Severity One issue with Capture One 20
A few hours after first installing Capture One-20 on Dec 6th I experienced a severity one issue with the product which means that I am unable to use it in any way - it will not even start. I notified technical support at Phase One and received a ticket number, but have been unable to get any solution to the problem since that date. I have sent repeated emails to support asking when I can expect a resolution; none of these mails has been responded to.
The purpose of this post is to ask for advice on how to make contact with a responsible representative of Phase One who can provide me with the support which I think I can reasonably expect. That is, I am not asking here for advice on how to solve the technical issue, which is why I have not given details of the issue. I understand enough about it to know that technical support are the only people who can fix this issue, Not even a re-installation of Windows is going to fix it.
Any advice on what approach I should use?
The purpose of this post is to ask for advice on how to make contact with a responsible representative of Phase One who can provide me with the support which I think I can reasonably expect. That is, I am not asking here for advice on how to solve the technical issue, which is why I have not given details of the issue. I understand enough about it to know that technical support are the only people who can fix this issue, Not even a re-installation of Windows is going to fix it.
Any advice on what approach I should use?
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It sounds like the sort of problem about which there is little to discuss until a solution is available.
December, for a number of reasons, is never a good time of year to have that sort of problem and December 2019 has probably been more challenging than most years for the Capture One support team.
I have always had reservations about email based support systems. But then again some users will prefer them and find the more managed systems, as C1 used to have, too cumbersome. And potentially just as limited in terms of knowing a real status.
However direct access to individuals is also open to problems and working around the rules to the detriment of the wider community as well as the business and is rarely successful in a generic support situation. At least in my experiences.
It is possible that a member of the team will have an opportunity to see your post here and investigate but I think that realistically, especially now we are past the so called "festive" season and the work schedule disruption that goes with it, your best option may simply be to push the email route once more.
If you are totally convinced that no ideas from the User Community have any chance of helping you.
Grant0 -
NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
A few hours after first installing Capture One-20 on Dec 6th I experienced a severity one issue with the product which means that I am unable to use it in any way - it will not even start. I notified technical support at Phase One and received a ticket number, but have been unable to get any solution to the problem since that date.
Please make sure you have a support ticket with Capture One support, not Phase One support.0 -
Paul_Steunebrink wrote:
Please make sure you have a support ticket with Capture One support, not Phase One support.
It's a relevant reminder - and I'm certain that I submitted my support request to the correct organisation because I saw on the (confusing) web-site the option to submit a support request as a Phase One and/or Leaf customer - and knew that that did not apply. I also received a ticket from Capture One support.0 -
SFA wrote:
It sounds like the sort of problem about which there is little to discuss until a solution is available.
<snip>
If you are totally convinced that no ideas from the User Community have any chance of helping you.
Grant
At the risk of boring knowledgeable members of this community, here is the situation that I have found:
If you suffer a failure of your processor while C1-20 is activated there is a high probability you will have to buy another licence for C1-20 as well as another cpu. In my experience of using computers (which began in 1961) I know of no other software that requires this sort of solution.
The issue is that C1-20 will detect the change of CPU and decide that you are running on a new computer, will check on how many installations your current licence entitles you to - most probably only one, for the typical non-professional user - and will refuse to start if you have already used your one entitlement (which you have). You will then be asked to de-activate an instance of C1-20 and reactivate it on the 'new' computer.
The 'Catch-22' is that you can only de-activate C1-20 from within an instance that is currently running - but your's isn't and cannot. But because there is no way you can predict a CPU failure and de-activate C1-20 before that happens, you are locked out, for ever, until you buy another licence.
To be more specific about my own installation, I didn't suffer a CPU failure but I did do a CPU replacement. I swapped a 10 year old i5-560 processor (quite slow by today's standards) for an equally old i7-860. Both are from 2009; internally they are almost identical, with the I7 having no disabled cores and running about 15% faster on multi-threaded tasks than the i5, but about 15% slower when single-threaded. I made this upgrade feeling that Capture 1 needed a little more CPU resource than my i5 was capable of delivering. I had no idea that C1-20 licence checking software would catch me out in this way, so I did not activate C1 before making the change. There about 20 different licensed apps running on the Windows side of this dual-boot machine, and about 50 apps. running on the Linux side. Not one of these other apps has objected to the CPU change.
So now I am unable to use C1-20 and have not been since December 6th last year.
I considered re-installing Win 10, requiring a 'clean-boot' environment, doing all those updates again (including the BSOD risk associated with the 2018 editions of Win 10), re-installing all those apps, with their own licensing conditions, restore all my data and, on top of all that, repairing the Linux boot which Windows will completely ignore and over-write. And I decided at my age and with the amount of things I do every day on this machine, that I couldn't face a Windows re-installation. Surely, anyway, Capture 1 support will quickly understand the issue and, via remote management, run the necessary tool to reset my use-count - won't they ?
