How do I force Adobe to check my subscription status and reset my 30 day clock for offline use?

[excorp11]

I was recently heading out on a trip where internet wouldn't be available for a couple weeks.  I know creative cloud apps can be used for 30 days without an internet connection, but I wanted to make sure Adobe checked my subscription and reset the 30 day clock before I left.  How does one do that?

In my case, I signed out of the Creative Cloud app, and signed back in.  But I know that didn't work because I was successfully using Photoshop on a Friday (when I still had internet), and two days later (when I was without internet), I ran into the screen shown on this page:  Cannot verify subscription status in offline mode .  Photoshop was unavailable to me for the entire trip.

As added info, I had been using Lightroom essentially daily for weeks leading up to this trip (Photoshop occasionally), used the Creative Cloud app (I'm running Windows 10) to update apps and do cloud syncs, and had logged in and out of the Creative Cloud app several times over those weeks.  Lack of opportunity was NOT the reason my subscription status wasn't verified.

How do I avoid this problem in the future?

[Moved from Photoshop to Adobe Creative Cloud]

[kglad]

the surest way to make sure you can use your programs in offline mode is to open the programs you'll want to use on your trip and don't close them.  you can minimize them, but leave them open.

[excorp11]

That's a good workaround that I'll keep in mind, but there ought to be a way to reset the clock so that the app works as designed.

[Abambo]

excorp11  wrote

(...) and two days later (when I was without internet), I ran into the screen shown on this page:  Cannot verify subscription status in offline mode .  (...)

The 30/99 days clock resets automatically as soon as you start CC (or any CC program) with internet connected. However, the licensing subsystem reacts very sensible to clock resets, so be sure not to touch the clock and not to use a synchronisation system to change the clock settings.

[excorp11]

Abambo​:  That may be the intended behavior, but it didn't actually happen.  Is there something from Adobe that documents that this is in fact what is supposed to happen?  Any way to verify, before leaving internet connectivity, that the clock has been reset?

As noted in my original post, internet connection prior to the trip, use of both LR and Photoshop, and connection to the Creative Cloud were not an issue.  I was on a photography trip -- everything was getting heavy use until I went out of internet range and Photoshop refused to launch ( Cannot verify subscription status in offline mode).  I have time stamped tif files created in photoshop and files backed up in the Adobe cloud two days before getting cut off (I checked just to make sure I wasn't confused).  And as for the clock, it wasn't touched (I didn't change time zone, so even that wasn't adjusted).

[kglad]

afaik (at the current time), the message 1 info is the only way to ensure you will be able to use your adobe apps when unable to connect.

[excorp11]

kglad​ -- what is "message 1 info"?

[kglad]

the surest way to make sure you can use your programs in offline mode is to open the programs you'll want to use on your trip and don't close them.  you can minimize them, but leave them open.

[Abambo]

excorp11  wrote

-- what is "message 1 info"?

Re: How do I force Adobe to check my subscription status and reset my 30 day clock for offline use?

Messages on the fora are numbered but not all browsers show those numbers. But message one is easy to spot: it is the first answer to your question.

As this seams workable, the first time your system or the program crashes, you will again be in trouble. But it’s a workaround solution.

[excorp11]

Abambo and kglad -- I appreciate the help.

Re: "Message 1 info" -- got it.  Chrome doesn't show message numbers.  I thought it might have been referring to some strange hidden event-log-type info that Adobe produced in a secret location somewhere.  Too bad.

Re: Working offline as a test -- also a good workaround idea, though all it will show is whether your license has already expired.

Re: Never shutting the programs down.  Agreed that this is the best workaround posed so far, but as has been pointed out: a) computers  and programs crash and b) LR really starts to drag after running for long periods without restarting.  Still, better than nothing.

Hopefully someone else will see this who may know how to actually get the promised 30 days of offline use.

[kglad]

you're welcome.

[Abambo]

excorp11  wrote

Re: Working offline as a test -- also a good workaround idea, though all it will show is whether your license has already expired.

It will show if in general staying offline offline works or if there is a situation that lets Adobe thing that the license may not be valid anymore. 

[Abambo]

No, there is no method known to me to show into the remaining days before failure.

Resetting the system clock is one method to get failure. Deleting the relevant key data is the second.

Test the behavior of CC by going offline. This is the only additional counsel I can give.

[excorp11 · Accepted solution]

So I believe I have an answer, which I'll document here in case anyone else stumbles on this thread in the future.

First, this Adobe page specifically says that "The apps attempt to validate your software license every 30 days."  If that's literal, then it would explain my issue:  the software doesn't reset the offline counter every time its used while connected.  Just on its own timer once every 30 days.

So the fix is documented here, run down by the photographers at Muench workshops who frequently take Adobe users out on extended, out-of-internet-range trips.  They got Adobe to validate the required steps.  In a nutshell, you have to actually sign-out of the Creative Cloud, and then sign back in.  Signing out removes the license from your computer, rendering the apps unusable.  Signing back in enables the apps again, with a new timer.

There's one other option I stumbled on with this:  the Adobe page reference above also discloses a difference in offline grace period between monthly payers and annual payers.  Annual gets 99 days of offline use, PLUS numerous warnings before they actually lose use of their apps.  Monthly just wake up one warning without access.  This isn't documented on any of the "compare plan" pages, or when you sign up for a plan.  But its there.  So switching to annual will pretty much eliminate the risks.

[Abambo]

Switching to annual will give you also a cheaper price in exchange for an annual commitment. But the software checks each time you go online the status of your subscription and resets the counter. everything else would not make any sense. However, the system is quite nervous on clock manipulations, because users tend to set back the clock to prolong the license. So the slightest attempt will invalidate your license and that could also mean a valid adaption.

[excorp11]

@Abambo -- If what you write is correct, then there's a bug in the implementation (my computer clock has never changed, though the time zone changed two weeks prior to losing internet -- but the apps were all used numerous times in the new time zone).  But I'm not sure why you're sure that "the software checks each time you go online the status of your subscription and resets the counter."  Its not what Adobe told the photographers who posted the blog entry above (I assume, if that is all it took, they'd just advise everyone to start LR once the day before a trip -- but they instead talk about logging out of the Creative Cloud).  Its not the behavior I just experienced.  Its not what Adobe states on the web page about offline use I linked to. 

I completely agree that what you write would make much more sense than what is apparently happening.  Perhaps that will get changed in a future update and eliminate this issue.

[Abambo]

excorp11  wrote

though the time zone changed two weeks prior to losing internet

Changing the timezone does not change the clock but only the clock displayed, if my information are correct. but the program you use to change the timezone may well set also the time...

[Abambo]

excorp11  wrote

Its not what Adobe told the photographers who posted the blog entry above (I assume, if that is all it took, they'd just advise everyone to start LR once the day before a trip -- but they instead talk about logging out of the Creative Cloud). 

Yes, the method described forces all parameters to initial. And it makes sure that the reset occurs the moment you sign in. It's your proof that the timer has been reset. It's like working your check list before take off.