Maya Activation

[mud duck]

Downloaded Maya 5.0 fine but can't get past the need for the activation key thingy....I'm a design engineer but dumber than a rock when it comes to program manipulation. Any ideas how to get this program running?? Thanks

[Xilo]

Are you serious? I posted how to do it in your other post. Did you even bother to look? Probably not... I'll post them again.

Make a folder called flexlm in C:\
Use the crack to generate the necessary aw.dat file
Put the aw.dat file into the flexlm folder on C:\
Start up Maya and it should be authorized

[Illuminati]

Don't feel ashamed about it - The last two versions of Maya, 4.5 and 5, have been the most complex program to crack that I've ever seen.

I'm quoting the following from the comprehensive 4.5 crack ReadMe - It's effectively the same (any changes for 5 are already in it)

Originally posted by Maya 4.5 Readme (with v5 changes)

1) Go into the Maya directory included in this archive, and run (double click) on the setup.exe.  The file may be called just "setup" if you have Windows set to its default to Hide extensions for known file types.  Select Maya Unlimited, which is evidently less limited and more complete than maya Complete.  If you choose to do a custom install, you are on your own, as I have only tested this with the complete setup. The full setup appears to take up 514mb in my Program Files directory, not sure how much is added elsewhere.  (Addition for v5 - Install maya(use node locked option))

2) The next screen has two checkboxes for "Add to System Path" and "Add Shortcut to Desktop".  Leave the checkbox in the first one.  The second one is up to you.

3) Click Next, and Install to continue on. This may take a few minutes as Maya is installed, depending on the speed of your machine.

4) You will be given a choice to install the Shader Library, I selected this option, though I suppose it isn't vital. It installs in a "side" window.

5) Once the shader install is complete, back on our original install window, Skip the License configuration (we get to do our OWN, of course).

6) Next, open the file aw.dat in Notepad (the windows text editor, usually found by clicking START, Programs, Accessories).  We will need to edit the "HOST=" section in a minute.  The original document the hacker included with this isn't clear on what needs to go here, which is the Ethernet MAC address for those of you who know what that is.  If you are on a machine without a Network card, you can TRY "000000000000" in place of the next step, but this is untested.  To get your MAC address do the following:

7) Open up a DOS window (click START, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt). 

8) Change to the directory where you have the crack.  The EASIEST way to do that in Windows 2000/XP is to copy the "Address" (absolute path) from Windows Explorer, for example:

"C:\TEMPDIR\maya4.5\maya unlimited 4.5 final with crack\Crack"

After copying this to the clipboard (right click, copy, or CTRL-C), type into the DOS window:

cd

...plus a space. then right click, and click paste.  In my above example you would see:

cd C:\TEMPDIR\maya4.5\maya unlimited 4.5 final with crack\Crack

Then just press Enter and you're in that directory.

9) Type "ipconfig /all" and press Enter.  You should see a display such as:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3com 3C905 Network Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-D5-44-9F-3A-09
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 33.89.0.29
                                            33.89.0.30
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 01, 2002 8:48:08 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, December 02, 2002 8:48:08 PM

...The number we are looking for here is the Physical Address, with the hyphens removed.  In the above example, the number we are after is "00D5449F3A09" (this is a hexidecimal number (base 16) so it can have letters A-F in it - that's normal).

10) Go back to notepad and the aw.dat file.  Replace "your host" with this number you just obtained.  For this fictitious example, "HOSTID=your_host" would need to be changed to "HOSTID=00D5449F3A09".  It is imperitive you get this right for YOUR system, or the crack won't work.

11) Save the file and exit Notepad.  Next, go back to the DOS window and type "awkeygen.exe aw.dat" and press Enter.  You won't see any output if all goes well, it will just take you to the next command prompt.

