Using Casmate Pro with MH721 Plotter Sign in to follow this. Using Casmate Pro with MH721 Plotter. Casmate might read Windows printer drivers, so.
It's really not a problem to run on XP, I will just use VM running Win98. The problem is the error he is getting, so I guess this isn't anything anyone has seen. There are no floppy disk just a cd, it runs his router from what I am told. I am just working on the solution to fix the program, and he has another computer that runs the newer software but he say this one does a better job. I wouldn't have a clue. I did read some other threads on the company being out of business which some say exempts them from piracy of the program, and we are not interested in doing anything illegal.
He owns his copy and has since it came out and he has also paid for the upgrades. Do dongles ever go bad? I am new to dongles but I understand their purpose. The only dongles I've ever seen go bad either worked or they didn't. The application you are working with came from a company named Scanvec.
They merged with Amiable Technologies and became Scanvec-Amiable. That company was later bought out by an employee group and became SAi. The old Scanvec used to give limited trials for a small fee by supplying a dongle which had a counter in it. Typically for 100 saves or plots executed.
At the end it would give an expired message. I suspect that is the dongle you are working with. Either your friend only had a limited run dongle or he has forgotten that he would have received a permanent dongle to replace it if he ever paid the fee for it. I used Casmate for many many years, although only for a plotter. I did purchase Flexi at a very reasonable price (considering the list price anyway) when Amiable bought out Scanvec. But I continued to use Casmate for several more years, however I finally made the jump (& Fred's suggestion) & have never looked back. There are two other things I am somewhat familiar with that may be of use here is that another nearby signshop also used Casmate when they bought a CNC router, and I would supply him the.scv files for cut letters etc.
I'm not sure if the program was really used to 'run the router' or if it was just used to create a compatible file format to send to the router. Since Flexi can read.scv files, I presume it can also export Flexi files, or 'save as' an.scv format, so you might ask him if creating.scv files helps him, or running Casmate is still required. This is mentioned simply because there might be easier, or more numerous, solutions if the file format is the only missing link.
By the way, W98 compatibility doesn't work with a dongle installation version of Casmate, because it is an 8 bit program. Regarding the legal comment above, I am in agreement & have chosen to believe that circumventing the dongle is permissible in this case, because my rightful licensed use of the program is hindered by a dongle they are no longer available to support. I never resolved the XP issue, but I know several people have.
(for vinyl plotter work anyway). Click to expand.The legal issue with Casmate being out of business, is that if you (or your friend) legally paid for the privilege of running Casmate TODAY, then the DMCA has language that MAY be interpreted to allow you to legally circumvent the security device. In your friends case, he doesn't have ANY rights to run the software today, because he had limited rights, & he exhausted them. There is no legal way to run something which your friend holds no current license to run. And to advise you of circumvention procedures (if they even exist) would, in your case, violate the rules of this forum.
FWIW, the only circumvention I am familiar with requires having the program operating properly, with a dongle that is operating properly, & under those conditions, a script or some such thing can be run to replicate the authorization codes (made up words to describe my limited understanding) allowing the software to run without the dongle after this procedure. Click to expand.New? Not for the last 7 or 8 years or so. I have version 6.52, the box, all the documentation, a working dongle, and the circumvention code for running in W98, without the dongle, after running with the dongle first to set it up (which allows one to run it at home, and at work without moving the dongle, but AFAIK, not for running it in XP.
Which is also possible, but by some mystery I've never learned) I've clung to this software like a life preserver for the first sevaral years after I weaned myself off of it. But at this point I'd probably sell it for $750 if someone wanted it. I used Casmate for many many years, although only for a plotter. I did purchase Flexi at a very reasonable price (considering the list price anyway) when Amiable bought out Scanvec. Fisher price time to play pet shop pc.