IMPORTANT MiG-21bis StarForce PATCH - MARCH 2017

If you have patched the Open Beta to the latest update AFTER deactivating the Mig-21, and then reactivated, the only DCS version that must work now for the Mig-21 is DCS Open Beta.

 

DONT RUN 2.0 or Stable 1.5 BEFORE they are updated. Mig-21 is not going to work until that.

 

When the 2.0 and Stable DCS 1.5 are updated the Mig-21 would work without repeating the process again.

Exactly! hang tight on the other installs until those patches push out. :thumbup:

Exactly.

And i know this would bother someone, but Magnitude 3 LLC are doing the best they can to bring us the update for 2.0 and 1.5.6 as fast as possible.

In the meantine people can:

Doing nothing- Wait for the next updates and fly the MIg-21 in Stable and 2.0

Do the deactivate-activate process and enjoy the Updated Mig-21 ONLY in the last updated Open Beta; and the rest of the modules, EXCEPT the Mig-21, in 1.5.6 and 2.0 until they get patched.

As simple as it sounds.

I updated before deactivating. Can someone explain to me what hoops I have to jump through to fix it? thanks in advance.

Please check your mail. Once you fix the problem in Beta, please don't try to activate/deactivate MiG in Public or Alpha. You can still use any other aircraft you have there.

 

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

All three installs working fine now. :thumbup:

:D

I updated before deactivating. Can someone explain to me what hoops I have to jump through to fix it? thanks in advance.

Please download the manual from the first post in this thread.

Please go to page 8 of mentioned manual and delete registry entries. Restart and activate your MiG.

Note that if you have other DCS version along with your Beta, MiG will not work in those until they are patched too (please wait for the patch, don't attempt to activate/deactivate there, just leave it as it is).

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So yeah... I missed this and updated DCS 1.5 open beta. Now what do I do? I can't deactivate...

@Esac_mirmidon - I think the relevant question is: Why does only the MiG-21 module have long-standing Star-Force DRM difficulties if ALL modules use this DRM? The fact is, many MiG-21 owners, myself included, are leery of purchasing additional modules from this vendor until the DRM issues are permanently resolved. That is a shame IMHO.

So you are going to stop playing DCS as a whole.

 

Everything is running with Starfore protection.

So yeah... I missed this and updated DCS 1.5 open beta. Now what do I do? I can't deactivate...

Same here.. standing by

And No idea that we have to do this before patch!!!!

I'm not happy .. So what now? Thx

And No idea that we have to do this before patch!!!!

 

I'm not happy .. So what now? Thx

Same here :helpsmilie:

Maybe someone can write an official issue fix description here in the next days or there will be many many e-mails to answer.

I could not get the deactivate to work so I did the command line back to the previous build. The deactivate still did not work so I went into the registry and removed the Mig 21 then i restarted the computer and ran the activation on startup of DCS. The Mig 21 worked but after testing it I do not know about this patch and the next dcs update so I ran deactivation and the deactivation worked. I am just going to leave it until I hear more news on what to do. It is so confusing to me.

So many posts and so many questions/replies. So many versions, so many opinions.

Please help me as I am a simple man.

I do not have 1.5 open beta.

I have 1.5.6.1938

I have 2.0.5.3521

I have run pcnsl.exe under MiG-21bis/bin in both versions.

When I open either version I simply Exit the MiG-21 reactivation dialogue box

Now,

either:

A. I am not to reactivate the MiG-21 until after a version has had it's next patch.

I am then ok to re-activate a patched version but not an un-patched version (assuming the version patches are not released at the same time).

I will need to reactivate each re-patched version separately, reactivation of one version does not fix it for the other version.

OR

B. I should not re-activate for either version until BOTH have been re-patched. So just don't fly the MiG-21 until then.

Which should it be?

@Esac_mirmidon - I think the relevant question is: Why does only the MiG-21 module have long-standing Star-Force DRM difficulties if ALL modules use this DRM? The fact is, many MiG-21 owners, myself included, are leery of purchasing additional modules from this vendor until the DRM issues are permanently resolved. That is a shame IMHO.

It might be a far fetched guess, but maybe this is the intent of the procedure ...

The thing is, StarForce is not just "a DRM". It is a tool box that allows a software vendor to implement several kinds of DRM checks. StarForce can be configured in different ways and the program code has to be adopted accordingly as well. For example, one developer can decide to configure SF that way that the software simply cease to work. Or he decides to only disable certain features. Or that it should run for a limited time. Etc.

In the end, there are many aspects that require developer decisions that can affect how intrusive or unintrusive a DRM like SF will behave. Maybe LNS made some unlucky decisions - which M3 now tries to remedy.

So many posts and so many questions/replies. So many versions, so many opinions.

 

Please help me as I am a simple man.

 

I do not have 1.5 open beta.

I have 1.5.6.1938

I have 2.0.5.3521

I have run pcnsl.exe under MiG-21bis/bin in both versions.