Or does anybody have another suggestion?0 -
That sounds very strange, I have not yet heard of such behaviour from C1 and find it hard to imagine that C1 identifies a new CPU as another computer and derives another license activation from it (this is rather the case with Windows activations). But even if this is the case, each license may be activated on 3 computers, so even in this situation there should still be activations available (assuming you do not have multiple installations).
You can also check it in your C1 user account under Manage Licenses - Capture One 20 and Activation History, there you can also reset activations yourself if all are used up.
Wouldn't that help?0 -
As Okular has observed you certainly should be able to log in to your Capture One Account and manage the licences entirely independently of having an active and running C1 installation available.
Also, in the circumstance you describe, I would think it should be possible to run C1 in Trial mode for 30 days on the "new" system. Perhaps not but worth considering in an emergency.
Meanwhile, in case you have not seen it, here is a link to an article explaining the current methods for managing software activations. Ignore the mention of Media Pro - the document covers both products.
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002401297-How-to-deactivate-Capture-One-Media-Pro-
The second is the section required for Internet based management of the account rather than going through the running application.
I very much hope this will help you but if not I think you need to chase the Support Team again and let them know that the "Standard" advice is, for some unknown reason, not working for you.
Grant0 -
Paul_Steunebrink wrote:
Please make sure you have a support ticket with Capture One support, not Phase One support.
They will systematically redirect any attempt to open a C1 case in the old system to the new C1 Support system. However, the existing cases stay in the old system (now dedicated to Phase One hardware). Which means that we have no chance to re-open an unsolved existing case. I don't like this discrimination.0 -
Okular wrote:
That sounds very strange, I have not yet heard of such behaviour from C1 and find it hard to imagine that C1 identifies a new CPU as another computer and derives another license activation from it (this is rather the case with Windows activations). But even if this is the case, each license may be activated on 3 computers, so even in this situation there should still be activations available (assuming you do not have multiple installations).
You can also check it in your C1 user account under Manage Licenses - Capture One 20 and Activation History, there you can also reset activations yourself if all are used up.
Wouldn't that help?
Aha! Indeed it most certainly does help; more than that, it is completely effective in solving this severity one issue and so I have to say 'thank you' in a most heart-felt way.
I remain unable to understand why C1 tech support could not tell me this on December 9th - it would have taken them about 5 minutes to do so.
On a more detailed level: my 'activation history' showed that I had 0 activations available and that I had performed 1 activation - on Dec 6th, as I believed. That activation still appeared to be, well, active. The computer that this applied to was listed with a name I didn't recognise ('computer1') and with a 9 digit ID which, I assume, identifies the specific CPU that was present (my i5) when activation was requested. So, a couple of comments:
1. I have only 1 activation, not 3.
2. The fact that C1 believes my one activation to be still relevant is a strong indication to me that it determines my i7 CPU to be a different computer to the installation which contained the i5. I guess C1 tech support could confirm that, should some way of encouraging them to respond be found.
Anyway, lesson learned: I made the original mistake by not de-activating C1-20, in my ignorance and C1 Tech Support have punished me, and continue to do so, for being old and fallible. This is noted for future reference.0 -
SFA wrote:
As Okular has observed you certainly should be able to log in to your Capture One Account and manage the licences entirely independently of having an active and running C1 installation available.
Also, in the circumstance you describe, I would think it should be possible to run C1 in Trial mode for 30 days on the "new" system. Perhaps not but worth considering in an emergency.
Meanwhile, in case you have not seen it, here is a link to an article explaining the current methods for managing software activations. Ignore the mention of Media Pro - the document covers both products.
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002401297-How-to-deactivate-Capture-One-Media-Pro-
The second is the section required for Internet based management of the account rather than going through the running application.
I very much hope this will help you but if not I think you need to chase the Support Team again and let them know that the "Standard" advice is, for some unknown reason, not working for you.
Grant
Thank you for this url; I followed the procedure described there; as per a slightly earlier post here, the reset has been completely effective.
I should state however that while I was being 'locked out' there was no option (that I could see) that allowed me to fall back to a 'Trial' mode. The only option available to me (other than to repeat the failing start request) was to exit from the attempt to invoke C1-200 -
I think I should make a general note of thanks to this forum community for the alacrity and effectiveness of the replies to my original post. This is beyond my expectation and proves my assertion - that only Tech Support could fix this issue - to be just plain wrong. So, thank you all; I am impressed by this interaction. 0 -
Glad we could help. NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
What's your C1 version? I assumed my Pro, which can be activated on 3 computers and the other two versions C1 for Fuji and C1 for Sony can be activated on 2 computers according to the C1 website product description. So the question remains why there is only one possible for you?
