I recently purchased a Zoom R16 mixer with came with Steinberg Cubase LE4 software.

I have never, never, ever, encountered such a complicated, convoluted and utterly ridiculous system just to ACTIVATE this product!

It is now two weeks since I purchased it and so far have spent over 12 hours just trying to get activation ! - You have to download a special licenser program, - (They don't even have the courtesy of supplying you with it on the install disc), and then get a license by logging on to their site and filling out all your details, to then get a number which you then have to post into the first program !! This is then (supposed) to give you a license number which you still have to activate !!).

So, you guessed it. - It didn't work, although it is supposed to, on a PC/vista 64b. Further, to make matters worse, there is no way you can send Steinberg an email. In desperation I found their phone number in Germany and made a late night call to them and could only speak to a lady who said she would pass on my details.

Thankfully she did, and there are still (after 10 days), emails going back and forth, with them forwarding a number for only the first step which has allowed me just to get to the "continue" stage which was peviously grayed out !!

I just cannot believe the system they have used, and on checking the Web, there seems to be a lot of people out there having similar problems.

Contrast all this, including my utter frustration which is at explosion point, to three SONY programs which I installed a few days ago on the same PC, and each complete registration taking less than 20 seconds and Voila !

How come people in the industry put up with this kind of rubbish, and are not hounding the company, when for others, such as Sony, Adobe etc, registration is almost a non-event.

RonC.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Steinberg License Control Centre. One of the worst pieces of authorisation implementations ever designed (and of course instantly solved by the clever kids!)

The problem you are having is that LE4 is essentially free software, bundled with sound modules or audio interfaces - so the license centre software is doing a halfway house job. The basic idea is that authorisation keys are held on special USB dongles, and you can store a number of licenses on them, shift them about, and then use the software on a number of machine, by swapping dongles. On LE4, there isn't a dongle, but you need to install it as if there is one! Success is random, as you've found. Basically, I've discovered that most problems are in the registration process. You just get thwarted by small things, making helping others really difficult. Top tips are making sure the LCC itself is completely up to date - download the very latest version. Updates are common. Make sure you're registered with Steinberg, and be prepared to remove and re-install the LCC multiple times. Once it works. DO NOT update the LCC again, or you'll be back to square one. It doesn't help in that sometimes with LE4 you are asked during the LCC process for the activation code, which you don't have, because there isn't one! Once the LCC is working, then you don't get asked for it.

I can't help much more than this because every problem really is different. Steinberg are pretty hopeless if you're in any country apart from Germany, but their forum is quite handy. You'll soon spot the LCC is a truly frustrating problem.


That said - once you get it working, you'll be pleased. I've used the products since the Atari black and white computer screen days, and although it's a pain when not working, it's a good reliable and useful product.
Paul

Despite being a Cubase user from the early 1990s on Macs and PCS at work, I would suggest you consider using another programme. I have Cubase 5 running sweetly on both platforms at work, but have never got any sense out of the later versions of Cubase, partly due to the Steinberg License Control Centre issues and partly because of the lack of stability of Cubase every time Apple or our ICT contractor puts out a system upgrade. I also resent the backwards compatibility of versions SX onwards.

The contrast with Sibelius helpline could not be more marked - they have always been most helpful, and solved any licensing problems instantly.

I refuse to clutter up my own machines with the later versions of Cubase, but it is still my MIDI editor of choice at work. When I got my Zoom N4N it never even occurred to me to install the Cubase freebie.

Paul's advice looks very helpful. May the force be with you if you choose this. if you ever get it working, you will probably find it is fine. Lots of pros in studios use the full version - but their workstations aren't used for anything else.

....

I can't help much more than this because every problem really is different. Steinberg are pretty hopeless if you're in any country apart from Germany, but their forum is quite handy. You'll soon spot the LCC is a truly frustrating problem....Paul

Can you even GET to their forum before you're fully registered and activated? Last time I looked, you couldn't gain admission to their forum unless you were a fully registered user of the product you wished to read up on. Truly user hostile.

I had the distinct impression that Steinberg did not want me to use their products when struggling through that ridiculously convoluted licensing process. However I persisted, got lucky, and managed to get my R16 talking to LE4 running on 32 bit Vista. The dubious thrill of watching the on-screen faders following the movements of the R16 faders was no compensation for the hassle involved. I'll probably go back to using Adobe Audition.

Thanks very much guys, at least I don't feel so quite so alienated now.

Yes, Paul the "latest" version of the LCC. - Struth, I had just downloaded it, and yes, I was soon told by at least one vendor to download the latest version ! AND, yes the forums, - I joined and gave them a serve, but you're probably correct, - it is as if I can't get through without a license as it too, (catch 22), was an absolute nightmare to try and navigate. (The Germans seem to excel at making things extremely complicated & difficult).

In the forums, how do you see your replies ?? Again, I cannot believe how a forum setup can be so convoluted & complicated when this one here at DVInfo is such a dream to use and everyone is so friendly & helpful. (and usually prompt).

I guess it is encouraging to know that IF, I ever get this thing to work, it is a reasonably good program. But, wouldn't you think that if it is a virtual "free - watered down version", that Steinberg would simply supply it free without all this fuss and frustration, which would then encourage many users to go for their more expensive programs.

Here is the latest I received from Steinberg : -

" The activation code you received should work with any Cubase LE 4.

