License and login issues

bigtrouble77

Since I can't find a support email, I'm going to vent here. I use 1Password for all of my devices, that's 4 macs, 1 windows machine, 3 iPhones and an iPad. Ever since the licensing model changed to the downloadable licenses, they keep resetting on me every month or so. This happens on all of my machines/devices. I've gone through this process at least 3 times since moving away from the key I used to copy and paste once. I'm also having issues keeping things in sync across all of my devices which never used to be a problem. I'm guessing that it's related to some devices going into 'trial expired mode' while others are registered.

In addition, the browser plugin is worthless. Actually, it's worse than worthless because I assume it's going to to work and it very often doesn't so I'm wasting time when I could just be using an encrypted doc. I understand this is mostly a browser issue and it has to do with the browsers silently updating in the background, but the reality is that only 1password is negatively affected.

This product used to be flawless, so I'm not sure what happened, but today's 'Trial Expired' BS is the last straw. I wish the team good luck, but the product is seriously flawed and I don't have time for it anymore.

Don't mean this to be trollish, but I have no patience for crap DRM.

AGAlumB

@bigtrouble77: I'm sorry to hear you're having so much trouble! To be clear, 1Password doesn't use DRM or copy protection. In fact, a single license entitles you to use it on as may devices as you wish on a particular platform -- for instance, the Mac -- so we don't 'phone home' or otherwise make a fuss over which machines are 'authorized'.

It sounds like you're saying that 1Password is 'forgetting' it's licensed on all of your devices. Is that the case, or is it particular ones? If you can tell me in each case which OS you're running and the version of 1Password, it will help us get all of this sorted out for you.

Saving the license as a Software item in 1Password itself can be useful as well, and 1Password does this automatically by default now on the Mac. Did you previously have one saved (as in the screenshot)?

In regard to your browser issues, I know firsthand how things can go wrong. I would be frustrated too! But that's what we're here for: if you're having difficulty getting 1Password to 'tame' a specific website, we want to know! That way we can test it ourselves, offer a solution or workaround for you, and ultimately improve 1Password for everyone. I look forward to hearing back from you! :chuffed:

bigtrouble77

First off, thanks for the thoughtful response. This has been a battle that has beaten me down, but I will give this an honest effort one more time.

Yes, 1Password appears to be forgetting its license very frequently, like once every 1-2 months. It's definitely the case for the Macs (everything syncs to a dropbox pro account). I know the phones (mine and my wife's) have had issues, but I'm not certain if it coincided with system updates or not. All of my systems are running with the latest version of 1Password5.

I don't think I ever had it save the License as a software item, it's definitely not in there now as it's unregistered again.

As far as the browser is concerned, I don't have any issues 'taming' 1Password, I have issues with the 1Password plugin frequently getting disabled. This happens because a browser update happens in the background which changes some kind of browser security signature. 1Password refuses to run because it doesn't know if the browser has been compromised (in safari and chrome). This is especially problematic for me because I'm a developer, I have profiling tools open, debuggers and several windows with a couple hundred tabs. This forces me to copy/paste my passwords manually because reloading everything and setting up the debug state again is not fun.

I can re-apply the license and try to set it up as a software item. Hopefully that will propagate to all of my other devices that have recently lost their license?

As far as the DRM comment is concerned, this license scheme you have exists to impose technical restrictions on software I purchased. I guess it's technically not DRM, but it sure acts as a barrier between me and the software I'm trying to reasonably use.

Edit: All my macs are running OSX 10.10.1/2

AGAlumB

@bigtrouble77: Hey, don't mention it! I'm here to help. :+1:

I tried to look you up in our system, but couldn't find any licenses under the email you used to register on the forum. I was going to try resending your license info incase you didn't have it handy to see if it would add correctly (you can always have it resent to your email here). Saving the license as a Software item isn't necessary as far as registration; it merely makes it easier to find it in the future, if needed. 1Password for Mac is able to self-register if the license is saved in the vault; the Windows version is not; and 1Password for iOS does not have a 'license' as such, but is tied to your Apple ID when you purchase through the App Store.

