posted
If your laptop puter comes with just one USB port (no LPT), is it possible to install an additional LPT port to run a dongle from an older existing program, or are there adapters available?
posted
Depending on your model, you might want to make sure you have either the original USB or the newer USB2 card/port.
-------------------- Jeff Vrstal Main Street Signs 157 E. Main Street Evansville, WI 53536 1-608-882-0322 Posts: 670 | From: Evansville, Wisconsin | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
there are adapters up the wazoo. Cheapest solution would be to scan ebay for 'usb parallel adapter' (usually made by Bafo or Belkin) or go to cyberguys.com and pick up something there, like the generic docking station that plugs into your single usb port, giving you a complete array of ports and connections.
posted
If you actually need to there are cracks out there that will remove dongles from alot of the older programs,...casmate comes to mind if I remember correctly is one. These can leagally be used and perform as if there was acually a dongle there if a port driver is present and functioning.
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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cracks, legal? I dont think so. Might want to check that 'do you agree' page when you install the program again.
You can buy a Fastsigns version of Flexi 7 for $200 all over the web. No dongle.... or, since you're a Roland man, what do you need a dongle for anyway? Corel never had a dongle...
I have an el dong, but no dongle. No adapter needed, one size fits most.
posted
Bob, Tim's suggestion for the dongle emmulation software is probably a good one for you. I know you use Casmate & Inspire. I bought the software for eliminating the need for the dongles to both those programs for $250 from http://www.safe-key.com
As for the question of legality, this would differ among which software one was trying to eliminate the need for the dongle from. Un-supported software like Casmate & Inspire are not protected from these dongle emmulation programs being sold based on the following exemptions from the current copyright law.
quote: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Copyright Office 37 CFR Part 201 [Docket No. RM 99-7D]
Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Final Rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This rule designates the classes of copyrighted works that the Librarian of Congress has determined shall be subject to exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under title 17 of the U.S. Code. In title I of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Congress established that this prohibition against circumvention will become effective October 28, 2000. The same legislation directed the Register of Copyrights to conduct a rulemaking procedure and to make recommendations to the Librarian as to whether any classes of works should be subject to exemptions from the prohibition against circumvention. The exemptions set forth in this rule will be in effect until October 28, 2003.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 28, 2000.
2. Literary Works, Including Computer Programs and Databases, Protected by Access Control Mechanisms That Fail to Permit Access Because of Malfunction, Damage or Obsoleteness "This designation of class of works is intended to exempt users of software, databases and other literary works in digital formats who are prevented from accessing such works because the access control protections are not functioning in the way that they were intended. In the course of this rulemaking proceeding, a number of users, and in particular consumers of software and users of compilations, expressed concerns about works which they could not access even though they were authorized users, due to the failure of access control mechanisms to function properly.
Substantial evidence was presented on this issue, in particular relating to the use of ``dongles,'' hardware locks attached to a computer that interact with software programs to prevent unauthorized access to that software. C199. (Spectrum Software's initial comments) One commenter attached numerous letters and news articles to his submission and testimony, documenting the experience of users whose dongles become damaged or malfunction. (Spectrum Software's president Joseph V. Montoro's testimony of May 2nd, 2000) It appears that in such instances, the vendors of the software may be nonresponsive to requests to replace or repair the dongle, or may require the user to purchase either a new dongle or an entirely new software package, usually at a substantial cost. In some cases, the vendors have gone out of business, and the user has had no recourse for repair or replacement of the dongle.
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