Activation Error/Issue

[Lawgiver]

Hello Umberto,

Hope you are doing well in your corner of the world.  I have an odd issue going on.  My various FSDT products are activating/deactivating on their own.  This started about 6 days ago when I was prompted by GSX for an update while in the sim (FSX).  The update wanting to install was dated 24 Nov 2015 and concerned the Marshaller being out of view.  I thought I had already installed that update some time ago but honestly don't remember.  I installed the update and continued with my flight.
 
The next day starting FSX, an esellerate machine mismatch error (Hardware change detected)was displayed for all of my FSDT products.  Activation was being requested.  Not wanting to burn up one of my activation's for each of my products I selected "NO" when asked to activate.  I thought I would try and troubleshoot the problem first.  Checking add-on mgr showed all products in trial mode.  The sim and my machine performed with no errors.  Couldn't find anything wrong and shut down for the night.  The next day, started FSX and no esellerate error.  Add-on mgr showed all products active/installed.  All was well for a few days at which point another start of FSX resulted in the error again and all products back to trial mode. 

Tonight, started the sim and same error.  Selected "NO" when asked to activate.  This time I thought I would re-apply the 24 Nov 2015 update that was last installed.  Spawned at an airport and installed the update again.  After installation checking add-on mgr now showed all FSDT products  active/installed again.  Is this possibly an error with the update or another issue going on??  I have since deactivated all products via add-on mgr and thought I would wait for your opinion on this.  I am concerned with all the back and forth that I am consuming my activation's.   

I have made no changes to my "W7 64" machine.  Either hardware or software.  Windows updates are set to "manual"  The only other item I have downloaded besides the GSX update is an update for Fly Tampa's Kai Tak (VHHX).  However it's still sitting on my desktop in a zip file.  Other than that, nothing else. 

Thanks for your time Umberto.

Regards,
Rob B.   

[virtuali]

This started about 6 days ago when I was prompted by GSX for an update while in the sim (FSX).

The GSX update cannot have any relationship with the activation. It was just coincidental so, please, forget about this.

The next day starting FSX, an esellerate machine mismatch error (Hardware change detected)was displayed for all of my FSDT products.  Activation was being requested.  Not wanting to burn up one of my activation's for each of my products I selected "NO" when asked to activate.

You should, instead, reply YES. You are assuming that *every* activation will "burn" one of your activations. But this is NOT the case. Only MAJOR hardware changes will really CONSUME an activation, but the system is able to understand the whole hardware is the same so, even if you reply YES to confirm your activation, it will not usually consume one of your activations.

Again, this doesn't have ANYTHING to do with GSX, the update or any of our software. We don't have the slightest control over the activation process and the hardware detection is totally unknown to us, it's done entirely by Esellerate so, what REALLY happened is:

- One of your drivers has an issue or a bug or similar problem, so it reported to Windows a new hardware ID for some reason.

- Esellerate got some notification from Windows that some hardware has changed.

- The Addon Manager got a notification from Esellerate about this, so it will prompt you to confirm your activation.

So, the real issue is something happening at the driver level. Some users reported issues with some Windows updates causing this.

The only thing you can be SURE of, it's NOT caused by any of our software updates. The Addon Manager hasn't been updated in months, and neither the Couatl engine, which are the only ones interacting with Esellerate.

[Lawgiver]

Hi Umberto,

All you stated makes perfect sense and is understandable.  Why I thought the update was somehow related was:
1. No issues until the update was installed.
2. All products showed "active/installed" after a re-install of the same update with no action on my part.

The only thing you can be SURE of, it's NOT caused by any of our software updates. The Addon Manager hasn't been updated in months, and neither the Couatl engine, which are the only ones interacting with Esellerate.

I meant in no way to put the blame on your software updates.  I have used FSDT products in my sim for years without a major incident.  It's just a perplexing issue-no more, no less.

One thing I don't understand is why would the various products bounce back and forth between trial mode/activated?  I was always under the impression activation required a user input for the activation process, ie. typing in a serial key or using a saved reg. file.
 
I thought once a product reverted back to trial mode it stayed in trial mode until the user takes action to reactivate the product.  Do you have any idea as to why one day my products are in trial mode, and the next they all show activated and installed??  Or is it that the system detects no changes have been made, the matching registry keys are in place and activates the product itself??  How can a product activate itself without my involvement so to speak??

As always thank you for your time Umberto.

Regards,
Rob B. 

[virtuali]

Or is it that the system detects no changes have been made, the matching registry keys are in place and activates the product itself??  How can a product activate itself without my involvement so to speak??

That's seems to confirm it's some kind of a Window/driver issue. The first activation request was probably bugus to begin with, you replied "No", so it hasn't tried to get a new activation, and on the next startup, the bug went away, so the product continued with the existing (valid) activation key in your registry.

So maybe, my previous reply might be changed into:

"if the reactivation request is caused by a Windows/driver bug, it's best to always reply NO to it"

But of course, you don't have (neither we or the Addon Manager) many ways to know if it was caused by a Windows/driver bug, other than knowing not having made any actual hardware changes, bios flashes or similar things.

[Lawgiver]

Hi Umberto,

Ahh, that makes perfect sense.  In between postings here, I noticed there is an updated file version for one of my FSDT airports.  As a refresher before installing the update, I reviewed the FSDT install guide pdf.  It also states that if the proper reg. keys are installed, the product should show "active" when checked within add-on mgr.  I understand now why the scenery was displaying "active" with no involvement on my part.  It was just doing what it is supposed to.  Now I have to see if there is another issue with my system itself.  Thank you Umberto for the help, I appreciate it.

All the best,
Rob B.