Kick 2 License Doesn't "Take"

Hi there,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I currently have only one active machine I am attempting to install/run on. This is a new machine to replace me earlier one which bricked due to a motherboard issue.

Yes, itā€™s Windows 10.

The reason my account history shows me revoking the same machine over and over is because that is what I was prompted to do by the plugin while attempting to sort out the license issue on my own. The first revoke you see is that bricked computer which Iā€™m assuming is apparent due to that serial number being different from the newer revokes, where I see those are the same.

While attempting the online activation mode currently, it is still telling me to revoke my license and directing me to my account page which informs me I cannot revoke again for 30 days.

This leaves me with only the keyfile option. When I supply the keyfile obtained from my account page, the plugin tells me the activation failed and I should contact support, which I have done both via Zendesk and also attempted here.

It also occurred to me a few hours ago that the Ableton projects which exhibit the issue may have been running an older version of Kick 2 which seems to have received an update last winter (I missed that update at the time where now I am installing the updated version on the fresh machine which is leading to the issue being exhibited in those older projects which were created on that older machine and ported over to this one. I can test this later today when I get out of work by attempting to recreate the issue in a fresh project using a reset Ableton.

Thanks for your help.

Update : reading this again, and have you tried Online registration & auth. using your S.A credentials before trying the offline activation ? Might be a point too next to the number of devices.

Note that I did somehow end up with two keyfiles - one keyfile indeed tells me the activation failed while the other tells me it succeeds but later reverts to evaluation mode. I canā€™t remember where that other keyfile came from; I assume I got it during one of the many reinstall attempts Iā€™ve been doing since I first noticed the issue.

Yes, I am running Windows 10 64 bit and I am definitely installing the 64 bit version of Kick 2.

Yes, thatā€™s what I meant by:

OK, understood the different step you took, so thatā€™s clear for the online procedure, and the number of installation, thank you. I canā€™t see anything about your attempts and licensing BTW ( again just moderating here ) but thatā€™s an update for support anyway.

Also when youā€™re writing about license key, do you mean the key file in your account ? Because that wonā€™t work with the latest v1.1. version of Kick 2, that key file is only for previous version using the old authorization method.

IMO it seems like just a loop because of the revoking limitation, support should fix this for you, Iā€™ve seen that someone replied to your 2nd post so the request is handled by them now IMO.

Iā€™ll re-check this when I get home in a short while, but Iā€™m assuming the ā€œLicense Keyā€ download button I see underneath the ā€œDownload v.1.1.1ā€ button is the one Iā€™m supposed to be using.

Somehow, I ended up with two keyfiles, which could not have come from the old computer running the old Kick 2, because I did not copy anything from that old computer before it failed (I had been backing up my Ableton projects via cloud storage which is why I have those on my new computer from the old one). One of those keyfiles gives me a success, which reverts to evaluation mode after a few moments, and I am able to use that to repeat that whole process; the other keyfile flat out tells me it fails to authorize and I should contact support.

As mentioned I will re-test a few things when I get home this evening and post a more detailed step-by-step for walkthrough purposes.

Thanks again!

No, as mentioned before, though I understand that this can be confusing, this License Key will only work with previous v1.05 version, totally useless with the new v1.1.1

Some guide lines here : Kick 2 v1.1 BETA - Please Read

Support is aware of it now, so they will sort it out for you, no worries.

Hope that helps and sorry for the delayed answer again :wink:

Hello,

I am home and can provide this step-by-step walkthrough of my most recent attempt.

1.) Removed Preferences.cfg from C:\Users.ā€¦\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live 10.1\Preferences to reset Live as per: https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/209070609-How-to-reset-Live

2.) Uninstall Kick 2 64 bit via Windows Apps and Programs

3.)Delete Sonic Academy folder from C:\Users.ā€¦\AppData\Roaming

4.) Start Ableton 10.1 (new default project)

5.) Close Ableton 10.1

6.) Download Kick 2 from Sign Up

7.) Extract Sonic Academy KICK 2 - V1.1.1 and run KICK 2 v1.1.1 64 bit installer, setting Destination Folder to: C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins\

8.) Start Ableton 10.1 (new default project), setting VST2 Custom Folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins, which locates Kick 2 x64

9.) Load Kick 2 into a new audio track. Registration modal pops up.

10.) Click ā€œConnect to your accountā€¦ā€ Enter username and password. Message: This device has already been registered - please revoke any devices at the link below

10a.) Note I can no longer revoke devices as per limitation set by Sonic Academy

11.) Click "Offline Registration, following the 4 steps

11a.) On Step 2, I get the following message from the Offline Registration page: ā€œThe form contains 1 error
License registration failed, you arenā€™t allowed to register additional devicesā€

12.) I am left with no further alternatives at this point.

