locked out of resets, have only installed S3D on ONE device

[jimc]

just double checking here.....are you actually connected to the internet? you will need to be the first time you run it. you also need to have a networking card of some type installed and operational on the computer. in other words you cant connect to the internet, do the install then disable the networking driver afterwards. i believe s3d uses this to id the computer. you dont need a network connection but the card must not be disabled.

[martinkopplow]

Sorry for the late answer, I was away for some days.

I have just found the time to install the latest version and use the improved permissions script I was sent by support. This did seemingly help with this issue.

I can now install Simplyfy3D, register it, make changes to my machine settings, and then shut the computer down, and all settings are permanent even after restart, with or without active internet connection. This issue is definitely not related to network card issues in any way, such a card has been present and operational at all times. It was a permissions thing.

Best,
Martin

[CompoundCarl]

What OS are you using? I know about a dozen people who use the software, and not a single one has ever had any problems with their licensing. As others in this thread have mentioned, one person's problem was permissions related where the software essentially wasn't able to maintain their license info. I've helped at least one other person where the problem was caused by their very overly-protective anti-virus software.

So perhaps you can give a bit more info about your machine and setup so that others can try to help.

[jason B]

What OS are you using? I know about a dozen people who use the software, and not a single one has ever had any problems with their licensing. As others in this thread have mentioned, one person's problem was permissions related where the software essentially wasn't able to maintain their license info. I've helped at least one other person where the problem was caused by their very overly-protective anti-virus software.

So perhaps you can give a bit more info about your machine and setup so that others can try to help.

Thanks for the reply, My post was edited by a moderator who removed a link which would have made things clearer. I have updated my post to correct this.

First off, I want to make clear that the technical problem is not my major complaint. I am sure I can troubleshoot it, but in order to do so, I have to be able to start the software. I cannot start the software because I have to wait for someone at Simplify3D to reset the activations. I have been waiting over a week for this and have sent 3 requests for it to have been done, not a single reply.

My primary complaint is with their DRM policy and extremely lethargic customer service. In the past month, I have spent more time waiting on activation requests than actually running the software.

With that out of the way...
I am running Kubuntu 15.10 on a i5 processor with 24Gigs RAM.
I have been using Simplify3D for over a year with no issues then had a flaky stick of RAM cause lockups, which is when the DRM issues started happening. It took awhile to track down the cause, but by that time I was no longer allowed to do the activation resets via the website (apparently there is a limit on how many times you get to use it.) After replacing the bad stick of RAM, I have had no more issues with my computer, with the exception of Simplify3D.
I have tried reinstalling S3D but it did not help, I am still experiencing issues.

When I posted on Reddit, there were several others that responded with having had the same problem (spanning 2 years) on Linux, Mac and Windows. When I asked for help, they responded that it didn't happen on their computers. They asked no questions, offered no suggestions and will not tell me any thing other than "something changed on my computer" as to why their DRM is kicking in.

[CompoundCarl]

If the RAM was dying, that probably means it was randomly disappearing and reappearing in the computer specs. I would definitely agree that this is the source of the problem. I'm not sure exactly how they do things, but I'm sure the software would think a machine with totally different RAM specs is a different computer all together.

If you got the RAM problem figured out, hopefully that means it won't happen again.

As for their support people, I've emailed with them a lot and I almost always get a response back within 1-2 days. Have you really not gotten ANY responses back in a week? That makes me think either your emails aren't getting through or perhaps their responses are getting trapped in a spam filter or something like that. I know they email with hundreds of customers every single day and they have always been very helpful for me, so I have a great deal of respect for their team.

[jason B]

With bad RAM, it is rare that the whole module will fail. Usually it is one or more bits that get stuck in one state or another, causing memory corruption. This would go unnoticed by the system (as far as a configuration goes) and is usually found by performing memory tests or swapping modules around.

Actually, I have had the problem happen again, since replacing the bad stick of RAM. My computer, however has had no issues since the replacement. I have not ruled out a corrupted file or something that was a result of the bad RAM. Since I have reinstalled S3D since the replacement and still had the DRM issue, I am guessing it might be a configuration file, I will have to experiment to find out. Unfortunately, my troubleshooting is pretty much guaranteed to cause the DRM issue (since that is what I am trying to troubleshoot) so I will need to have frequent resets done by S3D while I figure it out. At the current rate, this will take months due to the wait.

I finally got a response yesterday, where they asked for information that was already provided, albeit deeply buried in the email chain. I responded 11 minutes later (12:33PM Pacific Time) and got no reply until this morning, when they finally did the reset. In total it took 8 days (6 business days) to get a reset this time.

I will do more testing this weekend trying to figure out how their DRM works, so I can prevent the problem. I am guessing their techsupport is not willing to help since any information they give me could be used for nefarious reasons as well as legitimate ones. So, I am on my own. Time to break out the packet sniffers...

[jimc]

are you emailing s3d or are you using the support contact page on their website? always email. dont ever use a contact form. i had to shut mine on my own website down because i would get hammered by spam bots and would end up with 1000's of messages every day. its very easy for your msg to get lost or filtered out.

[jason B]

I mostly have been emailing, only two messages via the contact form. I seem to get a quicker response after using the form. Not too many data points to back that impression up though.

[ryanneufeld]

This just happened to me as well. I've only ever had it installed on two computers. One was always the same.

For the only paid slicer out there, it's worth it. But this licensing bullshit is just unacceptable.

[jason B]

This just happened to me as well. I've only ever had it installed on two computers. One was always the same.

For the only paid slicer out there, it's worth it. But this licensing bullshit is just unacceptable.

Can you share the details of your system and what happened since the last time it worked? Maybe we can find the commonality and figure out what is causing this.

In the mean time, email s3d and have them reset it for you.