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Flexi 8.6 not connecting with server

dj_elite

dj_elite

New Member
I read a similar post a few months back. Seeing if this happened to anyone else. But I went to use my Flexi 8.6 on Tuesday and it would not load stating it could not connect to Flexi network. I have a softkey with no dongle needed. I called Flexi on Wednesday as it was still giving me issues. They stated they no longer support 8.6 over the phone only through email. So I sent an email out wednesday and got a response today. They are stating the server went down over the weekend and they are not sure if it will be back up. They are bullying me into upgrading at $50/month or $1700 to upgrade. I told them I have no reason to upgrade as 8.6 works with my printer and cutter I currently have and have no use for the newer version. Again they insist I upgrade and basically are saying there is nothing they can do unless I upgrade. Anyone else run into this problem and solve it without upgrading? I cant even run my vinyl cutter. Upsurd for a program I spent $4000 for
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
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.
 
J

Jburns

New Member
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.
 
dj_elite

dj_elite

New Member
I was told the dongle versions no longer work either. I never received a notice. I just spoke with a manager and basically all I got was a sorry, got to pay to play...
 
Solventinkjet

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
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.
 
dj_elite

dj_elite

New Member
Well I'm fighting it. I just found my original paperwork and it states right on it "Expire:Unlimited"
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
dj_elite said:
Well I'm fighting it. I just found my original paperwork and it states right on it "Expire:Unlimited"
Click to expand...

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.


dj_elite said:
I just read the fine print in manual twice over. I did not see anything along those lines
Click to expand...

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.
 
dj_elite

dj_elite

New Member
Just very upset. I never received a notice. I run this part time now. I have no reason to upgrade. Really frustrating you go to use your equipment one day and it doesnt work.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
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.
 
J

jimdtg

Newbie
dj_elite said:
Well I'm fighting it. I just found my original paperwork and it states right on it "Expire:Unlimited"
Click to expand...

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.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
jimdtg said:
In the world of technology everything eventually becomes outdated and obsolete. This is true for hardware, as well as, software.
Click to expand...

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.

jimdtg said:
PC operating systems have gone from Windows 98, to XP, to 7, Vista, 8, 8.1 and now Windows 10
Click to expand...

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.

dj_elite said:
No. They will not fix the server. Just SOOL
Click to expand...

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.
 
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