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Thank you for the clear step by step description, definitely looks like the revoke devices attempts reached. Needs to be cleared by support. Allow them some time to work on your account and try to avoid new attempt for now on your end, itā€™s night time here anyway. Will ask them about this tomorrow again and keep you updated here, thank you.

Edit : forgot to mention, you should be able to see you devices management historical using this link once logged in on S.A website Sign Up

Just for info, youā€™ve probably been there already :slight_smile:

Thanks - much appreciated. Also can you ask them to please do something about this? :slight_smile:

Haha yes Iā€™ve visited that page a bazillion times already but it looks like there was a new revoke about half an hour ago which Iā€™m assuming is from your support? :slight_smile:
So should I continue to wait to hear back from support or can I go ahead with another reattempt?

I will do, though there might be a reason why the older license file is still available on the download page + thereā€™s a red disclaimer warning users about that. Here is an actual screenshot from Firefox just made now :

Yeah I discovered that page after we started talking in this thread. The page in my screenshot is from the ā€œMy Accountā€ main page which is the first page you come to when you log into your account and click ā€œMy Accountā€

i.e. not buried three links deep like yours :wink:

ĀÆ_(惄)_/ĀÆ

How many device(s) are showing up active in there right now ?
If only one appears in the list, you could try a new activation but if itā€™s matching again your older PC ( defect Motherboard ) like it seemed to have done in first place, you may fall in the same problem again. I canā€™t tell what kind of ID they use to identify your device, I really donā€™t know about that, but it could be your Hard Drive or Ethernet card that was also used with your first configuration, therefore making a problem to distinct your new PC from the old one. So if you decide to try and if that doesnā€™t work, youā€™ll need to ask that they revoke all your devices.

Suggest to wait for tomorrow :wink:

This screenshot is what I see now. Note itā€™s different from when we first started talking here as Sonic Academy wouldnā€™t let me revoke the top one due to the limitation imposed.

This computer is completely different from that computer and that computer was the first one I revoked when this whole thing started. So Iā€™m not sure how my hardware could be matching since that old computer is currently in the recycle bin. (Note it is possible to revoke one computer by logging into the account using a different computer)

So Iā€™m assuming based on this screenshot that all my licenses are currently revoked which seems like a good sign as progress seems like itā€™s being made but Iā€™m just not going to touch anything at this point and go have a beer to reduce my stress levels from all this with the hopes it gets resolved tomorrow :slight_smile:

Have a good night and thanks again for the help!

Moderator edit : Removed the screen shot displaying ID, the forums are on public access for reading only, we donā€™t need this info here :slight_smile:

Wise strategy IMO, itā€™s late here but probably gonna have one too ! Cheers :beers:

In any case it will get sort out by support, catching up tomorrow and wishing you a good night ( evening ? ) too.

'Till tomorrow then ! :wink:

Hi again @Plastic_Mohawk

You should have been updated by support, looks like they revoke all devices for you so give it a new try today, remember thereā€™s no license involved anymore, just follow this procedure https://support.sonicacademy.com/hc/en-us/articles/203305851-How-do-I-install-KICK-2-

If it doesnā€™t work again then it might be something more tricky, informed back support then but hopefully this should be working now.

Hi Tekalight,

First I want to thank you for your patience and help in this issue. I am currently working with support but in case anyone reading the forum is curious later down the road, the issue is partially resolved.

The new registration seems to take, and persist between saves, but whenever an older project that used Kick 2 is loaded initially, the Kick 2 starts in evaluation mode. I can delete the plugin, add it back, and it starts as registered, and I need to re-select the preset I used. It then seems to operate normally until the next time I re-load the project.

A brand new project seems to work fine. I can start a new one, add Kick 2, select my preset, save, close, and re-open that new project, which all works normally, so the current state of the issue seems to only be affecting my projects which were made before the issue started.

As mentioned, support has been great so far once we got in contact and progress is being made, so I will post updates as things move along.

Thank you again for your help. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the kind words and no worries, Iā€™m glad if that could help and yes, itā€™s nice for others members to keep the forumā€™s topics up to date when you get something sorted out thanks to the support team, good community behavior ! Thanks :wink:

My take on this is that it might also come from the way Live handles projects saving and the data being written in Abletonā€™s project files. Many times if you open a Live Project done with an older version of the DAW, it will ask you to convert it or warn you about compatibility issue. Another example is opening a previous project using older Liveā€™s native plugins ( i.e : the older version of ā€œUtilityā€ ), you will see an ā€œUpgradeā€ button displayed on the plugin if you are using the new version.

Removing the older instance of the plugin and replacing it with the new one and saving again your Live Project will solve this most of the time, so IMO, itā€™s a good habit to have with Ableton Projects across versioning anyway :wink: