Bloody Ad Obe

Retune said:
LR6 support had ended. Adobe advisers are happy to advise you to rent CC, but I doubt they'll do much more than that these days apart from resetting the activation count if you know the correct incantation to get through to the right person. There are plenty of reports elesewhere of non-CC users being given the brush off when they contact Adobe.
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It's this kind of business practice that makes software piracy seem much less unethical.
 
If ever there was an advert for not bothering to ask for advice, this thread is it. :(
 
gramps said:
If ever there was an advert for not bothering to ask for advice, this thread is it. :(
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Not at all. Simon has been given some useful advice that *may* help him get sorted and will certainly help him to both plan for the future and manage expectations.
 
Ed Sutton said:
Of course Lightroom is for processing digital image files. The clue is in the name which is a twisting of 'darkroom' where film images are processed as Lightroom is used in a light room as opposed to a dark one. What can be done to files is pretty close to what can be done to images in a darkroom. If that's not processing software then I don't know what is.

Photoshop is a graphics programme.
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I totally agree with you.

By the time I moved from Photoshop (eugghh....) to LR the latter was aimed purely at photographers. As such it was a massive breath of fresh air. It is common knowledge that PS was originally aimed at design professionals. I found it hideously difficult to use.

What this thread has done is get me worried that when I move everything over to my new PC in a week or so's time it will be impossible to re-install Lightroom.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Why didn't the OP didn't give the chat with an Adobe advisor a go?
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Possibly because he's already tried it without success?

Many years ago, I worked on a project for the old DoES where a piece of software was a small but important component. When the software failed to perform as per the manual, I was given the contact number of our "dedicated" representative by the project coordinator.

After leaving half a dozen requests to call back I finally cornered him and asked for assistance. Several days later, the "third line technical support" still hadn't come back to us and I cobbled together a workaround. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't quick but it did the job. No prizes for guessing the identity of the not so helpful vendor.

Experiences of that nature have a tendency to discourage the expenditure of too much effort with such companies and encourage the release of tension through an (admitedly) otherwise useless rant.
 
Retune said:
That isn't what we're bitching about. Imagine you pick up one of your old cameras (it's a few years old, but it cost you a grand or two back in the day, and was still perfectly functional yesterday) and it refuses to work. Checking the LCD, you see a message like 'BIOS has expired and is no longer supported. Please recycle this camera.' Checking online, you see that the company no longer sells cameras that fit your lenses, but they have a lucrative business in renting them out. Might you not be a little bit irritated?
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Exactly this!
 
AJQS said:
I did reinstall it, from scratch.
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18th of March. If they shut the server off on the 19th then you could no longer install it. I don't know for certain this IS what's happened, but I do know that sooner or later Adobe will decide I can't reinstall and use my purchased software any longer, and then it will be useless.

It's not just Adobe - DXO do the same thing too - but that doesn't make it right.
 
jerry12953 said:
I totally agree with you.

By the time I moved from Photoshop (eugghh....) to LR the latter was aimed purely at photographers. As such it was a massive breath of fresh air. It is common knowledge that PS was originally aimed at design professionals. I found it hideously difficult to use.

What this thread has done is get me worried that when I move everything over to my new PC in a week or so's time it will be impossible to re-install Lightroom.
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I think if you subscribe to adobe you really won't have a problem. Copy the catalogue and files over - download, reinstall and log in using your details.

Personally I think you, and most people here, would be better served by the alternatives out there but I've never really gotten on with any adobe products.
 
SFTPhotography said:
I think if you subscribe to adobe you really won't have a problem. Copy the catalogue and files over - download, reinstall and log in using your details.

Personally I think you, and most people here, would be better served by the alternatives out there but I've never really gotten on with any adobe products.
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If you mean by do I have a subscription, the answer is no. I have a legally purchased copy of LR6.14. There may well be better software out there now, and I've considered the alternatives, but I have such a difficult time learning how to use new software I'd rather stick with what I know until it is absolutely necessary to change. I just hope that moment is not now.

Time to consult the Lightroom Forum, methinks.
 
jerry12953 said:
If you mean by do I have a subscription, the answer is no. I have a legally purchased copy of LR6.14. There may well be better software out there now, and I've considered the alternatives, but I have such a difficult time learning how to use new software I'd rather stick with what I know until it is absolutely necessary to change. I just hope that moment is not now.

Time to consult the Lightroom Forum, methinks.
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I think if there were really a general problem with LR6 activations it would be all over the Lightroom and Adobe forums by now. They'll switch off activation one day, as they have for CS3 and earlier, but they haven't killed LR6 yet as far as I know. But if you do run into problems, they may not be helpful because 'support has ended'.

