Scenarist BD doesn't start anymore

[mp3dom]

Hi! I'm asking help here, maybe someone had the same problem in the past and can help me.
I can't get Scenarist BD to start anymore. It means that it doesn't even start the "splashscreen". The process start (looking at task manager) but it goes down almost immediately. It's not a dongle problem since *all* the other applications works as expected. If I remove the dongle, a message that ask for it is displayed, but if I delete the keys (serial#) the program close beforehand, without asking for the new serial. Haven't installed any update or new program. Scenarist simply doesn't seems to work anymore. Is there maybe a way to 'debug' or see why the process goes down without any alert/message/warning even in "Event Viewer"? Thanks.

(Obviously tried to reinstall the program, removing/reinstalling sentinel driver, cleaning the register and so on... but without success)

[Guest]

Did you try getting support from Sonic?

[mp3dom]

Sadly it's no more available

[Guest]

Does that mean support has ended? I'm not being quarrelsome, just curious.

[mp3dom]

Yes, they sent warnings that starting from Jan,01 2014 there will be no more support. They doesn't even offer to download the software anymore since the support page is off.

[Guest]

Ouch. Seems pretty shabby for a $10,000 product. I hope you can find a solution.

No chance for a system restore from a previous snapshot?

[HWK]

@ mp3dom

Can you try to change system clock to time frame when it was working to see if it works for you.

May be before Jan 1 2014 and see what happens.

[Emulgator]

Can you try to change system clock to time frame when it was working to see if it works for you.

There was a tool that does exactly this automatically. Lets see if I can find it back...

[mp3dom]

Thanks guys, but the clock change still doesn't work. I think it's not a date problem, since I tried to install it on another pc and it works. There should be some config/dll/register/system problem. I would like to fix it on that machine because it's the 'working machine' for authoring so all the projects are there. I'm trying to move all the data to another pc just to close the projects I need to quickly finish and then (at the very end) format that pc and start from zero.

[Guest]

Don't you do regular system backups?

[Capsbackup]

Originally Posted by neuron2

Don't you do regular system backups?

Nothing like rubbing a little salt in the wound!

[Guest]

It's not rubbing salt and your suggestion offends me. If he is not doing so, and this for his important business, it's advice that he seriously needs to hear. Do you disagree?

[Capsbackup]

Originally Posted by neuron2

It's not rubbing salt and your suggestion offends me. If he is not doing so, and this for his important business, it's advice that he seriously needs to hear. Do you disagree?

Was not trying to offend you, just a little tease! And I do agree.
Thought you might have caught the intended humor with the smilies at the end!
Since I have had a similar situation before, I have been following with interest, but felt a little humor can help alleviate the stress of some situations.
Sorry for my bad delivery.

[mp3dom]

All your suggestions regarding backups are right, nothing more to add. The only thing I have here is a ghost image which basically means 'brand new os with basic programs' that doesn't require to setup network/login accounts and so on. The only good thing is that the projects are on a separate disk/partition so I should only install all the needed programs and then I should be ready to go.
Thanks again for all your support!

[mp3dom]

I've resolved! Just to let you know (maybe it can be useful to others) the problem was due to the "Windows cryptographic service" being off. Never heard of it till now, but seems Scenarist ask for this once executed, and due to being off, it simply shut down (found it using Process Monitor by Sysinternals, logging the process activity)

[Guest]

Cool. Nice detective work there.

[rik1138]

Originally Posted by neuron2

Ouch. Seems pretty shabby for a $10,000 product. I hope you can find a solution.

$10k? Did it ever get that cheap? Was still $17k last time I priced it, but that was a couple of years ago.

Regardless of the price, it always (even Scenarist DVD) only came with 1 year of support. If you wanted _ANY_ support after that year, you had to pay an additional $5000 per year (and if you let the support lapse, you had to pay all the years you missed in order to get support). That was their business model. They stopped selling Scenarist at the end of 2012, and kept the support system alive through 2013 so if someone bought it at the end of 2012 they'd get their full year of support. You couldn't renew your support contracts after that either. So it's not like it was sprung on anyone (well, anyone that actually paid for it). We were given the option to download the entire support knowledge base, so we can access everything that was on the site, there's just no one to contact anymore...

And a little bit of tough love posted on Jan 2nd on Sonic's old support site:

Will you continue to replace broken dongles?

No, we will not be able to do this. It goes without saying that dongles should taken very good care of, and indeed may warrant insuring.

What happens if I lose my activator code?

You will need to ensure this doesn't happen, as we will not be able to resupply activator codes.

Hadn't thought of those two situations... Would suck to actually snap your dongle in half if you don't have a way of replacing it...

Hopefully, especially in light of this, people will be more willing to actually help each other here instead of the standard 'Did you ask Sonic' response whenever anyone asks for help... Places like this are all we have left. (That's not a jab at you neuron, just a general comment based on years of watching people try to get Scenarist help in this forum... )

Originally Posted by mp3dom

I've resolved! Just to let you know (maybe it can be useful to others) the problem was due to the "Windows cryptographic service" being off. Never heard of it till now, but seems Scenarist ask for this once executed, and due to being off, it simply shut down (found it using Process Monitor by Sysinternals, logging the process activity)

Just curious, any idea how it got turned off? Hadn't used mine this year yet, but you made me nervous, so I gave it a test run... No problems though...