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PLU intel mac bootcamp problem 3ds max/autocad

36 REPLIES 36
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Message 1 of 37
cismontane
944 Views, 36 Replies

PLU intel mac bootcamp problem 3ds max/autocad

I originally posted this one on acad mgmt forum, and somebody there suggested I also cross-post to this forum in the hope of getting ideas.

I just had a very frustrating conversation with Autocad technical support regarding the autodesk portable licensing utility (which we use with both autocad 2008 and 3ds max 9), for Windows Vista running under Boot Camp on an intel mac.

Basically, they said that the PLU is not designed to operate with boot camp because boot camp creates a mismatch between the software clock and the logic board clock. Effectively, this means that every time I shut down the machine and relog, there is a reasonably high probability of one or both licenses being "broken" in the PLU.

They said that there is no workaround for the problem, and that, effectively, we cannot use our autodesk software on our mac's for that reason. I could not find a mention of this problem on any autodesk or apple support page -- that the legal/licensed versions of acad cannot be used on intel macs at all. Strangely, I had queried autodesk sales before I upgraded to the latest versions for installation on my new hardware before I bought the products, but they also were unaware that my configuration would be a problem.

First of all, is this true? And second of all, is there a workaround?

As it is, either we have a few thousand dollars of software or a few thousand dollars of hardware that cannot be used... a disaster. I'm perfectly happy to allow autodesk to permanently lock my licenses to one machine if this would solve the problem. The applications work perfectly. it's just the licensing system. My only other solution is to call acad once every morning for an activation code.
36 REPLIES 36
Message 21 of 37
f2canada
in reply to: cismontane

I really Have one big Q?

Why Autodesk until now they dont made 3dmax and Autocad for mac os x

Im sure the mac User they gonna use 100% .

im facing until now with your web side around 1000 mac users what about others im sure mac os x worth 3dmax and Autocad
Message 22 of 37
chellman
in reply to: cismontane

I moved my license over to my notebook (Macbook pro) at the end of last year, and ACAD works fine- so long as no external drives, including "thumb" drives are attached.

Autoturn, similarly, works fine with this configuration inside Autocad.

Double-check to be sure no external media is attached, and try again.
Message 23 of 37
freefall123
in reply to: cismontane

Thanks for the reply, but that's not the problem. I don't have any external media attached. It all ran fine for about 8 months before I started seeing the problem. How long have you been running yours?
Message 24 of 37
chellman
in reply to: cismontane

I ran under beta bootcamp for more than a year mostly without issues and have been running under Leopard's bootcamp since it came out no problems- on my laptop. My only recurrent problem was with my desktop MacPro, which has 2 internal drives.

It is not, in my experience, a 100% issue with external media, but it is at least an 80% problem- I have gotten so careful to check before starting ACAD that I have not "tested" it much for a while- and do not intend to as the reactivation process is so painful.

BTW having had this occur perhaps 8 or 9 times in 2007 (forgetfulness and a few attempts with my MacPro), and in the process I dealt with a lot of different ACAD tech help and only one knew of this (perhaps particular) problem with external media- the others, even if I mentioned it, did not have a clue.

There may be something similar (only a very few tech help may know of a solution) impacting your use.
Message 25 of 37
pontuti
in reply to: cismontane

That is such a crock. Every single other application I use through boot camp runs fine. Adobe does't seem to have a problem. Luxoogy doesn't seem to have a problem. In fact I was at a Zbrush user event where the spokesman for Zbrush said , "We have a Mac version of Zbrush 3.0, it's running boot camp and windows."

It's pathetic that Autodesk isn't doing more to help these users. I bought 5 workstations with Widows and Boot Camp that I had intended to run Max on. And then to find out that Autodesk is taking this stance and blaming Apple. Please.

But screw it. I guess we'll just use Modo. It's a great application being sold by a company that listens to their users and needs. I'm sure there will be more to follow. Believe me, I am here with my checkbook ready to buy new seats of something and hoping that Autodesk would do something different but even the tone of these remarks make me queezy.
Message 26 of 37
cy_shuster
in reply to: cismontane

So Apple doesn't listen to their users and their needs?

