nw@vaxine.UUCP (01/22/87)
I have a (possibly naive) question about copy protection: I
bought "Soundscape Pro MIDI Studio" for my Amiga. I was pleased to
note that there was no mention of copy protection anywhere on the
box, nor in the manual. In fact, the manual is completely silent about
backing up the program.
Here's why: If you copy the disk using any flavor of standard Workbench
or CLI disk copy command, Pro MIDI Studio (I'll call it PMS) will CRASH
YOUR MACHINE when you start it up.
Not yet troubled, I pulled out my Marauder II (which claims it can back
up PMS) and tried that. Close, but no cigar. Now I can boot PMS and
actually use it, but all forms of "SAVE" command have been disabled.
Ok for demo or playback mode, but not terribly useful for real work.
So, as far as I can tell, Mimetics (the creators of PMS) expect me
to put my $130 disk in the drive, and leave it there. Is this for real?
Am I alone in being shocked at this? I should point out that we use those
3.5" floppy disks here at Automatix in our product (I wrote our file system
code for the beasts) and experience tells me that sooner or later I will
lose my disk.
Is this to be expected with most commercial software? Do people really
put their one and only distributed copy of software into a machine on
a regular basis? Egad! Imagine if UNIX development machines were run this
way -- it would go something like this:
"Sorry, but our RA81 went south (again). I called Berkeley and they
will send a new copy of the 4.3 distribution as soon as they receive
a copy of our receipt. We'll be back on line in 2 or 3 weeks"
Somewhat disenchanted with this purchase ...
Neil Webber Automatix Inc (or current resident) Billerica MA
{decvax,allegra}!encore!vaxine!nwjxc@rayssd.UUCP (01/23/87)
In article <398@vaxine.UUCP>, nw@vaxine.UUCP (Neil Webber) writes: > [...] If you copy the disk using any flavor of standard Workbench > or CLI disk copy command, Pro MIDI Studio (I'll call it PMS) will CRASH > YOUR MACHINE when you start it up. [...] > So, as far as I can tell, Mimetics (the creators of PMS) expect me > to put my $130 disk in the drive, and leave it there. Is this for real? > Am I alone in being shocked at this? I should point out that we use those > 3.5" floppy disks here at Automatix in our product (I wrote our file system > code for the beasts) and experience tells me that sooner or later I will > lose my disk. Oh, Neil! Not to despair. Version 1.3 is coming. Judging from the buggy nature of Version 1.1 you will probably replace your copy of PMS with a new version before you EVER get a chance to clobber the disk or wear it out :-) Seriously, folks... Mimetics has produced an excellent real-time MIDI recorder with a plethora of features. Yes, it's buggy; yes, it takes some time to learn to use correctly; YES, IT'S COPY PROTECTED (!); and no, they haven't told me when Version 1.3 is coming or how I can get it; but it does the job and does it well. This package coupled with DMCS will be (I hope) an unbeatable combination for MIDI-based composition and recording. > Do people really put their one and only distributed copy of software into > a machine on a regular basis? Do people have a choice? Maybe. Look at DPaint. Are there enough of us to pressure Mimetics? I doubt it. > [...] Somewhat disenchanted with this purchase... Somewhat pleased with my purchase... /^^^/ / __/__________________________________________________ / !/ Jeffrey Jay Clesius !\ / / Raytheon Submarine Signal Division !_\ /^^^/ / /! 1847 West Main Road, Mail Stop 188 !/ / ^^^^ ! Portsmouth, RI 02871-1087 (401) 847-8000 (X4015) / / ! {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus} rayssd!jxc /! / !____________________________________________________/_! / / / ^^^^
nw@vaxine.UUCP (01/25/87)
(repost -- apologies if you've already seen this)
I have a (possibly naive) question about copy protection: I
bought "Soundscape Pro MIDI Studio" for my Amiga. I was pleased to
note that there was no mention of copy protection anywhere on the
box, nor in the manual. In fact, the manual is completely silent about
backing up the program.
Here's why: If you copy the disk using any flavor of standard Workbench
or CLI disk copy command, Pro MIDI Studio (I'll call it PMS) will CRASH
YOUR MACHINE when you start it up.
Not yet troubled, I pulled out my Marauder II (which claims it can back
up PMS) and tried that. Close, but no cigar. Now I can boot PMS and
actually use it, but all forms of "SAVE" command have been disabled.
Ok for demo or playback mode, but not terribly useful for real work.
So, as far as I can tell, Mimetics (the creators of PMS) expect me
to put my $130 disk in the drive, and leave it there. Is this for real?
Am I alone in being shocked at this? I should point out that we use those
3.5" floppy disks here at Automatix in our product (I wrote our file system
code for the beasts) and experience tells me that sooner or later I will
lose my disk.
Is this to be expected with most commercial software? Do people really
put their one and only distributed copy of software into a machine on
a regular basis? Egad! Imagine if UNIX development machines were run this
way -- it would go something like this:
"Sorry, but our RA81 went south (again). I called Berkeley and they
will send a new copy of the 4.3 distribution as soon as they receive
a copy of our receipt. We'll be back on line in 2 or 3 weeks"
Somewhat disenchanted with this purchase ...
Neil Webber Automatix Inc (or current resident) Billerica MA
{decvax,allegra}!encore!vaxine!nweric@ulysses.UUCP (01/26/87)
Fear not, the latest and greatest Marauder II will back up Pro Midi Studio (yes, even V1.3) plus a whole lot more. "How do I get this latest and greatest version?", you ask... well, if you own an original Marauder II, you can now call the Discovery Software BBS outside of Philadelphia at (215) 242-2895 and register with your Marauder II serial number. If you don't own an original, you go out an buy one :-) Eric -- ARPA: Lavitsky@RED.RUTGERS.EDU UUCP: ...ulysses!eric ...caip!topaz!eric ...hplabs!well!lavitsky