If you need the installer for 6.14 see:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/bloody-ad-obe.726254/#post-8964074

For problems with resetting the activation count, see:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/bloody-ad-obe.726254/#post-8964042
 
Thanks very much for those links and it's re-assuring to see that one was dated less than a month ago. Hopefully it will be possible to re-install LR after all. I may then begin to explore Photolab or something similar in a non-pressurised situation.

The OP may be a luddite but I have massive sympathies for him.
 
learningtofly said:
"Simples"? Yeah, okay.
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The cost of my kit was 15 years ago. The cost of the software is now. The income then and my income now do not correlate. We are having a good month if we have £600 come in. £8/month is a lot of money to us. Thankfully I sold some more stuff from the attic and have the money to pay for the On1RAW and hopefully that will enable me to earn a bit more pittance. I have tried getting a job, it is impossible, age, lack of modern qualifications and the fact I haven't worked for 4 years now due to recuperating means I can't even get a job on a road gang.
You and your type need to wind it in and not relate everyone elses' situation to your own. Adobe shafted me, I don't have enough fight or energy left to start taking on CEOs and customer care people (who don't). There should be no need, the companyshouldn't try and pull a fast one on their customers - or those customers will take umbrage and go elsewhere. Stuff Adobe and their rental model.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Why didn't the OP didn't give the chat with an Adobe advisor a go?

Surely that's the logical first step before going into a rant on here.
Not the first time and probably not the last either.
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Because I couldn't work the chat.. I typed into the box. Nothing came back after an hour. So I gave up. I took my computer to someone who knows about computers... and let him sort it out. he couldm't either, so what chance would I have? I can't send an email - I can reply to one, but I have no idea how to send a new one.
 
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j crossley said:
Because it doesn’t achieve anything. The OP is in exactly the same position now as he was prior to starting this thread, ie, he cannot activate his software. What he should have done, and can still do, is contact Adobe Customer Service and try and sort the problem out over the phone. If that doesn’t work then he should send a forthright e-mail to the Adobe hierarchy. Even if that doesn’t get the desired result, at least he has let Adobe know what he thinks of them. I doubt very much that any of the upper echelons of Adobe will actually read this thread.

As an example, a while a go I was overcharged for my broadband by 13 pence. When I contacted customer services I was told that that particular month in question was charged pro rata due to a price increase. My response was, how can a pro rata month be 13 pence more than the new monthly rate, it’s a physical impossibility. The woman I was talking to was insistent that the payment was correct. So I sent a forthright e-mail to the CEO of the broadband company. The result was that I got a £20 refund for being overcharged by 13 pence.

I suppose I could have come on here and whinged about it, but what would that have achieved.
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Of course it achieves something. It has achieved two things fo rme this time:

1. I vented my anger at a faceless corporate and got a great deal of sympathetic response from others who feel the same way about being shafted (how we see it). If you are happy to have your leg lifted, carry on.

2. I received a great deal of helpful advice, which was balanced by a similar number of replies with no helpful information within. Then there are the private messages I have had helping me with the situation and guiding me through the maze. To those I give grateful thanks. To those who have only tried to rub salt into the wound, I question why they would want to cause more harm to someone. Strange behaviour.
 
I use LR/PS as standard ,basically as my lad pays for it as part of his rent , I have looked at alternatives but most of them have a catch 22 upgrade built in . The one plug in I use topaz de.noise Ai also requires a yearly update to keep on top of the game .. and although I do reasonably well with current usage there are times I get a glitch and need my son to sort things out .. the whole processing game over the years has got better but far more technical ,rather like many years ago when I used to develop film in BW and then moved on to colour . Things move on some of us can absorb it others fall by the wayside .
If I was totally without LR I would possibly look at photos on the Mac for storage and affinity for PP . If that would work ..but for now just take each day as it comes

P.s I totally sympathise with Simon the OP juggling money you don’t have is not easy .there probably is a work round out there it’s just finding it
 
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@Lensflare

If you need to find out how to send an email first find out what email program you are using (normally "help" menu then "about")

Then just try Googling "how to send a new email in "whatever program".

I'm in IT support but if I don't know something I always check on Google.
 