1. I have only 1 activation, not 3.NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
Yes, the license management names the installed computers quite simply. I identified my installations only by the different dates (have on Windows PC and a second on a MacBook). What the IDs mean and how they are generated ..... ?
The computer that this applied to was listed with a name I didn't recognise ('computer1') and with a 9 digit ID which, I assume, identifies the specific CPU that was present (my i5) when activation was requested0 -
NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
I remain unable to understand why C1 tech support could not tell me this on December 9th - it would have taken them about 5 minutes to do so.
Not an unreasonable question - but it might be worth noting that it is well documented in the Capture One user guide:
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002467237-Deactivating-Capture-One0 -
NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
Thank you for this url; I followed the procedure described there; as per a slightly earlier post here, the reset has been completely effective.
I should state however that while I was being 'locked out' there was no option (that I could see) that allowed me to fall back to a 'Trial' mode. The only option available to me (other than to repeat the failing start request) was to exit from the attempt to invoke C1-20
I'm delighted that you have solved the problem.
As you have identified it's not too difficult to resolve it always assuming you know, or can find by searching, where to look for relevant advice.
If it's not something you have even vaguely been involved with previously the chances are you would not think that such a process could exist. Nor find the right type of search to discover it.
As for the Trial mode suggestion, I suggested that in the case that you had not ever managed to activate V20 successfully (I may have missed fully considering part of your description of the problem) in which case if you were able to delete the installation and then go through the trial download again and get the Trial licence key you might be able to re-run the trial.
That said it may not be possible - with the new license requirement there may be a different means of checking for previous trial or full licences that would preclude a repeat attempt no matter what the circumstances.
Have fun with V20!
Grant0 -
Keith Reeder wrote:
Not an unreasonable question - but it might be worth noting that it is well documented in the Capture One user guide:
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002467237-Deactivating-Capture-One
A couple of comments, if I may:
- in my ignorance of how to use and manage C1 it was not immediately apparent that the issue was one of needing to de-activate my licence - although that seems perfectly obvious now.
- when I referred to the user guide the part that come to my immediate attention described how to de-activate from within the product. I immediately stopped further reading in the user guide as I thought this represented the classic circular argument so beloved of the early days of Microsoft technical support - along the lines of "to fix your problem of not being able to start Windows, first start Windows then do.....". As a result I did not see the other method of using the CaptureOne website - that information was off the page anyway.0 -
A revealing update: I finally got a response from Technical Support asking for information I sent them on December 7th and again on December 13th. But still no advice on how to fix the issue, such as I received from this forum.
This surely must be regarded as unacceptable performance which damages the Phase One/Capture One brand?
And I do not have any sympathy for it being a festive season or the fact that C1-20 became available about 6 weeks ago. 35 years ago I ran the software development and technical support function for a computer manufacturer. I would not have signed off release of a new product unless its associated service cost estimate showed that sufficient resources were in place to support it. Any of my reporting managers who revealed to me surprise that Christmas came in December or that new products invoked new support demands would have quickly understood the practical implications of the expression 'career limiting discussion'.0 -
NNN637070777861615256 wrote:
A revealing update: I finally got a response from Technical Support asking for information I sent them on December 7th and again on December 13th. But still no advice on how to fix the issue, such as I received from this forum.
This surely must be regarded as unacceptable performance which damages the Phase One/Capture One brand?
And I do not have any sympathy for it being a festive season or the fact that C1-20 became available about 6 weeks ago. 35 years ago I ran the software development and technical support function for a computer manufacturer. I would not have signed off release of a new product unless its associated service cost estimate showed that sufficient resources were in place to support it. Any of my reporting managers who revealed to me surprise that Christmas came in December or that new products invoked new support demands would have quickly understood the practical implications of the expression 'career limiting discussion'.
Agreed that would have been very much in mind 35 years ago, though that said a company I worked for completed an 18 month development and error fixing project with zero errors (other than one known date format problem on an obsolete module used (or probably not used) by a client that had not shown any signs of activity for a year or two.
Of course they went bust some time before it shipped as all the clients waited for the promised new bug free version.
Those that stuck around got it.
Few of the would have been affected by most of the issues that took time to fix ...
The modern Agile development world is very different. The standards are set, inter alia, by Apple and Microsoft in the desktop market, Google in non-Apple mobiles and a number of other "big players" elsewhere.
As a big player it seems to be much easier to keep your customers/partners involved by allowing them to fix the problems you present to them. After all, isn't that what a 'partner' is for?
👿
Grant0
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