12) Type "md c:\flexlm" and press enter.  This will create a directory called "flexlm" on the C: drive.  The instructions below state this must be done on the C: drive, even if Maya was installed onto a separate directory.  I have not tested this, but if your Windows installation is on a drive OTHER than the C: drive, it *MIGHT* be neccessary to make this directory on THAT drive - This is something to try if your crack fails, but first time through stick with the C: drive.

13) Copy the file to that directory by typing "copy aw.dat c:\flexlm" and press Enter.  (Note if you have flexlm on a different drive, change "C:\flexlm" to "d:\flexlm" or whatever drive letter is appropriate.

14) You can now close the DOS Window.

15) Finally, we need to "install" the license. Click START, Programs, Alias Wavefront, Common Utilities, Install License.  Once the Window pops up, click Browse and find your aw.dat file (located in the C:\flexlm directory), click Open and then click Install.  You should get a message dialog box stating the license was installed.

16) You should be all set!  If you attempt to start Maya 4.5 and you are prompted to enter a serial number or an authorization code, you have done something wrong, carefully retrace your steps.  If Windows is not installed on drive C: on your system consider putting the flexlm directory on that drive (steps 12-13)

Can someone with Maya 5 Unlimited confirm the following & let me know about anything wrong / needs updating? Otherwise, that should be how to activate Maya 5. I know it's a bit complex, but it is worth it if you want a powerful 3D modeller/animator - Or you can do what I did and use 3DS Max instead

[Xilo]

You don't need to do all that stuff. I got Maya 5.0 Unlimited installed. All you do to get the aw.dat file is run the crack and click generate... Now, if you want the easy crack i can give it to ya.

[Illuminati]

You must have had a f***ing miracle then or you've got a different version from what I have.

The crack I've got with Maya 5 Unlimited has only two needed files - aw.dat and awkeygen.exe. If you're thinking what I think you are and are talking about just executing awkeygen, then hell if I know how you got it cracked - awkeygen uses the aw.dat to generate the "licence". In other words, it isn't that aw needs awkeygen but the other way around.

Also - You need to manually enter your Ethernet address to create a valid aw.dat for the keygen. This might be the understanding - It could be that you have a crack where it automatically finds the Ethernet address of a PC and automatically writes it to the aw.dat.

In which case - Tell me where I can get it

[Xilo]

No, I didn't use the one that came with the iso. It was crap and didn't seem to work right. It still wasn't as complicated as the one you are talking about, you had to drag a file onto the exe and it would make the aw.dat file or some crap like that. I found a better one with just a run > click generate > aw.dat is made. It's called Indam5. I can up it to an angelfire account.

[Illuminati]

Originally posted by Xilo@7 July 2003 - 19:10
No, I didn't use the one that came with the iso. It was crap and didn't seem to work right. It still wasn't as complicated as the one you are talking about, you had to drag a file onto the exe and it would make the aw.dat file or some crap like that. I found a better one with just a run > click generate > aw.dat is made. It's called Indam5. I can up it to an angelfire account.

Yeah - I have to admit that the 5 crack did say about dragging the files, but I've had some people in the past have trouble understanding simple stuff like that (how do I drag? ) - Practically anyone can understand how to run through a command-line GUI as long as they've got the commands.

I'll grab that crack then

[Wolfmight]

Maya is the biggest animation program there is right now... no wonder it's so hard to crack. They use it in movies like Starwars II, Spiderman, and probably the Matrix Reloaded.

[Illuminati]

Only problem with it is that on some PCs, it can be a resource hog.

3DS Max comes as a close second but uses a lot less CPU power - Sorry, but while I have Maya I prefer 3DS Max 5.1

[Wolfmight]

Originally posted by Illuminati@7 July 2003 - 12:53
Only problem with it is that on some PCs, it can be a resource hog.

3DS Max comes as a close second but uses a lot less CPU power - Sorry, but while I have Maya I prefer 3DS Max 5.1

a major Yes!
I reccommend a Proccessor Farm of a couple of 2.0ghz-3.0ghz+s to make proffessional quality animation.