Uh...Robert, I don't know who told you that but, as long as I've been supporting Avids, the dongles have always been backwards compatible and have been supported as such. 

I've been running 2.8 under a 3.0 dongle most of the way through beta and it works fine. Most of my systems have mixed version of the software and, as long as the dongle is up to date, they all run really well. 

So, while you can't use the 3.0 updater to blast your dongle for 2.8, as long as the dongle is running 3.0, 2.8 should run and be supported just fine.

The only thing here is we never tested MC v2.8 with a zapped v3.0 dongle and have no idea how it will perform.

Marianna

Things may have changed but policy was always that dongles were backwards compatible. As long as the software launches, then the dongle should be good to go.

BUT.... wht the issues of compatibility with Studio and MC - I woudln't go there.    Xpro upgrade to MC 2.8 and stay there or go to MC 3.0 and put your Protools on a different system.

Marianna

 Just had a quick look at the Readme for 2.8 which also says that Protools LE should be placed on a different physical system. 

However, Avid's own Q and A doc on 2.8 says that it will function with the Digi 002 and Pro Tools LE 7.3.1 and that all other component parts will work.  See

http://www.avid.com/promos/mcsavings/MCSavingFAQ.pdf

So, if MC3.0 is a different animal to 2.8 I think it would be helpful if Studio Complete Users were given some clarity on how to achieve the seamless results of video production that was the core concept of Complete and (despite some hiccups along the way) is a very worthy one.  (Let us not forget the Mojo either).

Perhaps Marianna, you could assist in moving such an idea forward?

Interesting... I was about to post again but was distracted... I was going to comment on the fact that there is no guarantee that MC 2.8 will work with Pro Tools LE either... although we have had it working fine with a previous version of MC here -- sans Mojo.

I have previously made Avid aware of the discrepancy with which you are referring... and I have reminded them again, fwiw.

But I still say that the best course is to follow Marianna's direction and my earlier post... either do a dual boot (not something I am personally fond of) or put it on a separate system.

Trust me... I share the frustration of these programs not playing together. It has been an issue that has been around for years and years with Pro and MC... although many, including me, have gotten them to work together just fine. I long for the day that this issue is resolved for good, both in real life and in the "read me" documentation.

 Not wishing to prolong this thread indefinitely, but could you give a few lines on the implications for the hardware side of things ie the Digi 002 and Mojo DNA if one is to use MC3 or 2.8?  For example where do they get connected when running two systems?  Are there any glitches when setting up or running them?

Another issue  I have found is that although my 002 works fine with MC2.8 I cannot launch MC without the 002 being turned on.  With XPro I had the option to run with it off.  MC closes during audio initializing if the 002 is not on.  I am concerned that if my 002 dies, something that has happened in the past, that I will be dead in the water and unable to run MC.  Is there a way to run MC without the 002?