--Cy--

wrote in message news:5904789@discussion.autodesk.com...
That is such a crock. Every single other application I use through boot camp
runs fine. Adobe does't seem to have a problem. Luxoogy doesn't seem to have
a problem. In fact I was at a Zbrush user event where the spokesman for
Zbrush said , "We have a Mac version of Zbrush 3.0, it's running boot camp
and windows."

It's pathetic that Autodesk isn't doing more to help these users. I bought 5
workstations with Widows and Boot Camp that I had intended to run Max on.
And then to find out that Autodesk is taking this stance and blaming Apple.
Please.

But screw it. I guess we'll just use Modo. It's a great application being
sold by a company that listens to their users and needs. I'm sure there will
be more to follow. Believe me, I am here with my checkbook ready to buy new
seats of something and hoping that Autodesk would do something different but
even the tone of these remarks make me queezy.
Message 27 of 37
chellman
in reply to: cismontane

This is NOT an Apple issue, Cy.
An intel mac running bootcamp as currently furnished with Leopard is a windows machine, plain and simple.

It IS Autodesk's draconian copy protection, plain and simple.
Message 28 of 37
pontuti
in reply to: cismontane

They did. The created a windows computer.
Message 29 of 37
cy_shuster
in reply to: cismontane

Ah! Then if Apple has created a perfect Windows PC, then what possible
difference is there for Big Bad Autodesk's draconian copy protection to
detect? (plain and simple)

Do you not see the irony? If Bootcamp worked perfectly, it would work
perfectly, no?

--Cy--

wrote in message news:5904942@discussion.autodesk.com...
This is NOT an Apple issue, Cy.
An intel mac running bootcamp as currently furnished with Leopard is a
windows machine, plain and simple.

It IS Autodesk's draconian copy protection, plain and simple.
Message 30 of 37
chellman
in reply to: cismontane

Here is, I think, the solution that perhaps one of you windows gurus could figure out.

I think that when Windows starts on a machine only running windows, it identifies itself with code of some sort, including configurations.

I have now run ACAD on 3 successive laptops is both the beta and current Bootcamp- no problems at all.

But EVERY time I try to run ACAD from a machine- including my MacPro (desktop) that either has more than one drive (MacPro) or has an external drive attached (laptop), ACAD loses its activation.

AND, an Autodesk support tech told me that this was a copy protection issue that Autodesk had built in. I do not have a purely windows machine to test this, but I was working with some folks a month ago who had the same problem with a purely Windows laptop, with a USB drive attached at ACAD startup.

I suspect this will take Cy about a nanosecond to test this...
Message 31 of 37
f2canada
in reply to: cismontane

We need Autocad & 3dmac specially for Mac and thats it.!!!!!!!!!!!!
Message 32 of 37
pontuti
in reply to: cismontane

Cy,

It's not Big Bad Autodesk at all. It's more like Autodesk just lost a few (wanting) clients for it's unwillingness to give them what they asked for.
Message 33 of 37
cy_shuster
in reply to: cismontane

I'm way out of touch with how the current products work in detail, I'm
afraid. In the past, the only hard disk that mattered was the boot drive;
externals were ignored by design. And there were even plans to move the
anchor to the registry to be more flexible in multi-boot situations.

If an external drive were a boot drive, that might have caused a problem.

There is a long discussion of Bootcamp use with 3ds max that might help you
all, over on its forum (they use the same licensing technology). The
consensus is that unplugging external drives when booting to the other OS
prevents breaking the license.
http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3118/

Dual boot was explicitly supported in early days, before file system
protection prevented one OS from opening a file on another OS's partition
(sigh).

--Cy--

wrote in message news:5905162@discussion.autodesk.com...
Here is, I think, the solution that perhaps one of you windows gurus could
figure out.

I think that when Windows starts on a machine only running windows, it
identifies itself with code of some sort, including configurations.

I have now run ACAD on 3 successive laptops is both the beta and current
Bootcamp- no problems at all.

But EVERY time I try to run ACAD from a machine- including my MacPro
(desktop) that either has more than one drive (MacPro) or has an external
drive attached (laptop), ACAD loses its activation.

AND, an Autodesk support tech told me that this was a copy protection issue
that Autodesk had built in. I do not have a purely windows machine to test
this, but I was working with some folks a month ago who had the same problem
with a purely Windows laptop, with a USB drive attached at ACAD startup.