Lensflare said:
The cost of my kit was 15 years ago. The cost of the software is now. The income then and my income now do not correlate. We are having a good month if we have £600 come in. £8/month is a lot of money to us. Thankfully I sold some more stuff from the attic and have the money to pay for the On1RAW and hopefully that will enable me to earn a bit more pittance. I have tried getting a job, it is impossible, age, lack of modern qualifications and the fact I haven't worked for 4 years now due to recuperating means I can't even get a job on a road gang.
You and your type need to wind it in and not relate everyone elses' situation to your own. Adobe shafted me, I don't have enough fight or energy left to start taking on CEOs and customer care people (who don't). There should be no need, the company shouldn't try and pull a fast one on their customers - or those customers will take umbrage and go elsewhere. Stuff Adobe and their rental model.
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Simon, regardless of views about software and subscription services, I'm really sorry to hear about the situation you're in (I genuinely empathise, as - thanks to COVID - I had literally no income for 15 months before being fortunate enough to land a new role). All the very best going forward.
 
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So out of idle curiosity I asked the following question on the Adobe Forum:

If I have a legitimate copy of Lightroom 6 on a CD with a legitimate License Key, and the software is compatible with my computers operating system, will I still be able to activate the software once it has been installed. A simple YES or NO answer will suffice.
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And the response was:

if it's not currently activated on two other computers, yes. otherwise, no.
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Make what you will of that.
 
The full version allows 2 installations (the version that was bundled with hardware like my copy of V5 permits a single install, but doesn't call home to check).
 
Yes, that's just the normal 2 computer limit. The activation servers, while they remain available, also handle deactivation and keep count of how many copies are currently installed. But if one of your copies is installed on a dead computer, you need to go through the process in my link above to release that licence for re-use.
 
Retune said:
Yes, that's just the normal 2 computer limit. The activation servers, while they remain available, also handle deactivation and keep count of how many copies are currently installed. But if one of your copies is installed on a dead computer, you need to go through the process in my link above to release that licence for re-use.
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My copy was on a dead PC and Adobe helped me sort it out to reinstall on the new machine.

Topsy said:
My copy is LR 6 and did eventually install but where I fell over was the RAW support for my cameras was in updates to LR 6.14 and I can no longer get those. I spent ages with Adobe support but to no avail.
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Quite surprised by that, I know of others who have had to reinstall and Adobe helped them to get 6.14 again.
 
tijuana taxi said:
My copy was on a dead PC and Adobe helped me sort it out to reinstall on the new machine.



Quite surprised by that, I know of others who have had to reinstall and Adobe helped them to get 6.14 again.
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Yes, but that was my experience just a couple of weeks ago.
 
Topsy said:
My copy is LR 6 and did eventually install but where I fell over was the RAW support for my cameras was in updates to LR 6.14 and I can no longer get those. I spent ages with Adobe support but to no avail.
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Did you try the 6.14 installer linked above? I downloaded the installer (1.1GB) and unpacked it with 7-Zip, and there are references to 6.14 in some of the files in the archive.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Might be worth another try, could be another agent will get it sorted
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Retune said:
Did you try the 6.14 installer linked above? I downloaded the installer (1.1GB) and unpacked it with 7-Zip, and there are references to 6.14 in some of the files in the archive.
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Thanks both.

I will try again when I need to but I returned the new computer and am back on my old one which woorks for now.

I didn't try the likn but have saved it for when I need to get a new computer and will go there, thanks again.
 
Lensflare said:
For my Nikon RAW shots I am still using the FREE Capture NX2 that came as Capture NX with the D2s in 2006..... it still works flawlessly. It will only do the Nikon RAW files though, which is fine for 90% of what I do. The drone has a funny RAW that needed another programme, Lightroom from back when was resurected to do it, and it did.... for a couple of months. I expect what I have from On1 will last me for years, provided I can learn how to use the steps. That is going to be my biggest hurdle.
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Simon,

Nikon recently launched a new suite of software called NX Studio, which is very much like Capture NX (but better) and incorporated View NX and NX Transfer. It's free on the Nikon support web site here https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/195.html

As you already use Capture NX then the learning curve is going to be very short :)
 
I hadn't spotted that Adobe also nuked CS4 back in April. It can no longer be installed and activated:


Once again, it's that same disingenuous excuse 'The aging activation servers for those apps had to be retired'. CS4 was replaced by CS5 back in April 2010, and since it was sold as a boxed product there were presumably some in the supply chain for months after that. So I suppose Adobe are killing their 'perpetual' licence software about 10 years after the last purchased copies were activated for the first time. As with CS3, the full Master Collection retailed in the UK for over £2300, and Adobe have now reset its value to £0. There are copies on ebay today for nearly £600, but the purchasers will be throwing their money away.