When I open either version I simply Exit the MiG-21 reactivation dialogue box

 

Now,

either:

A. I am not to reactivate the MiG-21 until after a version has had it's next patch.

I am then ok to re-activate a patched version but not an un-patched version (assuming the version patches are not released at the same time).

I will need to reactivate each re-patched version separately, reactivation of one version does not fix it for the other version.

OR

B. I should not re-activate for either version until BOTH have been re-patched. So just don't fly the MiG-21 until then.

Which should it be?

The keys are unique for all versions, so when you update (either yesterday's 1.5.6.3690 - update 1, or the future 2.0.5), and run the new version, you'll be asked to activate your product with the new licencing scheme, and from that point on it will only be valid for any "future" version based on this Starforce patch.

So if you run an "older" version, it won't work anymore. Let's say you update to 1.5.6.3690, activate from there: if you want to get back to 2.0.5.3521, you have to

- run pcnsl.exe from the active 1.5.6 module,

- deactivate

- run 2.0.5

And if you want to run 1.5.6.3690 again, you have to do it all over again with the active 2.0.5's pcnsl.exe, and so on.

So it's possible to switch back and forth, it's just a bit awkward.

It's probably best to choose 1) whether you really want to update to 1.5.6.3690, and if so, 2) in which version you want to fly the MiG.

Finally, if I'm not wrong, if you activate it for 1.5.6 update 1 and run 2.0.5, you'll be asked to activate it. Just don't and click EXIT to run 2.0.5 without the MiG. For some reason I had the licence box opening twice, and had to click on EXIT twice before 2.0.5 was launched, so I guess this issue may happen.

So yeah... I missed this and updated DCS 1.5 open beta. Now what do I do? I can't deactivate...

Same here.. standing by

And No idea that we have to do this before patch!!!!

 

I'm not happy .. So what now? Thx

I still don't understand why ED didn't warn people in the newsletter and/or the update thread :rolleyes:

If you have a 2.0.5, you should still be able to deactivate from there, which the Mods\aircraft\MIG-21bis\bin\pcnsl.exe from the 2.0.5 installation.

Otherwise, check the pdf document in the first post of this thread, it gives a procedure to remove the keys directly from the registry.

Lastly, you can opt to revert to an older 1.5, check how here.

I updated without deactivating it. Just removed the registry entry and all good.

I still don't understand why ED didn't warn people in the newsletter and/or the update thread :rolleyes:

 

If you have a 2.0.5, you should still be able to deactivate from there, which the Mods\aircraft\MIG-21bis\bin\pcnsl.exe from the 2.0.5 installation.

 

Otherwise, check the pdf document in the first post of this thread, it gives a procedure to remove the keys directly from the registry.

 

Lastly, you can opt to revert to an older 1.5, check how here.

Yeah, someone didn't really think this through. Why would I be searching through the Mig-21 forum for a solution to a problem that I don't have yet (ie before the 1.5 update). Now I have installed the 1.5 update and now I have this problem, so here I am on the Mig-21 forum learning about what I SHOULD have done before I installed the 1.5 update.

To be fair I have now corrected the error with help from the good instructions provided quite easily.

Cheers,

Wow what a mess. When I saw that dam Mig21 activation pop up yet again my left eye started to twitch and my face went red with blood.

Tried to stay calm and waste more time trying to understand what the **** is going on and finally realize my DCS short cuts are mislabeled between Beta and stable...for starters.

I guess I'll just learn how to delete the registry or something, which leads to a disclaimer that warns doing so may make windows not work. Great.

I just wanted to escape the pain of life and fly for a hour. NO SOUP for you!

There doesn't seem to be any clear instructions for all the people who patched the Beta, broke the MIg21 and then came here looking for help.

I imagine most people would not check Mig21 forum before they patch.

There doesn't seem to be any clear instructions for all the people who patched the Beta, broke the MIg21 and then came here looking for help.

 

I imagine most people would not check Mig21 forum before they patch.

Yes - this is what is needed - I can't get mine to work at all, in fact I've probably made it worse :)

Nate

I deleted the registry and started Open beta and it just opens the Mig21 activation again.

Same - but it doesn't accept my key

EDIT:- I'm an idiot - didn't deleted the whole leatherneck key from regedit - working now.

Nate

I had no problems deactivating -> updating -> activating again.

Still 3 deactivations left, 8 activations.

Does everyone that have the Mig21 need to go through all this proses or will it be fixed automatic in a later update?

Every owner must do that sooner or latter.

And is quite simple.

Options..

1- Deactivate the module, update Open Beta, activate the module. Enjoy Mig-21 ONLY IN OPEN BETA. Walt for 2.0.5 and STABLE 1.5.6 to be updated for beeing able to fly the Mig on those versions. You dont need to repeat the process then.

2- Do NOTHING. Enjoy Mig-21 on STABLE and 2.0.5 version. Walt for the update on STABLE 1.5.6. Deactivate the Mig, Update STABLE DCS, activate the Mig. Enjoy Mig-21 in Stable versión. Dont fly It in 2.0.5 until beeing updated.

3- The same as 2- but for 2.0.5 if this versión is updated before Stable version 1.5.6.