I suspect this will take Cy about a nanosecond to test this...
Message 34 of 37
chellman
in reply to: cismontane

"there were even plans to move the anchor to the registry to be more flexible"- I do not know what that means, but it seems that it IS, after all, an Autodesk issue- correct?

Is there a way to resurrect this change in the "anchor" to fix this issue?
Message 35 of 37
cy_shuster
in reply to: cismontane

For more info, see http://www.autodesk.com/activation -- especially the
White Papers on licensing a few links down.

Autodesk was willing to lessen security in order to increase flexibility for
customers. Again, I don't know what's available today. Be sure you work
problems through Support, not the Auth Codes group.

It's impossible to write software in Windows so as to be 100%, unqualifiedly
compatible with every other conceivable Windows program out there -- unless
you use, say, Java, in which case software the scale of AutoCAD would be
unusably slow. The lower-level the software is -- such as switching out one
OS for another on the fly without reinstalling -- the more likely it is to
conflict with something else. And there's no blame to assign on either
side.

I worked several conflict issues with other software vendors and PC OEMs and
resolved them (5+ years ago), sometimes with a fix on our side, sometimes on
theirs. When this becomes a high-enough priority for either Apple or
Autodesk, it will get resolved. Neither company benefits from lost
business. Report the problem to both.

Or switch to the existing known solution: the network license.

--Cy--

wrote in message news:5906155@discussion.autodesk.com...
"there were even plans to move the anchor to the registry to be more
flexible"- I do not know what that means, but it seems that it IS, after
all, an Autodesk issue- correct?

Is there a way to resurrect this change in the "anchor" to fix this issue?
Message 36 of 37
Anonymous
in reply to: cismontane

Hey Cy,

Send me some eMAIL. It would be nice to catch up, it's been way to long
;-)...

Also when you guys add a second drive and see this change, is the boot drive
chaning? I have run Bootcamp and never lost my license once. I only run
AutoCAD on these two systems, but they work fine for me. I have run AutoCAD
and LT 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Cy, I'm on vacation out at the coast this week, but I have a nice internet
connection, so send me some eMAIL ;-)...

Thanks

Bud Schroeder
AutoCAD Test Development
Autodesk Inc.


"Cy_Shuster" wrote in message news:5906378@discussion.autodesk.com...
For more info, see http://www.autodesk.com/activation -- especially the
White Papers on licensing a few links down.

Autodesk was willing to lessen security in order to increase flexibility for
customers. Again, I don't know what's available today. Be sure you work
problems through Support, not the Auth Codes group.

It's impossible to write software in Windows so as to be 100%, unqualifiedly
compatible with every other conceivable Windows program out there -- unless
you use, say, Java, in which case software the scale of AutoCAD would be
unusably slow. The lower-level the software is -- such as switching out one
OS for another on the fly without reinstalling -- the more likely it is to
conflict with something else. And there's no blame to assign on either
side.

I worked several conflict issues with other software vendors and PC OEMs and
resolved them (5+ years ago), sometimes with a fix on our side, sometimes on
theirs. When this becomes a high-enough priority for either Apple or
Autodesk, it will get resolved. Neither company benefits from lost
business. Report the problem to both.

Or switch to the existing known solution: the network license.

--Cy--

wrote in message news:5906155@discussion.autodesk.com...
"there were even plans to move the anchor to the registry to be more
flexible"- I do not know what that means, but it seems that it IS, after
all, an Autodesk issue- correct?

Is there a way to resurrect this change in the "anchor" to fix this issue?
Message 37 of 37
imran_maq
in reply to: cismontane

So I was having to reactivate 3DS Max9 and ACad2008 every 7 days because of my broken licenses and all of a sudden without me making any hardware changes or software changes, the license error seems to have stopped. I thought it was something to do with a 'repair code' that authcodes gave me but I'm not sure, doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would mend the whole incompatibility issue. Anyways, my Autodesk software is now working on my MacbookPro/Bootcamp/XP Pro SP2 but I always feel nervous now everytime I open the programs in case that dreaded 'Verifying License' box comes up, here's hoping...

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