If your dongle is not working, please read this

[Ssnake]

OK. Still, I'd think if this has happened to several of us only since the upgrade purchase

Most of these cases could be solved with a firmware upgrade. If you have done that, there must be something else going on. In that case, Support@CodeMeter.com is best qualified to deal with it.

I once had a case with my notebook that one day one of the four USB ports would no longer accept my CM stick. half a year later another would fail, and then within the next three or four months all USB ports would no longer work with the CM stick. At the same time however the same USB ports under Windows Vista, installed in a dual-boot configuration, kept working.

We never found out why it wouldn't work under XP. Reinstalling XP did however make the four ports available again. Strange case, that.

[Quagmire]

OK. Still, I'd think if this has happened to several of us only since the upgrade purchase and installation

I have to agree with Eugene here. The previous version of SB Pro PE worked perfectly on my laptop and would run and run without any problems. However, the moment I installed the latest paid upgrade I constantly receive the 'Please ensure your CM stick is securley in a USB port" error. I can no longer launch multiple instances of the game either without the same error appearing and closing the game.

I've been in constant touch with Codemeter since the upgrade and they cannot understand why the message appears with the latest version only. I've followed all their advice and preformed numerous re-installs clearing out all files and the registry, yet it still fails.

For now I've given up playing as it's so annoying to keep seeing the same message when you're deep into a scenario. I've not played online either as a result.

It does seem a bit strange that all these problems we are seeing all relate to the new version so we can't all be having USB or other hardware/software errors.

Q

[Sean]

"I can no longer launch multiple instances of the game either without the same error appearing and closing the game."

Why not run one instance and see if that works?

Codemeter knows their own product better than anyone else. As far as I know, the only difference with the new version was the way in which the new license was installed. The best thing you can do is to keep trying with codemeter and copy ssnake so he can keep track of these issues and how many of them are occurring.

Did you also upgrade the firmware and drivers for the codemeter too? That would be something that changed at the same time the upgrade happened.

[Quagmire]

"Why not run one instance and see if that works?

Funny. But that's exactly my point - one instance fails every time!

Somewhere on the forums were some tips with map/scenario making and the advice was to launch 2 instances to speed the process - I could with the previous version but not with the latest. Surprise, surprise.

I've followed Codemeter's advice and upgraded all firmware, drivers and software and it has made absolutely no difference. The only common element is the version change of SB Pro PE.

Ssnake was copied on every email, but Codemeter are stumped on this one...

I've just given up playing until a resolution is found as it's so frustrating for the game to drop out when you've been playing for about 45 minutes, sometimes longer.

[Sean]

Running multiple instances might be something codemeter figured out how to prevent with their latest drivers....

It seems like if there was something wrong with the way PE used the codemeter, there would be a landslide of problems.

[Quagmire]

Running multiple instances might be something codemeter figured out how to prevent with their latest drivers....

Can someone with a working version test this? Can multiple instances be launched with the latest release?

It doesn't solve the problems I'm having but for map/scenario making it could be a pain in the rear!

[Gibsonm]

I am able to run at least two instances of 2.546 (but I do have secondary licenses on my USB stick) so not sure if that helps.

I'm afraid I didn't try to run nine to achieve the "license + 1" scenario.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Gibsonm

[GH_Lieste]

Not exactly the same config as you as I have two licenses, but I was able to run three instances on my machine.

[Ssnake]

Running multiple instances on the same computer was never considered "wrong" - neither by us nor by Wibu Systems, so it is rather an intentional design decision and not an accident that would eventually be corrected.

Apparently some other things have changed. Older firmwares do not support certain function calls which the new runtime eventually requires, which is why at least everybody who wanted to share licenses over the network absolutely HAD to update their firmware to keep it working, and because you never know what might happen with the next update, we generally recommend to everybody to update the firmware once a year or so. Therefore, I cannot rule out that something has changed that manifests in seemingly more erratic behavior - but there isn't much that I can do at this point. If even CodeMeter support has no clue, how am I supposed to know better?

I can but ask you to stay in contact with them and to bug them over and over again so that they don't lose sight of the issue.

[Quagmire]

After reading this thread today I launched SB Pro to see what would happen as it's been a while. I started a random mission, in this case the battle of 73 Eastings.

The mission launched OK and we proceeded to head to the village at the south of the map. After spending about 5 minutes firing on the enemy I thought 'so far so good' - but no. The game then dropped to desktop with the now familiar 'Codemeter USB' error appearing on screen. Retry and Cancel did nothing so Abort is the only option thus closing the game. So &*$%&$£ annoying! :decu:

Someone mentioned lack of power in the USB's as a potential problem but mine has 6 USB slots and when playing SB Pro I have a mouse plugged in along with an external number keypad and of course the Codemeter stick. The Sennheiser headphones are running through the laptop's soundcard instead of their own USB adapter, so that's one less, but I still see the same error.

Normally the laptop is connected to a mouse, external number keypad, Canon Photo printer, Saitek joystick/throttle combo (one USB slot), Sennheiser headphones (with USB adapter) and occasionally a memory stick / external HD - and they all work fine together.

