Photoshop CS6 Subscription Activation Question

[Dentrassi42]

Hi,

I was wondering if it is standard behaviour for my PS CS6 subscription to require me to log in to Activate the licence EVERY time I use it? I thought that one it was activated, PS only checks the Activation every 30 days. Once I log in the activation works fine, however if for any reason my internet connection was not available, it would seem that I would not be able to use my copy of PS.

I realise that that would happen even if the check was every 30 days, but that would only be a possible issue once a month, not every day!

Thanks,

Mark

[apb_liv]

I have had this same problem for 3 months (http://forums.adobe.com/message/4591392#4591392). Adobe escalated level support have admitted to me that it is an identified issue and it is now with adobe engineering (given this information in a phone call on 4 September). I am not holding my breath, and I am not trying any more home-made solutions until adobe release a patch.

I want to use the 64bit versions, but they normally want the licence code entered before they will start, which is a pain. 32bit Ai and Ps ask for the licensing after they have launched so I can just close the licensing dialogue and click Yes and it goes away and the program runs. A bit of a pain, but not as much as having to login to my adobe account and then enter that license key.

If you can run the 32bit versions without entering the key, I would recommend that. If you want to run Pr then you don't have much choice.

Hope this helps

Alan

[d_swiger]

Alan,

Thanks for the injection of sanity in this for me!

I have been getting ragged a bit on the forum at first having to defend my

skills & system from other users.

I have the same thing as you noticed. I have reverted back to an older Acronis

image in an attempt to start clean, Admin account, etc.

But it sounds like that will be fruitless!

I think I will wait a bit and see what happens.

Please let me know any updates you get from Adobe on this.

BTW, my other collateral problem is that when this happens, it screws up my CS5

install, requiring me to post security key because it thinks I have the

extended version!!

Also, all the other Adobe apps on the disc require the same nonsense

So I will probably just sit on the sidelines til they sort this out.

Thanks

Dan

Dan Swiger Photography

www.danswigerphotography.wordpress.com

www.danswigerphotography.com

[Noel Carboni]

My apologies for any "ragging" you're feeling from me.  As I appear to be one of the few posters trying to help you in this thread, I assume the comment was directed to me.  I'm honestly and truly trying to help you find what's special about your system that's causing this.  Perhaps we've been looking in the wrong places so far.

Just understand that whatever is wrong for you isn't wrong with a lot of others' systems.  You guys ought to try to figure out what you have in common that it's failing for you in the same way.  Same security suite?  Same entries on the hosts file?  Something.

-Noel

[d_swiger]

Noel,

No personal direction here, you help me get on the details sooner.

I didn't mean it that way, you needed to "rag on me" to get the ball rolling.

Sorry for the poor choice of words.

Anyway, there is another guy that is having the same problem over an extended

period of attempts to resolve,

including all the admin account stuff.

I will wait a bit to make any other changes .

I have reverted my system to an earlier image.

My original intent was an Admin account install, etc.

But since the problem I am having with CS6 also has corrupted my CS5 install

(requiring security code),

I will enjoy a trouble free use of CS5 for a bit until things are resolved.

Thanks

Dan Swiger Photography

www.danswigerphotography.wordpress.com

www.danswigerphotography.com

[apb_liv]

Dan

I don't have CS5. I have CS4 web premium and that works OK.

Adobe clearly changed something with CS6 activation and have given a small number of people like you and me a huge amount of grief. I have wastefd around 60 hours of my life on this

Regards

Alan

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[the_wine_snob]

Dan,

What often happens in a thread like this, where something is not working, as it should, is that it often comes down to a system-level issue, though finding out what that is, can be difficult.

Then, others report the same, or very similar issues, though the vast majority do not see the problems. That often boils down to something that might well be common on the faulting systems. If everyone with the problem were to list, say the programs, or processes, that launch at bootup, that common element might reveal itself.

Now, that problem, that is unique to a small sub-set of users might NOT be something in the Startup or Services section, and that is but an example. It could be that they all have the same video card, or the same RAID controller, etc..

As Noel mentioned, it could be Security settings, User Accounts, anti-virus, anti-malware, or anti-anything, that is common in those systems. When there is more than one user with such problems, there is often (but not always), something common, and trying to figure out what that is, can be very difficult. That is one of the reasons that most of us will ask a bunch of questions - we're trying to narrow things down to the common denominator. It's usually not as easy as spotting that a user has a display issue, and a video driver from 2006. Those are the easy problems. What you, and the OP describe might not be so easy to determine, and then each of you might have the same result, but caused by slightly different equipment/software.

Unfortunately, I have no fresh ideas, as Noel and others have hit the "high notes." All that I can do is wish you luck, because as Curt pointed out, this should not be happening.

When things DO get sorted out, please update the thread, as that info might well help the next user, with the same problem.

Good luck,

Hunt

[apb_liv]

For info, my problem machine is a Dell XPS15 laptop with win7 64bit ultimate installed and I am using CS6 production premium suite. The win install is my university install so includes MS office 2007, sophos antivirus and a few other things specific to my work in the default install. I have always had a problem with CS6 activation on this laptop (apart from one week about a week after installing it), but no problem at all with CS4.

I use the same university win 7 64bit install on my desktop PC (HP but at home now and can't remeber the exact model) and have no issues with CS6 on that one.