This is how you force eLCC to create a SeL-number. Please make sure to follow every step exactly. Just let me know if some step is unclear:

• Click on the Windows logo in the task bar
• Enter “cmd” (without the quotation marks) and right-click the cmd entry in the result
list. Choose “Run as administrator” (important!)
• When starting the cmd prompt in admin mode, the default path should already be set to
C:\Windows\System32 so you only have to enter “synsopos.exe –regsel”
• Press Enter
• Otherwise type in the complete path “C:\Windows\System32\synsopos.exe –regsel”
and press Enter
• If you open the eLCC, the Soft-eLicenser should be listed and can be used now. "

Here is my reply :-

" Your steps are clear with 1st part & administrator OK, but I am sorry, but this just does not work as I can't get any sense from the command prompt. If I type as you have printed below I get : -
" synsopos.exe' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

If I type " synsopos.exe-regsel or synopsis.exe or synsopos.exe-regsel " (without quotation marks), the result is the same.
Can you just please just give me a direct number that I can open the program with.

I am running Win Vista 64bit."

I would appreciate it if any of you experts out there can throw any light on this and thanks again for your replies.

RonC..

> Can you just please just give me a direct number that I can open the program with.

No, even if they wanted to they can't. The two programs (Cubase and LCC) have to interact correctly.

synsopos.exe is not being found. This means one of three things:

1) it's not installed on your system at all
2) it's in C:\Windows\System32\ but that's not your default path
3) it's in another directory, for some reason

So your next step should be to run Search and find out where it is (or isn't) on your machine. If it is in C:\Windows\System32\ then follow their instruction to type the full path in the cmd window. If it isn't there, remove and reinstall the LCC.

Thanks very much Graham - good suggestions.
I did a search and found it in the CrashDumps folder along with all the ones from previous installs. - SYNSOPOS.exe.4420.dmp

So I guess this says it all for this totally hopeless registration system.

Surely this is a very poor reflection on the standard of the licensing program system that Steinberg has chosen for their software, when everything else I have downloaded, registered and opened on this PC has worked flawlessly.

Further, any licensing for these programs was done in seconds, - not weeks, as this hopeless system has, and still appears to be getting absolutely nowhere.

Hence, I don't believe that this is a fault on my PC, but I would be very interested in your comments.

RonC.

Ron,

Since the LCC is crashing on install, I would right-click the installation .exe file and selected "run as administrator" and "Windows XP" as the compatibility mode. Does that get it installed?

By the way, are you planning to do midi + audio sequencing? If so, Cubase is good for that. But so is Reaper which is cheap and zero hassle to register: REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits (http://www.reaper.fm/)

And if you aren't using midi, then Sound Forge or Audition or even Audigy (free) may provide a better workflow for you ...

Thanks again Graham.

I was able to run the program as administrator with XP as the compatability mode but still nothing happens in eLicenser after I put in the activation code.

RonC.

I'm not sure it helps, but I have multiple copies of synsopso.exe on my system locations as follows:
C:\Windows\System32
C:\Program Files\Syncrosoft\POS

Steinberg are not the easiest people to deal with, but their argument has always been that the LCC at least makes it awkward for the crackers - whit Cubase being a very popular target of the dodgy software brigade. It does inconvenience authorised users of course, but I guess we have to live with it. I've been with Cubase for so long that changing isn't an option - just coping with plug-ins that are not supported as versions progress is enough of a convenience, without learning a new product from scratch. The way in which key files get hidden away in obscure user directories (or not, depending on your settings) makes automated installation routines problematic, when a common file is not found in the proper place.

Uninstalling LCC and re-installing often suddenly 'just works' - no idea why, it just does! It doesn't help when the installation routine suggests activation codes are required, yet the CD has no number and was free, and as a result has not proper support.

You might try a program called Reaper.

First off, I need to admit that I've just discovered it and haven't really done anything other than download it and play around a little.

That said, it's cheap (a discounted license is $60), and you can download a fully operational demo. It's marketed as guilt-ware, I guess. But it appears to be pretty slick and capable. And if you're using the LE version of Cubase for simple mixing, I bet Reaper would be a much less hassling way to go.

REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits (http://www.reaper.fm/)

I'm considering a switch from Logic to Reaper (bc I'm getting tired of paying Mr. Jobs $200 upgrades for time-stretching and guitar fx plugins -- you'd think with their record profits they could cut the pro-customer base that kept them alive and relevant for decades a little break. sorry, end rant).

Thanks guys,

I'm still (after three weeks), trying just to get this thing activated ! What a nightmare.
Now the latest instructions to force the PC to generate an eLicense resulted in this message :
" Protected Object Server has stopped working "

So I checked for a solution and her are the details :

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: SYNSOPOS.exe
Application Version: 1.10.0.7
Application Timestamp: 4ab23f83
Fault Module Name: StackHash_7dc0
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: 4000001f
Exception Offset: 10379852
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.256.6
Locale ID: 3081
Additional Information 1: 7dc0
Additional Information 2: b4ee5de6a2322745523997a782b35692
Additional Information 3: 027b
Additional Information 4: 277e19c30fbd5f6bb531ec9e027c37c3

Obviously it is crashing, but why ?
So if any of you boffins out there want a challenge ....???

RonC.