Very odd...

[Ssnake]

Well, CodeMeter is more sensitive to deviations in the voltage in the USB. The reason for this is that it is often a trick of professional hackers to analyze dongles at reduced voltages so that they can test reactions of the chip without letting it compute anything.

BUT, the SB Pro version number shouldn't make the difference. If if doesn't work properly now, it shouldn't work with previous versions either. But you say that it does, right?

[Quagmire]

That's exactly what's happening, yes. The previous version would run without issue regardless of which USB port the Codemeter stick was plugged into.

However, the day I upgraded the problems started. No matter where the USB is located the game will drop out with the now familiar error message:

'Codemeter error: Please ensure your CM stick is securely in a USB port.'

Several re-installs of the game have made no difference, even when cleaning all traces from the directory and registry. All Codemeter firmware and software has been updated but this has made no difference whatsoever.

[Sean]

What happens when you uninstall sb and install a old version and run that now?

[Quagmire]

I haven't tried that as I didn't think I would be able to run an older version with the updated licence file on the CM stick?

However, if that is the case I'll certainly give it a try and let you know what happens. I'm away from home right now so give me a few days.

Q

[Sean]

Theres two different licenses there, not a updated one.

[Ssnake]

Yes. It would be interesting to know what happens with an older version.

[Eugene]

Well, this is simply no good. I have supported by purchases and by successfully recommending to others SBP. I buy the next upgrade - no complaints that niche products may require additional fees over time for upgrades. All of a sudden, the REQUIRED hardware to run this not inexpensive product is broken. As a result of following directions including upgrading the hardware in all available respects (software and firmware).

I am not alone. but when I ask for help, the response is polite but clearly - take it up with this product's supplier of hardware. This isn't add on hardware, or my flight stick or some third party unusual or unrelated hardware. It is the essential copy protection hardware eSim sells to its customers. I didn't buy copy protection from a third party, but from eSim. But when the system from eSim fails, I have to go to eSim's supplier? They are not solving this problem, and I can see why. Not their product.

I have great respect for staff here, Ssnake especially because of his constant presence, service and normally helpful replies. I empathize with the facts of life of a smaller company. I was essentially a customer for life. But the response, "What am I supposed to do?" (about my product's system failing) leaves me cold.

Given the design decision that lead to new versions being incompatible online with even immediately prior ones, and the requirement to purchase new versions which no longer can be counted on to work, this looks like an expensive niche product that might be headed towards extinction, if enough customers now and in the future are online oriented. That would be terrible and I don't want to see that happen. But this company is leaving me behind with a broken purchase, and unlikely to make any more impassioned recommendations to others. That's just a shame. But maybe the customer base is large enough that losing customers like me and for the same reason is not a very large attrition and so we can simply be writen off with no harm done except to the now former customer.

[Gibsonm]

But I'd argue that the more people who use the suggested correction path (namely contact Codemeter and cc Nils) the higher profile this issue achieves with Codemeter and the more likely it is to be fixed.

If 5 people out of 100 mention it to Codemeter and the rest just register "me too" type comments here, then Codemeter thinks that only 5 out of X customers are affected (I'm certain they don't logon here just to track what are to them "unofficial" complaints).

If however all 100 people mention it to Codemeter, it becomes 100 out of X and they might give it more weight and act on what I suspect are Nils ongoing requests to look into this.

Asking Nils to employ more staff to look into this is, I suspect, unlikely to result in a fix.

[Tacbat]

But this company is leaving me behind with a broken purchase...

Hardly. They're trying to help you, and others, solve your problem. Out of all the upgrades that were bought by consumers, how many have had problems with it? I'd say only a handful, so to me that does not mean that there's a problem with SB, but that there's a problem on the user end. With all the different configurations of PC's today, how can you expect any software developer to release a product that's 100% compatible with every machine out there? Let's try and keep things in perspective.

[Gibsonm]

Yes. It would be interesting to know what happens with an older version.

Well I'm probably a poor test case anyway as my machine so far has been OK.

However I've just started copies of:

2.460

2.483

2.538

and

2.546

So that's four (4) different versions of SB Pro PE running concurrently using a USB stick upgraded for 2.538.

Now admittedly thay are just at the "menu" (not actually playing) but I guess if I check in the morning (its now 2230 here, so say at 0600 roughly 8 hours of running) I can at least tell if the application(s) crash on a time basis.

[Gibsonm]

Well its 0535 and they are all still running.

Interestingly though, my MacBook Pro that I had running Windows XP overnight too (for something else) had one of those Windows "Codemeter had to shut down, do you want to tell Microsoft" type dialogue boxes (but I had no USB sticks plugged in, nor was I running any copies of SB Pro, SB Pro PE or SB Pro PE ANZAC).

[Ssnake]

All of a sudden, the REQUIRED hardware to run this not inexpensive product is broken.

That's a possible explanation, but not the only one. Look I really don't want to give the impression that I don't care about your fate, but what can I realistically do?

