I have MC 3.5.1 running with a dongle on a new Mac Pro and have two problems.

I have two Mac User Acccounts, a personal one that I migrated from my MacBookPro and the main user account. Both have Admin privileges.

When I start MC with the main user account I get a a notice "Software activation failed. Please contact customer support for further assistance". I click okay and get a Welcome to Avid Media Composer window where I'm asked how I want to activate my software, whether by internet, by phone or would like to continue using my dongle. I click the dongle option and Media Composer starts. The dongle btw is connected to a hub.

My question: will this continue or will the Avid learn that a dongle is attached and stop asking?

Second point: When I attempt to start MC while using the personal account I get the above questions but after answering "dongle", the software tells me

LogFile_ForMC::LogFile_ForMC()

Error{-16777178} unable to:

newLogFile->OpenFile() failed.

Does anyone know how this problem can be solved?

Thanks!

RodneyinMunich:

Second point: When I attempt to start MC while using the personal account I get the above questions but after answering "dongle", the software tells me

LogFile_ForMC::LogFile_ForMC()

Error{-16777178} unable to:

newLogFile->OpenFile() failed.

We had the same issue with multiple users. The way I ended up getting around this was to install 3.5.4 and delete the complete Avid Media Composer folder inside the shared users folder. I kept the project and users folders and put them back in after starting the application the first time. A work around I did up until I reinstalled was to delete the fatal errors folder when I recieved the error..

I trashed the Fatal Error reports and started MC in my personal user account. Started first time (still runninng 3.5.1). Thanks for your help!

Now if I can find out how to stop the little fella telling me that software activation failed

Because the system is looking to compare the NIC to your serial number, I'm guessing that the hub is the problem. Try connecting the dongle directly and then activate. After that you may be able to move the dongle back.

BLKDOG:

Because the system is looking to compare the NIC to your serial number, I'm guessing that the hub is the problem. Try connecting the dongle directly and then activate. After that you may be able to move the dongle back.

Hi BLKDOG!

just tried your suggestion, moved dongle to a front USB port. No change. New start. also no change. If no other dongle user is having the same problem, might it have something to do with the fact that I installed MC on the MacPro and tested it with the "14 day trial"? I moved the dongle across a few days into the trial period when I was sure everything was working. The 14 day trial has been over for a week or so now, unfortunately I'm not sure when the "SA failed" window started to appear.

It is a bit irritating and sort of scary. I get the feeling I might possibly be locked out of using the software every time it starts.

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