What's different this time is that there's no option to obtain a version that does not require online activation, as they did for a while with CS2 and CS3. Presumably they'll shortly be giving CS5, CS6 and Lightroom 6 the same treatment. CS5 was replaced in April 2012, so I predict it will be killed in 2023.
 
FWIW, I decided yesterday to use my laptop for photography editing when we're away on holidays, up till now I've simply stored the images and edited when we got home. I had no problem with installing my purchased copy of LR6 6.14.
I still had the installation package saved on my pc so I simply copied it to the laptop via a USB pen drive. After installation I was prompted to log in to my Adobe account and was presented with a license input dialogue box and that was that.

Now here is the rub, until earlier this year I subscribed to the full CC package on my iMac but I also wanted to install my LR6 6.14 on the windows pc that I was using for gaming and other stuff that wouldn't run on the iMac. The problem was that LR6 6.14 could not be installed on the Windows pc while I was still logged in to my Adobe account on the Mac.

I was advised by an Adobe agent to set up a second account with Adobe using another email address using the Mac and then l was told to log out of my account on the Mac and install the LR6 6.14 on the Windows pc. I did that and was prompted to log in to my account which I did using the new account after which I successfully set up LR6 6.14 on the PC. I then logged back into my original Adobe account on the Mac and was able to use CC on the Mac and LR6 6.14 on the PC.

The situation doesn't arise now as the Mac has been moved on and I no longer subscribe to CC using Affinity instead. I must admit that it didn't seem "kosher" to me at the time but I couldn't see anything illegal about it as I was using a purchased copy of LR6 6.14 and the work around had been suggested by an Adobe agent.

Anyway, Tl;dr, I suspect the problem lies with the OP's account and not with any activation server problem. Sorry for the long boring post but I have form for them :LOL:
 
This is the company line on installing v6.14 on a new PC -

"Support is no longer available for your product version. Phone and chat support is not available for free or discontinued software or services. You are welcome to visit our Community Support Forum: https://community.adobe.com/ where you can post questions, and potentially find answers for your product version. The forums are updated by other Adobe product users, worth noting that the community experts will not be able to assist with : registration, activation, download, and/or installation issues. We suggest you upgrade to the Creative Cloud membership which includes access to new versions and features as they are released and the Creative Cloud membership keeps your apps current at no additional cost"

In other words "Up Yours"

This was my reply -

"I don't need support. I have a perfectly legal copy of LR v6.14 and I would like to install it on my new PC."

I was then sent a link which I am at present attempting to use.
 
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jerry12953 said:
This is the company line on installing v6.14 on a new PC -

"Support is no longer available for your product version. Phone and chat support is not available for free or discontinued software or services. You are welcome to visit our Community Support Forum: https://community.adobe.com/ where you can post questions, and potentially find answers for your product version. The forums are updated by other Adobe product users, worth noting that the community experts will not be able to assist with : registration, activation, download, and/or installation issues. We suggest you upgrade to the Creative Cloud membership which includes access to new versions and features as they are released and the Creative Cloud membership keeps your apps current at no additional cost"

In other words "Up Yours"

This was my reply -

"I don't need support. I have a perfectly legal copy of LR v6.14 and I would like to install it on my new PC."

I was then sent a link which I am at present attempting to use.
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If you can't download it, I have a copy saved that could be sent over using a file transfer service.
 
Retune said:
I hadn't spotted that Adobe also nuked CS4 back in April. It can no longer be installed and activated:


Once again, it's that same disingenuous excuse 'The aging activation servers for those apps had to be retired'. CS4 was replaced by CS5 back in April 2010, and since it was sold as a boxed product there were presumably some in the supply chain for months after that. So I suppose Adobe are killing their 'perpetual' licence software about 10 years after the last purchased copies were activated for the first time. As with CS3, the full Master Collection retailed in the UK for over £2300, and Adobe have now reset its value to £0. There are copies on ebay today for nearly £600, but the purchasers will be throwing their money away.

What's different this time is that there's no option to obtain a version that does not require online activation, as they did for a while with CS2 and CS3. Presumably they'll shortly be giving CS5, CS6 and Lightroom 6 the same treatment. CS5 was replaced in April 2012, so I predict it will be killed in 2023.
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I was on CS2 until I changed computers and couldn't get it to work. Adobe were no help but I stupidly bought CS5 and I'm still using it. I suppose it's only a matter of time until they kill it. I did try and download the trial version of the latest Adobe stuff but it wouldn't install and I've no idea why.
 
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