bent & broken key

[Anonymous]

Due to an accident last night, my key is now broken, at a 45 degree angle with broken contacts.
Naturally this had to happen on Labor Day weekend when everything is closed and I have a Tuesday project deadline.
What to do? - Suggestions please!

[Gerald Hoffman]

You don't say if you have subscription to ArchiCAD or not. If you do you will have dongle insurance included. If not you may have to purchase a replacement key. In both cases I would immediately get in touch with your reseller.

Hope this helps.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi Oona,

Can imagine the panic you're in. As Gerald said, a replacement key overnighted by your reseller can happen. But, with the Labor Day weekend, unless you personally know your reseller or another user in the area to call at home, you may be in a pickle.

A friend had the same thing happen - only 20 degrees in his case - from accidentally stepping on the key sticking out of his notebook while standing on the table to reach something. In his case, he could wiggle it back to making a connection until he got a replacement.

You might consider taking a photo of your keyplug to show the state it is currently in to support your unintentional damage claim. Then, consider prying the plastic case open and seeing if you cannot reconnect the contacts in order to meet your deadline? (The photo of course is in case your key is then in pieces, your reseller knows that it was damaged, and not merely that you were disassembling it for 'fun'.)

Good luck!

Karl

[Aaron Bourgoin]

Damaged keys are replaced without charges other than shipping. Lost and stolen keys have a replacement fee of about $100USD.

Can you borrow someone's key in the meantime? Someone? Anyone?

Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

Hi you guys - thanks for the replies!
I have been out at the Apple Store genius bar and to CompUSA, to no avail. For various reasons, they can't fix it. Me neither! I bent it back as much as I could but the contacts on the sides are broken.
Yep, it's a valid version 8.1 v1, but the kicker is that my rep (Berry Yamashita/D'Arch/Seattle) is no longer an ArchiCAD rep.
I called a local dealer (3DCadco) in Miami and left a message, but no answer.
Is there any way that there is a legal code that I could get via email that would let it function without the key?
I have a friend here in town who is running ArchiCAD 10 - would her key work on 8.1?

[Gerald Hoffman]

AFAIK any key registered for a later release will work backwards so yes it should work.

Cheers,

[Karl Ottenstein]

There is also the possibility of accessing a friend/colleague's license over the internet:

http://www.archicadwiki.com/TechNotes/Example%20of%20Using%20Wibu%20Key%20Over%20The%20Internet%20wi...

I tried this and was able to share my key with all computers on my local network, but missed some setting in my firewall, router, or DSL modem that prevented me from accessing it remotely.

Good luck!

Karl

[Anonymous]

Thanks again to all who replied. Unfortunately I can't borrow my friend's key - it's in use, and don't know anyone with a network. I'll call Graphisoft Tues. a.m. to get a new key shipped.
Meanwhile, I downloaded the AC12 Trial, but got only a solid black immovable window when I clicked install. Do you need G5 for 12 to run? I have a Powerbook G4, OS X 10.4.11, 1.5 G RAM
Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated!

[Karl Ottenstein]

Oona wrote:
Meanwhile, I downloaded the AC12 Trial, but got only a solid black immovable window when I clicked install. Do you need G5 for 12 to run? I have a Powerbook G4, OS X 10.4.11, 1.5 G RAM
Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated!

Are you sure you did not download the Intel version by mistake?

Your powerbook is not unlike my old G4 desktop, where 12 runs fine, also 10.4.11

Karl

[Anonymous]

I don't think so - I downloaded AC12-USA-MacPPC.dmg - is that correct?

I'm not really sure it would have been a great solution, thinking about the learning curve and that I wouldn't be able to open those files next month!