dreamtonics went out of business.

While it would be nice to have an account-based system that allowed remote deactivation, it’s not a simple solution.

SynthV Studio products allow three activations to account for hardware failure or unexpected loss.

Activation is not just based on hardware ID. Changes to the operating system, firmware, etc. could easily cause the software to not recognize it as the same system. Dreamtonics has not revealed exactly how the activation identifies the system, because that would likely risk the integrity of the activation process.

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I don’t think it would have to rely on having an internet connection. It could just check if you are connected to the internet and work as usual if you are not. I understand that this would technically allow people to “cheat the system” and use a license on more than one computer at once if they are willing to disconnect from the internet for as long as they use the program, but I hardly believe many people would do that. It would just be extremely cumbersome, considering you’d still need a license to do this in the first place. I have seen companies use this kind of system before and frankly, SyntV is one of exactly 2 of my 100-200-ish plugins I could not fully reinstall after updating and I feel like that kind of goes to show that there are solutions out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying my solution is ideal, but having people lose their paid licenses because they didn’t anticipate something like this also doesn’t seem quite fair to me.

About the “three activations”: Do you mean you can use the activation code exactly three times, but only if it is not being used on another device? If so why? I don’t really understand the benefit of locking users out of their property after switching devices… Imagine your hardware failing, having to repair it and then having to pay even more because your software license doesn’t work anymore. I understand that companies want to protect their intellectual property, but I feel like doing this at the expense of the end user is a bit unfair. It doesn’t really cost them anything to let you use it more than three times (if it can’t be at once anyways), does it?

I’m sorry for being so blunt, before trying to license SynthV I just tried to reinstall the other program that doesn’t quite work anymore and it’s been a real headache. I’ll go make some tea now ^^

Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that the current system is flawed – I’m especially paranoid over it and I go as far as to deactivate my products every time I’m not actively using them. I think ideally we would have multiple options - either “offline/hardware-based activation” or “account-based activation”, but I’m not sure how realistic that is.

I think it’s pretty unlikely that Dreamtonics would dedicate the development time and budget to reengineering the activation system, but I do think they should at least be more transparent about how the existing system works. I think the current system would be adequate if people fully understood it before accidentally losing activations, since the vast majority of issues are due to people not knowing that deactivation is necessary in the first place.

You can use your activation code three times, and deactivating the product “refunds” one usage.

You technically can activate the product on multiple systems simultaneously, though this is also technically against the license agreement.

The reason for three activations is so that users who experience hardware failure or fail to deactivate don’t lose access to the product. You could have three hard drives fail before being unable to activate again. This is the same as the system used by Vocaloid/Yamaha.

edit: to be clear, someone who follows the intended usage (ie deactivation before major system changes) can use and move the product to new computers an infinite number of times without “running out”.

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I 100% agree. Though it would likely be difficult to communicate that adequately as well…

That sounds like a genuinely well-made system. If that is the case maybe I should even take down this entire thread. Just one problem: What you described above applies to me? It is quite possible that I just made some kind of mistake, but when I try to activate Synthesizer V Studio Pro with my activation code the application just says “The activation code is being used on another device.”, which obviously is half true, but not the point. I just read the email again, and it also says that I can use the code three times. However, me using it on my PC would only be the second time I’ve ever used it. Is it supposed to just work in the application or do I have to use it somewhere else?

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Oh, well that is confusing. You should have only lost one of your usages and still had two remaining.

I would recommend reaching out to customer support for the storefront you purchased from. I would recommend including both English and Japanese descriptions of the problem – just like you did for the original post in this topic.

Dreamtonics - [email protected]

ANiCUTE - [email protected]
Alternatively, complete the support form at the bottom of your Order Details page upon logging in.

AHS - サポート|製品サポート|AHS(AH-Software)

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Yeah, I already contacted Anicute support, but I’m going to send an email to Dreamtonics directly as well now (I couldn’t find the support email earlier, which is part of why created this thread to begin with ^////^, anyways…)
Thanks for helping me, I hope support will be able to get my license back! (Also, I wasn’t sure whether posting in Japanese and English would be appropriate since the Forum seems to largely be in English, so thanks for clearing that up)

I have a question.
Is it correct to assume that all sound source licenses are managed by Dreamtnics?
For example, is it the fastest way to contact Dreamtnics for third-party sources like Solaria? (Translate with a translation machine)

Each vendor has the ability to manage the licenses purchased from them.

Dreamtonics likely has the ability to manage all licenses, but they also do not have any information about purchase history for other storefronts like ANiCUTE.

This means Dreamtonics cannot help with certain problems like lost activation codes, unless the product was purchased from the Dreamtonics store, because they would not be able to verify your purchases from a different vendor.

For activation issues, Dreamtonics can probably help even if you did not purchase from the Dreamtonics store (but I am not certain).

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I See ,Thank you.

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