Activating Shadow Rack

Shadow Rack starts only on an activated Mac. You activate it once, with the account you bought it with, and from then on the licence is checked quietly in the background. It never stops the app in the middle of a show.

Activating in the browser since 0.5#

When a Mac has no licence yet, this window opens instead of the app:

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1. 1Activate in the browser – opens shadowrack.eu for this Mac
2. 2A Mac without internet? – the steps with two files
3. 3The name this Mac will have in your account
4. 4Buy Shadow Rack opens the shop, Quit closes the window (and the app)

Good to know:

• Cancel under the spinner stops waiting, if you opened the page by mistake or want to use another way.
• The link in the browser is valid for an hour. If it has expired, click Activate in the browser once more.
• Bought with another email? Sign in with that one. A licence belongs to the account that bought it.
• If the account has only the WING Extension, the window says Nothing to open yet: the WING Extension adds to Rack FX or Rack IEM and can't start the app on its own. Use another account lets you sign in with a different one. See modules.
• Closing the activation window quits Shadow Rack.

A Mac without internet#

Show Macs are often kept off the internet on purpose. You can activate one with two files and any other computer that is online.

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1. 1Save this Mac's device file
2. 2Turn it into a licence file at shadowrack.eu/activate/offline
3. 3Open the licence file here
4. 4Save the device file...
5. 5Open the licence file...

A Mac activated this way never has to go online. In Setup > Licence it shows ACTIVE - OFFLINE and "activated without internet".

Three Macs per licence#

One licence covers 3 Macs – for example the FOH Mac, a spare that travels with it, and the one at home where you build the sessions. My account at shadowrack.eu lists them under Your Macs. If all three are in use, the activation page says All your Macs are in use: deactivate one you don't use any more, then click Try again on the page.

Checked at every start – never during a show#

• At start, the licence stored on the Mac is checked on the Mac itself: no network, no waiting. If it's valid, the app starts at once.
• Then, in the background, Shadow Rack asks shadowrack.eu about the licence – at every start. What it learns only counts from the next start: a part you've bought since, a Mac deactivated in your account. Nothing that's already running gets switched off.
• No internet is fine. You never lose a licence because there's no connection.
• 60 days: a Mac activated in the browser has to start Shadow Rack with internet at least once every 60 days, so the licence can be checked. If it doesn't, after 60 days you'll see This Mac hasn't been online for 60 days - connect it to the internet once, so the licence can be checked. You connect it and start Shadow Rack again. Macs activated with files don't have this rule.

When a licence is taken away#

If this Mac's licence is deactivated (in your account, or from the Mac itself), refunded or revoked, Shadow Rack finds out in the background at the next start. Then it:

• removes the licence from this Mac,
• tells you at once: This Mac isn't activated any more,
• keeps running until you quit it – nothing stops there and then,
• asks for activation at the next start.

If it's still yours, activate the Mac again at the next start, or check My account.

Deactivating this Mac#

Do this before you sell or wipe a Mac, or to free a seat for a new one.

• In the app: Setup > Licence, then Deactivate this Mac. After the first click the button turns red – Sure? Click again to deactivate – and a second click within 4 seconds frees the seat. Shadow Rack keeps running until you quit it; the next start asks for activation. See Setup > Licence.
• On the website: My account > Your Macs > Deactivate – handy when the old Mac is broken or gone. That Mac finds out at its next start with internet.

No trials yet#

You can only activate Shadow Rack with a bought licence. A trial licence is refused with Trials aren't open yet - activate with a bought licence.

When something doesn't work#