How to make "activation" persistent?
Answered
I have read the associated activation issues and solutions, but I didn't see my issue addressed specifically. Below is an extract form the On1 log showing that the program on my Mac and On1's server are communicating (I replaced the ID# with XXXXXX). Note that "Activation succeeded." The problem is that when I close the program and reopen it later I am forced to sign-in to "activate" the program again. This recurs until I reach the "max authorization" Catch-22 and start the loop all over again. Previously, when On1 issued a serial number to activate the program, the activation process was once and done.
My question is: Why isn't this "activation" persistent through restarts?
2021-01-29 8:52:37 ON1 - Server starting up
2021-01-29 8:52:37 ONQtServer - ONQtServer listening on 58614
[m775] 2021-01-29 8:53:08 ON1 - Activation succeeded. User ID: XXXXXX, Certificate:
3018323e35cfbbc5a3c5bbec05bb36fada9e1856f5b1017b0bb77cc2027b0f9d
[m775] 2021-01-29 8:53:08 ON1 - Licensing ID .
[m775] 2021-01-29 8:53:09 ON1 - Albums Pane: Albums aab38c0c-2372-48fb-a68b-5232836ee684.
2021-01-29 8:53:10 ON1 - Marketing URL: https://www.on1.com/appmessages/?
product=photoraw2021&version=2021.0&plus=no&state=Active
[m775] 2021-01-29 9:07:42 ON1 - Licensing ID .
[m775] 2021-01-29 9:09:09 ON1 - Activation succeeded. User ID: XXXXXX, Certificate:
beff95ddccd9860c922abb113029d0afd694ca182b5c078f198a3099d37d2a95
[m775] 2021-01-29 9:09:09 ON1 - Licensing ID .
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Hi Chas,
You'll have to ask tech support about this. Your activation should persist and only need to be done once. Use the Submit a request link below and be sure to attach your on1.log file for them to look through.
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Thanks Brian,
I took your advice and have submitted several requests to tech support including the on1.log file and system report, but no luck so far. Now, after having completely removed every trace of all On1 programs from my Mac, starting up in safe mode, downloading new dmg files, installing the programs, and signing-in to each while remaining in safe mode, I still find that each time I start up any of the On1 programs I have to sign-in again until I reach the max authorization warning and have to repeat the reset loop. Since I'm not always able to connect to the internet, this is problematic. I never thought I'd miss the days of telephone support for software.
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Not having continuous internet connectivity is what is causing your problem. When you launch the program it phones home to verify your account and the program's activation status. You can download an activation file to cover no internet access. Here are the instructions.
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Thanks Brian, I appreciate your efforts to help me resolve this, and on reading the last line of the method for activating the programs without having internet access I felt for sure you had nailed it, i.e., "Once you get the program activated, you will not be prompted to activate on this machine again, regardless of your internet connection." So I followed the instructions, activated On1 Photo RAW 2021 with the code provided, and then tried quitting and restarting the program just to be sure the activation "took". Sadly that last line of the instructions doesn't hold true for me; I'm faced with the sign-in box every time. At least On1 Photo RAW 2020 will start up without the sign-in box that acts as gatekeeper for both On1 Photo RAW 2021 and On1 Portrait AI 2021, but in On1 Photo RAW 2020 there are persistent buttons in the upper right corner that are green and red reminders to "Buy Now-30 Days Left" or "Sign-In", and of course the "Sign-In" button leads to the first step in the max-authorization/reset infinite loop. I could live with the programs calling home, but I expect the activation to be once-and-done advertised; that's how all previous On1 versions with activation keys worked.
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"I could live with the programs calling home, but I expect the activation to be once-and-done advertised; that's how all previous On1 versions with activation keys worked."
That's how they still work. The activation in 2021 is no different than in 2020. Maybe you need to try reinstalling because your situation is unusual. AFAIK, no one else is having this problem.
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I'm going to have to refer you to tech support now Chas. I'm out of ideas, sorry.