Alan

[the_wine_snob]

Thank you for that information. Maybe everyone can look for common elements with their machines.

That the same basic install works on one machine, but not on another, leads me to believe that there is something with the Dell, that is causing the issue.

You mention that it is the university's machine. Is it networked? If so, where is the My Documents folder? PS has issues with some networked environments, but that does not mean that a network is causing your issue - it's just the first "target" that I would shoot for.

Also, is the anti-virus program the same, and with the same settings, on both machines?

If it was the HP with the problem, my next question would be if you have the HP fingerprint verification unit enabled, as that has caused some issues with Premiere, but that is your "good" machine.

I still think that we'll find one element, that is causing the licensing issue, and hope that someone spots it in a timely fashion.

Good luck,

Hunt

[d_swiger]

My system is home built, that has worked through CS3 & CS5 installations.

It is an nForce mother board, 8gb of ram, quad core.

It has been rock solid since being built

I am using Kapersky anti-virus.

When I did the install, I disabled it & disabled the native Firewall.

[the_wine_snob]

Thank you for that info. I do not see a parallel there.

I also assume that you are not networked, per se, with such as My Documents being located on a server. If so, that blows one theory here.

Appreciated, and maybe others can find a solution, whether common, or uncommon.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Noel Carboni]

Did you both get your Photoshop distribution directly from Adobe?  Not through a 3rd party seller?

I wish I could make some inference from the important fact that d_swiger has found the problem to "infect" both the current and next most recent versions of Photoshop.  For obvious reasons Adobe doesn't lay out their licensing scheme, so it's not clear what services / facilities both have in common.  I have the FLEXnet licensing service on my machine, and I think at least one version of Photoshop uses that, but I'm just not sure.

-Noel

[the_wine_snob]

I believe that FLEXnet was used from CS until at least CS 4. I cannot comment on what might have come afterwards.

Hunt

[Noel Carboni]

Indeed.  I happen to have a Windows 8 virtual machine on which I do testing, and it only has Photoshop CS6 on it.  I fired it up and looked carefully.  No FLEXnet service appears there.

-Noel

[the_wine_snob]

OK, thanks for that info. I do seem to recall that the licensing mechanism had been changed, but do not recall the details.

Hunt

[d_swiger]

BTW, an added twist on my CS5 issue.

I had the generic CS5, not the extended.

After I installed CS6, it acted as though I had the Extended version, hence the need for a security key or trial period.

Sure hope the test guys are reviewing the licensing test cases!!

BTW, that's what I do, software test.

Dan

[Noel Carboni]

Well, to be fair, the trial version ALWAYS shows the Extended feature set, on the general principle that Adobe wants you to get to love it then pay the BIG bucks for Extended.  I think that you saw it revert to "unactivated" status just says it triggered "trial mode" again somehow.

By the way, I had Photoshop CS5 Standard and upgraded to CS6 Extended on the same workstation without trouble.  It's not a given that they must interfere with one another.  We still haven't nailed down why that's happening for you.  Unfortunately, I think Adobe will be required to do that, and they're almost certainly not going to join us here for a public discussion on the matter.

-Noel

[d_swiger]

Noel, that makes sense. I suspect, like many other software packages, features are included so that upgrades can be effected by an up-sell/license change.

BTW, lest I forget, my copy of CS6 is from an employee-purchased package and is the "Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium" package.

I aslo got Lightroom 4, but waiting to solve this problem 1st

Dan

[Noel Carboni]

Hm, that's another good and possibly important clue.  In my own case, they're both standalone Photoshop packages.

I don't mean to pry, but you mentioned "employee-purchased"...  Any chance parts of the package are being used on different systems?  I can vaguely imagine a situation where each usage on a different system causes deactivation on the other, but that would be pretty weird and probably can't happen in reality.

-Noel

[d_swiger]

No problem. Legit package/gift from friend. All pieces are installed on the one machine.

Dan

[the_wine_snob]

Legit package/gift from friend.

While not a "red flag," there is a yellow one waving for me. Can you elaborate a bit more?

Good luck,

Hunt

[apb_liv]

Good morning (UK time)

My HP is in my university office and is always connected to Uni network (MWS – managed windows service). My documents are located on a local NAS drive in my office and I don’t use the roaming profile.

My Dell is on MWS when at work either wired or wireless. Away from work it may be on wifi or not. My documents are on the local hard drive (synced to the NAS) and I don’t use the roaming profile.

My CS6 is Production Premium (Education version) – I bought the DVD and then got serial number from adobe.

My CS4 is Web Premium (Education version) – I bought the DVD and then got serial number from adobe.

Alan

[the_wine_snob]

Good morning [US time].

Just so that everyone is clear, the one installation with the problem is the one where My Documents is on the NAS. The one that does not exhibit the problem has My Documents located on an internal drive. Is that correct?

Hunt

[apb_liv]

No. The HP with mydocs on the NAS is fine. The Dell has all the problems and mydocs are local.

Alan

Message Sent with BlackBerry

[the_wine_snob]

Thank you for that correction. Glad that I asked.

Hunt

[Noel Carboni]

Are apb_liv and d_swiger two different people?  The conversation got a bit confusing.

-Noel