My impression of Wibu Systems is that they have competent tech support staff and that they are much better at finding CodeMeter related problems than I am. If I were regularly CCd in email exchanges between you and them, I might actually learn from it and at some point become more competent as well.

Unfortunately very few of you actually do CC me in their email exchanges with Wibu Systems, so it's hard for me to learn from it, and to monitor the quality of their support. If I don't get to hear about problems, I must assume that things are just fine. I mean, if my impression was that someone at Wibu is giving you a cold shoulder, I could grab the phone and try to talk some sense into them, or get their assessment of what the problem might be. But the prerequisite for all this is that you keep me in the loop.

I am not alone. but when I ask for help, the response is polite but clearly - take it up with this product's supplier of hardware.

Because - to me ... and a number of other customers where I was CCd - their support team appeared as helpful and competent and to the point as one could possibly wish for. If your experience is different, brooding in silence over it is not going to help anything. A wheel that squeaks gets oiled. Let me know that they don't help you adequately, and I'll try to make sure that they do, or take over the whole thing at that point.

Of course, as Wibu System expands the functionality of CodeMeter and as we are using updated versions of their software to create new builds of SB Pro, there can always be subtle changes that leave the developer stumped when presented the first time. I didn't know until recently that certain function calls of the new CM runtime software depended on certain firmware versions. There can be other, similar things about which we don't know anything yet. The only way to find out is to look at a new support case, analyze it, and eventually fix it.

I don't know if Wibu Systems is already working on a new runtime that might fix some of the recently reported issues. Maybe they are, maybe they are still tapping in the dark. But I need to know what's going on so I can ask them about it, so please: Keep me CCd, or send me a weekly summary of your exchanges, tell me if you're upset about something.

There can be many reasons - a local computer configuration issue, an outdated firmware, a bug in a new runtime version, a bug in Steel Beasts - and not all the problems are always easy to figure out. Sometimes a bit of time is needed in order to get things sorted.

[Eugene]

Ssnake, I appreciate your reply. I do want to have a happily running SBP again and apparently will have to try what others say has not worked so far - getting your supplier to attempt to fix whatever in the combination of the new firm or software for the dongle has caused all of my built in USBs to no longer reliably recognize the dongle.

I apologize for ventilating in public rather than in a pm but that is the rule set here. My frustration is that eSim does not appear to have any interest in taking leadership in investigating the issue with its supplier. I don't know how many upgrade sales have been made, and without a survey of that smaller set of SBP owners, we don't know how many have had the same problem. But unless the several that have reported troubles here are something like 4 or 5 out of 5,000 which I doubt, I'd prefer doing business with a company that took leadership in investigating the problem both for customer service reasons and for concern about implications for future upgrades. I get the feeling that eSim has not been in touch with its supplier/Wibu at all about this.

Rather than a scattershot approach of "keep me posted", I would prefer eSim talking first with its supplier for the purpose of reporting the fact of the problems and obtaining a list of questions/information to obtain from any and all customers. Then post that here, casting a broader net and act as your customers' agent taking that collected uniformly organized data to your supplier for action.

I don't mean this at all sarcastically - but if I buy a car and the next day I have starter/ignition trouble with it, the dealer doesn't tell me to go to the company's starter supplier in order to figure out how to get the car started, and to let him know how that goes.

For the record, my components include:

CoreDuo E6850

MSI P6N 680i Diamond

BFG GTX260 216 cores - OC Maxcore 55

Forceware 191.07

X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

WinXP Pro

2 gig RAM

Saitek X52 PRO.

The machine is a commercial Cyberpower custom built machine about two years old, with USB 2.0

[Ssnake]

My impression is that this problem affects only a small minority of users, and in the past the overwhelming majority of cases were local configuration issues. It doesn't make much sense under these circumstances to collect and then forward all incoming CM related support requests as the cases will be too diverse; the direct contact with the CM support team promises to get you help faster. And in any case, even if there are common elements among a group of people, all other potential sources of trouble need to be ruled out by methodical troubleshooting.

That being said, if you want me to relay your cases to Wibu Systems, I can do that. But it appears to me that it only brings a needless delay, considering the time zone differences and the fact that such a message might sit on the mail server for up to a day or two if I happen to travel around on business.

However, there is a point at which you should really contact me - if you feel that they aren't helping you at all, or when they officially give up and declare that they just don't know what's going on with your problem, or if they tell you that the CM stick must be replaced.

[Eugene]

OK, thanks for that offer. I will assume that you guys know that there really are just a tiny percentage of your upgrade sales set of customers, nothing like 5% - and cases are diverse (not sure how that would be known w/o the data, but will take your word for it).

My frustration has been that those of us I know that have had problems as well as some of those posting here had no trouble at all until the combination of upgrade and dongle patching. With no change in our computer configurations. Perhaps you know from experience what the "all other potential sources of trouble" consists of; the most common ones might be useful FAQ type info. But knowing that at least in several of the cases all was well previously and nothing in the user computer config has changed beyond the eSim items, does that narrow the potential trouble?

Thanks again for the offer. I am hoping it won't be necessary.