Maxwell Render | Official public forum

hi there

this might not be a problem to all of you, but for me, it is often the case.
at university, there are lot's of people around me, so it is very well
possible that someone steals my license. I know, maybe it's paranoid,
and I mostly activate my password protected screensaver, but still. Maxwell
is expensive (even though students get a very good price, thank you
for that!) and I don't want some looser run around with my license.

I could imagine that for alot of people, like for freelancers that work
in several offices, it could be of use if maxwell would ask for a password
at startup. But hey, maybe these are really only my worries

I already thought about writing a tool myself, a simple program that
writes your license into a .dat file after prompting for a password, and
removes the file when maxwell is not neede.

What are your thoughts about this matter?

I honestly don't like how nextlimit handles the whole
license thingy, while it is very simple, it's at the same
time also very attrative for thieves.

greets
yves

Don't worry... I happen to know first hand that in the event that a license is stolen a trojan will infiltrate the offenders machine and spontaneously bombard the thief with every technical post, paper and thread ever authored by Thomas An. resulting in their inevitable and painful death when their brains ooze out their ears from shear confusion. I believe JDHill wrote the algorithm

Seriously though, I remember someone stating that the license could be tracked somehow, which doesn't sound too far fetched.

I really wouldn't worry about it though. NL knows you're legit with your license. If by some chance you suspect someone may have stolen your license just send them an email and I'm sure they'd issue a new one to you.

In terms of alternatives. Not sure. I know I personally can't stand dongles. Break the dongle accidentally and then your stuck waiting for a replacement. Yikes.

Luis

PS - @Thomas An and JD - All in fun my friends

Put your license.dat file in the same folder as these two batch files
ON A MEMORY STICK!

Run the batch file to copy the license so that you can work or remove
with the other batch file so you can be safe.

Unplugging and taking the USB Memory Stick with you, now your safe

Remember to read the warnings =) Using on your own risk!

right click - Save as

I wouldn't worry about that. If somebody had chosen the illegal route I'm pretty sure he would first look for a license file with emule or something like that instead of trying to steal it from you.

Hehe...Luis...how did you know?

Btw, no kidding about dongles...I'm up the creek right now with troubles from one of those...I have a software I need to run (!!!), but my new machine has no parallel port!!! ...and I'm not sure the company will be able to switch it out for a USB...maybe a couple hundred bucks? ...imho, a simple license.dat is verrrry nice.

JDHill wrote:Hehe...Luis...how did you know?

Btw, no kidding about dongles...I'm up the creek right now with troubles from one of those...I have a software I need to run (!!!), but my new machine has no parallel port!!! ...and I'm not sure the company will be able to switch it out for a USB...maybe a couple hundred bucks? ...imho, a simple license.dat is verrrry nice.

uggh that royally sucks JD. Would it be possible to use an old machine and somehow access the license through your network? I know network licensing can be cost prohibitive though.

I think the smartest strategies software developers can have is to incentify purchasing a legal copy of their software. IOW, creating exclusive forums, user content, tutorials (only viewable online and not downloadable), exclusive contests and the sorts. that ways those with licensing stay ahead of those with cracked copies. Unfortunately, there isn't a single program out there that hasn't been cracked which raises prices and makes it harder for legit users to purchase their tools. f-ing sucks.

right now I'm saving up my sofa money and spare change for rhino! did the demo deal a little while ago and fell in love.

Luis

Naw, not this one...I've got two other (Sentinel) parallel dongles running on a server across my network (works slick), but this particular one is just too old to know how to do that trick...and of course, it's the one software that I really need. ...still waiting to hear back from the company about a USB, otherwise, I'll build another machine with a parallel, just to run this on. Guess I should've had my thinking-cap on a little tighter when I built my new machine, but...I didn't.

Aside, on/off topic...if anyone else is in a similar situation, and the software uses a Sentinel parallel dongle, you can try downloading the newest drivers ( http://safenet-inc.com/support/files/Se ... _7.3.2.zip ) ...they include a license server which can be used with many of the more recent (say, newer than 4 years?) dongles. Otherwise...ya know...good luck.

JD

JD must still be running 3ds Max R2 for DOS......

Seriously, why not just get an adapter........

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... allel+port

.

Got no PCI slots...graphics card covers up the 2nd PCI-Express slot...USB -> parallel adapter won't work...so...I'm pretty much up the creek.

JDHill wrote:Got no PCI slots...graphics card covers up the 2nd PCI-Express slot...USB -> parallel adapter won't work...so...I'm pretty much up the creek.

Eeek! that kinda sucks...

You could probably use one of these

http://www.rackmountnet.com/Accessories ... 6-RC2-010/

or one of these:

http://www.rackmountnet.com/Accessories ... -RC1-022E/

...but you'd probably end up spending more than if you just got a different MB

Surely appreciate the effort ...but, umm...maybe this will help explain:



...with 4GB ( can go to 8 ), an 8800 GTS, 3 Raptors, DVD...well, let's just say it's a slightly tight fit.

Other than this one small problem, I completely love it...it's tiny, dead-silent, about as fast as my noisy(!!!) dual-Xeon 3.8...but it just has absolutely, positively, no way for me to hook up to a parallel port.

Ahhhh... Now I see.

We can still make this work. All you need is a drill, a band saw, some bubble gum, and rubber bands.. NO, really, this will work!....

Maybe your best bet would be to buy an old clunker off of e-bay or at a garage sale, and slap it on to your network. There's plenty of old P-III laptops that would be pretty quiet and low power consumption. You could probably grab one for under $50.


BTW, that's a pretty sweet system you've got. Nice to have so much packed into such a small quiet package. I've had a couple shuttle systems, so I know how tight they can be inside. I can only imagine how cramped yours is...

People can use my license all they want, good for them. They'd probably rather go for my credit card though.

You're right, maybe I'm too paranoid
I just think maxwell has an unbelievably good offer
for students and I don't want to fall into disgrace at nextlimit

greets
yves

JDHill: what the box is it? Vendor name?