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Rick, Brian, Thanks for taking time to respond. Reinstalling the programs was the first suggestion Stevie/Cody/tech support offered. First, using the removal scripts that came with each program I expunged all traces of my On1 programs completely: from the Applications folder and both Library folders all associated files went into the trash and were deleted. I double checked for complete removal using App Cleaner. Then I downloaded the installers from the links provided by tech support and installed a fresh copy of each program. With solid internet access I signed in to activate each program, my username and password were accepted and the programs started up and ran normally. Upon quitting and restarting each program I must sign-in again to activate it. I repeated the remove/replace process after restart my Mac in safe mode, and the end results were the same. I have also repeated the process with the built-in Mac OS firewall disabled in the privacy and security panel of system preferences. I know that my system communicates with On1's server because after the prescribed number of sign-ins I hit the max-authorization limit and have to reset activations; this is all on the only Mac I use. I am glad to hear that no one else is having this issue because it implies that I have made some stupid mistake that would be obvious to any normal person. I hope it's obvious to the tech support group. It's only been a week since I first requested their help, and I'm aware that the pandemic has affected just about all work-related processes, but I'm still anxious to resolve this issue.
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I hope support can help, I'm out of ideas too.
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My only thought at this point is that the program does not have the proper permissions to record your activation information so it is lost when you Quit the program.
On my system's Security & Permissions System Preferences pane ON1 has permissions for Full Disk Access and Files and Folders. In Automation ON1 has given permissions to the Finder.
Are you running your computer from an Administrator's account or do you set up a 2nd account without those permissions for your everyday use?
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Thanks Rick, Brian: That's good insight about the permissions. I've found that for each program the On1 installers automatically enable Full Disk Access in the Security and Privacy preferences panel, and each uninstall script removes the same. I'm not familiar with the Files and Folders or Automation preferences, maybe those come with an OS newer than Mojave. (FWIW all of On1's programs are currently listed as being compatible with Mojave.) Today I completely uninstalled On1 Photo RAW 2020 and 2021 and Portrait AI 2021, restated my Mac in Safe Boot mode, disabled the built-in Mac firewall, and connected my Mac directly to my cable modem via ethernet in order to bypass my wifi router. Installing each program went without a hitch, and I restarted my Mac in Safe Boot mode before attempting to start up the programs. It's clear from each On1 program log file that each program communicates with the On1 server which acknowledges my machine and then indicates that activation succeeded for my user ID and assigns a certificate number. Yet after closing and restarting each program I'm again faced with the sign-in box, and while the logs shows the same startup and activation processes, each sign-in results in a new authorization certificate number until I have to reset and repeat the process. At this point I'm inclined to believe that a flag is set incorrectly in my On1 Plus account on On1's server, but that's just my speculation until tech support looks into it. Thanks again for your time and suggestions; I'll post a follow-up here when/if it gets resolved. Out of frustration I downloaded Affinity Photo and found its registration/activation to be just as easy as On1's was from Perfect Photo Suite 9 up until this glitch.
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I want to once again thank folks for helpful suggestions and to follow up with a final note. As the 1TB Samsung SSD in my Mac (mid-2012 MPB) was approaching ¾ full I purchased a new 2TB SSD. With the new SSD in an external USB enclosure, after initializing/formatting and installing a fresh copy the Mac OSX system (Mojave 10.14.6) I used the Migration Assistant to transfer all my files from the old SSD to the new SSD. The Migration Assistant threw two alerts and refused to transfer two files with names that I did not recognize, so I didn't bother writing the names down (sigh). After checking that my Mac would start up okay from the new external SSD, I removed and replaced the internal SSD with the new one. Voila! This time signing in to register On1 Photo Raw 2021 was a once-and-done deal! I wish I could say what exactly had caused the problem I experienced, but for what it's worth that's how the issue was banished. All's well that ends well!
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Good to hear you got it solved. Thanks for the update.
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