Flexi 8.6 not connecting with server

One reason (of quite a few) that I don't like software that connects to a network in order to run. I'm afraid that for most software, particularly commercial software, this is going to be more prevalent.

It's a legacy program. It's what 6+ yrs old, if not older. About the only way that you are going to get it to not give you problems, while not upgrading, is to bypass the need for it to look for the server/network. Not exactly on the up and up, but it's the only thing that I can think of.

In all honesty, their response is what any other software vendor would do. I have a $15k program that if you want help with a legacy program (2 generations removed from the latest is as far back as they will go though) they charge $99 for the help if you aren't running the latest version.

It just is what it is.

As for your cutter, can you not cut directly from a vector program? It will require a lot more manual work to do things that may be automated with specialized cutting programs, but at least it would get it working if you are able to cut directly from a vector program.

 

A notice did go out this summer, about Flexi no longer supporting 10x and older. They offered a special to upgrade - cant recall the pricing....
But several people ran into the same issue. I feel your pain, as do people who ran 10x... - I bought 11 from someone, and sold my 8.1 dongled version.

 

You would think you wouldn't need an entire server to handle at most a couple hundred requests per day. Simply routing the requests to a server they already have up and running for the current software and running a script would do the trick. All it does is accept an encrypted string, decrypt it, compare it to the string on file and returns a response that says if it matches or not. But then again, that would require some man hours to maintain.

 

Sucks.

 

Cool -- Keep us posted what you work out.

 

Check if it says anywhere that they can change the terms whenever they want.

 

Did you buy through them or through a vendor?

Even with a perpetual license, they aren't going to support it on certain OS versions or in VMs etc. So at some point, it's going to expire, it might expire due to it being so outdated or they might do what they did, shut down the server.

There has got to be caveats.


One thing that I always have to wonder, and I'm a big fan of legacy software, just how long should something truly be supported? It seems like some people think that something should be supported forever.

While $4k is a lot, not saying that it isn't, it is entry level price range in my world for commercial software. So maybe that has jaded me to a degree.

EULA info is usually separate from the manual.

I cannot imagine that they don't have some type of language that things may change and they reserve that right. That's just pro forma.

 

As I asked before are you only cutting or are you also using Flexi as a RIP?

There are cheaper ways to get cutting ability if that's all you are needing and only need it on a part time basis if Flexi's woes don't get solved to your satisfaction.

They cheaper options may or may not be parity with what you were used to in Flexi, but at least they would be something.

 

Did you get it back to work yet?

 

You can try to uninstall and install Flexi again.

 

In the world of technology everything eventually becomes outdated and obsolete. This is true for hardware, as well as, software.
For example, Betamax was replaced by VHS, which was replaced by DVDs, then Blu-Ray, then streaming, etc. PC operating systems have gone from Windows 98, to XP, to 7, Vista, 8, 8.1 and now Windows 10. Along the path of progress, related devices must be updated, upgraded, or discarded.
Sign making software is no exception. As the digital infrastructure gets upgraded, support for old software, such as Flexi 10.5 and older just goes away.
It’s time to move on. It’s time to upgrade your old Flexi software and keep your business moving forward.
There’s a simple solution. You can choose to upgrade your Flexi 10.5 and older license to the new cloud-based version which is Flexi 12 or Flexi Subscription.

 

Yes and no. Hardware more so then software. I still use the same tools in some software that have been around in that same software package for 20 yrs. They are still viable today. If they weren't viable, then yes, I would agree with that. For some things, it's not just me holding on, but a lot of those tools are truly still viable and still produce quality results compared to the newer, "more efficient" tools in the same software package today.

Support does go away that's for sure, if "you" are unable to maintain "your" own support and figure things out, then yes, it is time to move on. Or if the legacy software is unable to keep you running as efficiently as you can, then time to upgrade. This is one that I can actually get behind the software vendors and support (oh the irony).

Some programs, still have yet to have 64 bit hardware support. Still don't have GPU render support. Talk about moving on, they need to as well.

While I technically think of Linux and Mac OSs as PC operating systems as well, I would actually argue that Win 10 is less of a PC operating system then the others. With this really bad craze of subscription software or software that just needs a perpetual internet connection, we are going back to the dummy terminal days and our computers are less "Personal" then they used to be.

I'm not a fan, at all, of production computers that need a perpetual internet connection to run. And a lot of the production software nowadays is requiring it in order for their software to run.

Win 98, Vista, 7 and 8.1, I actually still run on a 2 yr old Lenovo ThinkStation. Linux as the host OS. I could run an XP as well, but I didn't care for that OS all that much and I'm certainly not going to Win 10 unless I just can't handle putting it off.

One of the many reasons why I do not like software that needs perpetual internet connectivity. This right here, to me is a step backwards to the old dummy terminal days.

 

That was from an email I got from SAi some months ago. I also really don't like software use 'Cloud'