Installing KORD causes Activation issue w/Cloud9 KLAX

[jasonc]

When I installed KORD last night (March 14, 2008, 9:30pm PST) and started up FS9 I got a dialog box that said KLAX was not activated (that I had previously activated and paid for) and if I wanted to activate it.  Is this normal? 

[virtuali]

Yes, is absolutely normal. It's not an error, it's intentional, and is for your own good:

Cloud9 is now offering an activation policy more similar to ours: 5 activations per order instead of the previous 1. This means you will be able to change hardware on Cloud9 products more often, before having to resort to email support for a reactivation.

In order to enjoy this benefit, the latest version of the Addon Manager (this one) is needed, so all installed Cloud9 products will be able to "register" with the new activation database.

This means, the first time you launch FS after this update, all installed Cloud9 products will ask to confirm their activation. You will simply need to reply "Yes" and from then on, you will start fresh with 5 activations, regardless of how many you had in the past.

The fact that it appeared here before, it's just because we published Chicago with the new activation policy, before Cloud9 hasn't announced the change in their policy, but they will very soon.

[jasonc]

Ok, thanks virtuali for the information.  Great support here, fabulous! 

[Mike Phyrio]

Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
I noticed two things when I first activated KORD. The first thing was a reference to SimFlyers. Whoa!!
The second thing was the previously mentioned activation of C9's KLAX, which, of course (being a man of superior taste ) I have. I figured something I didn't know about was going on so I just went ahead and said yes when it asked me if I wanted to activate it. You gotta have some faith in your fellow bipeds on occasion. Imagine my surprise when, after that, KLAX now works better than it ever did. I used to have the lights on the runway disappear on me and the marshaller and the gate just sit there. No longer! Now, I even get a little "ding" when the scenery knows I'm there. Boy, that's service fer ye.
Interesting though that, at Gate 74....I think it is.... the marshaller (poor guy) is half entombed in what appears to be a pushback vehicle of some sort.

[bucifan]

This is interesting and would be nice to get an answer. I purchased KORD the first day the installer was fixed. I have Cloud9 KLAX, EHAM, and KDCA. After installing KORD I was asked if I wanted to activate the above mentioned Cloud9 sceneries, which I did with no more problems.

Now today 04/05/08, when I ran FS9, it says that KLAX is installed but not yet activated on this computer and do I want to activate it? I have not changed any hardware or updated any scenery that would make me have to activate these sceneries again! Is anyone else seeing this? I just checked yes to activate KLAX, and it gave me an eSellerate Error - 25001 - serial number not found! This is "bullsh_t". I flew 2 flight with FS9 yesterday, turned the pc off last night, turned it on today, and this!!! I'm not sure who's problem this is FSdreamteam or cloud9's, but since they share the same activation system, it should be shared. Never had a problem before with any of cloud9's sceneries, until KORD was installed.

Any ideas as to why this is happening 2 to 3 weeks after installing KORD?

Rick

[virtuali]

Any ideas as to why this is happening 2 to 3 weeks after installing KORD?

This really shouldn't happen. It's normal to be happening the first time you launch FS9 after installing KORD, and the fact that you activated correctly, means there are no problems.

If it was an activation error, that might happen only after a change of hardware but, since you say you haven't changed hardware, and Cloud9 now grants 5 activations, and you say the error is "Serial not found", it's doesn't look like an activation error.

The fact you got a Serial not found, but only after weeks after installing KORD, lead to believe you somehow lost your registry key for other reasons not dependent either by Cloud9 or FSDT or even FS9, but something else, like a registry cleaner, or a change of user login, or a loss of the user login data, or anything else that made you lost the registry key.

That's why we have a Backup RegKey option, to prevent against accidental registry problems.

To use it:

- See if you have a "Cloud9_Los_Angeles.REG" file in your FS9 root.

- If you have it, double-click on it to put it back in the registry.

- Launch FS9, KLAX will ask to activate, and it should activate like the first time

If you don't have the .REG backup, follow the Reinstall procedure, Select Cloud9, Select Los Angeles, choose "Reinstall", then insert your Order Number and email, and it will retrieve and activate your registry key from the servers.

If you have the "Reinstall" option greyed out, this means you have a serial in the registry for KLAX, but is not valid or is corrupted, so the Reinstall will not be available because there is some serial in the registry, but the activation will fail because it's not the correct one. In this case, you have to use regedit to clean the registry entry at HKCU\Software\Cloud9\Los Angeles, so you'll start from scratch, and will be able to use the "Reinstall" option.

If you still have doubts, you can contact me in private, so you can send me your serial and order number, and I'll have it checked for you for any problems.

[LiamMallon]

Hi,

I emailed support today re an activation problem that was resolved today. I do have a question though regarding KORD and KLAX.

First I reinstalled Chicago and ran FS. When I did it popped up with a message about KLAX not being activated etc etc as above, however KLAX wasn't installed at this time. I have recently reinstalled flightsim and didn't want to add KLAX right now, however after getting this message each time I booted FS2004, did install KLAX it just to stop the message.

However in doing this after installing KORD, I got an older version of the addon manager and I believe this is where my problems were regarding re activation as I just downloaded the latest addon manager from your website and ran that, and then reactivated Chicago.

My question is did I do this right. I am not familiar with addon manager at all, and am wondering should i uninstall both KLAX and KORD and add them again but installing KLAX first?, or does the addon manager have nothing to do with the scenery apart from activating in on my system?

[virtuali]

First I reinstalled Chicago and ran FS. When I did it popped up with a message about KLAX not being activated etc etc as above, however KLAX wasn't installed at this time.

This is normal. Unless you reinstalled Windows from scratch, your KLAX serial number is still in the registry, regardless if the scenery is installed or not. This way, you are free to reintall FS9 as many times you wish, without losing the activation.

however after getting this message each time I booted FS2004, did install KLAX it just to stop the message.

This shouldn't be necessary: is possible to activate a scenery even if it's not installed yet. If you simply replied "Yes" to the activation question (which, in your case, "upgraded" your Cloud9 activations to 5), the message would have stopped the same. And the moment you decided to install KLAX, it would run already activated.

However in doing this after installing KORD, I got an older version of the addon manager

Only if you kept an older installer for KORD, and you installed from there. The current installer always downloads the latest version of the Addon Manager from the internet, so it will never put an older version.

My question is did I do this right. I am not familiar with addon manager at all, and am wondering should i uninstall both KLAX and KORD and add them again but installing KLAX first?, or does the addon manager have nothing to do with the scenery apart from activating in on my system?

It's all ok. If you reinstalled and activated O'Hare, and you installed KLAX (even if it wasn't strictly necessary) and activate it as well, as long as you have now the latest version of the Addon Manager, it will all works fine.

The scenery can't run without the Addon Manager, so it needs to stay there, even after activating it. If you see both sceneries ok, then it's all fine.