So, none of those are actually 'connected' when it comes to licensing, which makes it curious if they are all experiencing similar issues. I have definitely experienced this with each version at some point myself, mainly due to having to shift things around so much for testing. But on iOS, as you mentioned, sometimes a system update will wreak havoc with Apple ID or iCloud logins, and then it is necessary to re-authenticate (and sometimes Restore Purchase in the 1Password app under Settings > Pro Features).

Definitely try saving the license as a Software item on your Mac, because that will sync to your other Macs as well via Dropbox; then even if they somehow 'forget' they are registered, they can re-register themselves and you shouldn't even notice. However, if you are using the Mac App Store version of 1Password (as opposed to directly purchased from AgileBits) the license will, much like iOS, be managed by your Apple ID login.

In the case of Windows, the OPW4.license file is stored in the AgileBits folder within %APPDATA%. So long as this is present, 1Password shouldn't bother you again to register.

I am sorry if the way we have this set up feels invasive or nagging. I know I've experienced that feeling with software, and it can be infuriating. But I suspect that if 1Password just stays registered for you you'll be happy. Let's work toward that. :pirate:

This is especially problematic for me because I'm a developer, I have profiling tools open, debuggers and several windows with a couple hundred tabs. This forces me to copy/paste my passwords manually because reloading everything and setting up the debug state again is not fun.

Copying and pasting is not fun. That's why we have 1Password in the first place! You have me beat by at least a few dozen tabs, but I know exactly what you mean; reloading is a pain. It's interesting that it's browser updates that seem to be causing issues with the 1Password extensions. Are you using beta versions of Safari or Chrome? I haven't seen this behaviour myself I'm afraid, but I am using the stable versions currently. But if the security check is just causing your grief and you're comfortable managing that yourself, you can actually disable Verify browser code signature in both the Mac (Preferences > Advanced) and Windows (Help > Advanced) versions of 1Password. I know prerelease builds aren't necessarily friendly to this setting.

Let me know if this helps. I think this should at least be a step in the right direction. :)

bigtrouble77

I'll definitely try disabling the browser code signature for my dev box.

Whenever I'm in this state, the 1password plugin does not seem to work... at least [cmd] \ fill doesn't work. I am on the dev branch so I guess that's part of the problem, but the same thing is true for Safari which is the regular release- every apple update blows the plugin away.

Anyway, I'll give these things a try tonight, thanks.

AGAlumB

@bigtrouble77: Ahh. I am not sure, but maybe Chrome cuts some APIs while it is waiting to restart for an update. And I can imagine it's in that state A LOT on the dev channel.

The Safari thing puzzles me though. Usually a Safari update will force a reboot, but even when it hasn't the 1Password extension hasn't quit working on me. It might be work just reinstalling the extension there in case it's become damaged -- which would explain the behavior you're seeing.

So it sounds like you're using Safari stable and Chrome dev, is that correct? Definitely let me know if code signature bypass helps. :)

AGAlumB

@bigtrouble77: A quick addendum: I'm not sure why I didn't make the connection earlier, but one of the devs pointed out that the code signature verification itself will be broken until Chrome is restarted due to the update. So disabling that check should certainly help in your situation.

bigtrouble77

@brenty, I finally got around to updating everything tonight. I have the license as a "software license" in 1password and turned off the code signature check (on my dev browsers).

I am running stable safari but everything is working fine right now. I will report back if the plugin breaks again.

Finally, thanks again for taking the time to sort this out with me and consult the devs. This is one of the few things I need to just work in my day-to-day so habitual problems are a huge time sink for me. Definitely feeling optimistic now.

littlebobbytables

I'm glad to hear things have settled down and seem to be running smoothly again @bigtrouble77 (touch wood). Hopefully it continues that way :smile: