HOW TO: Upgrade your dongle

Make sure to use the latest version

In February 2025, we made changes to our activation server, and a new version of Softron Dongle Programmer (version 3.0) is required. If you had downloaded it previously, make sure to download the latest version.

Previous versions of Softron Dongle Programmer will not be able to connect to our database. If your version does not have the new logo, please download it again. 

When would you need to upgrade a dongle?

There can be different moments when you need to upgrade or update a dongle:

• when you order a dongle, we ship it 'empty', without license on it. So when you receive it, you have to actually load the license on it. This is made so that if the dongle gets lost on the way, only the value of the dongle is lost, not the license.
• if you have a license on a dongle, and want to either upgrade to a newer version or add an option, you will have to update the dongle.

Upgrading the dongle

1. Download the Softron Dongle Upgrader application: 

2. Make sure that you are connected to the web. The Softron Dongle Upgrader application will connect to our servers to retrieve the upgrade instructions. Note that you can run the installer from a different computer than the one on air. 

3. Make sure that the dongle is connected to the Mac where you will run the installer. The actual application that you use do not need to be installed.

4. Unzip and start the application. It should look like this:

3. If you have multiple dongles, make sure to select the one you want to upgrade. And verify the licenses.

4. Click on the "Upgrade" button. 

5. If successful, it will show you the following message (see below troubleshooting if it is not successful)

6. Click on OK

7. Verify that the upgrade was done by checking the number of licenses, options and versions of the apps.

8. Delete the zip file and the "Softron Dongle Upgrader" application, you will not need them anymore!

9. Start your Softron Application, that's it!

Additional checks 

With applications using the Softron License Manager (after June 2025)

If you are using recent versions of your Softron application, select the menu "MovieRecorder > License..." (or the name of your application). This window will show up:

You will see, in the top area:

• The status, letting you know if your application is in demo mode or not.
• The number of channels that are currently available. If you click on the "i" icon, it will show the options that are enabled.

In the table:

• The list of dongles and serial numbers
• The number of channels each allow
• If you click on the "i" icon, it will show the options that are enabled for the specific dongle (note that for serial numbers, the options are show directly in the cell.

With applications using the old activation system (before June 2025)

For Applications that don't have any options (MovieRecorder, Multicam Logger, OnTheAir CG,...) 

To check whether the dongle has been updated, select the menu "MovieRecorder > License..." (or the name of your application). This window will show up:

You can see at the top left of the license window that it says "Application activated", and on the top right you can see the number of channels that are available (only for multichannel applications such as MovieRecorder).

For Applications that can have options (OnTheAir Video, OnTheAir Node, ... ) 

You could follow the same procedure as above (in the license window), but it won't tell you which option are available. So  forapplications that have options, select the menu "OnTheAir Video > About OnTheAir Video" (or change to the name of your application) from the  menu. This window will show up:

Under the "License Info", you should see the dongle number. If you click on "More info...", this window will show up:

You can see which options are enabled:

• If Base Application is "Red", then you are in demo mode. If it is green, your application is licensed.
• Then below are all the options. In this case, you can see the "Closed Captioning" and "Pro Codecs" options are enabled.
• Licensed Channels tells you how many channel you can start at the same time. In the example above, we can enable 1 channel in MovieRecorder. (In demo mode, you will see "100".)

Troubleshooting

If nothing shows up in the interface

This probably means that you did not connect your dongle properly:

• Make sure you are using the correct dongle.
• Make sure that it is properly connected (the little green light must be on). 
• The USB port may be faulty, try on another port or another computer.
• If all this does not work, it may mean that the dongle is broken. Then read the following article: http://softron.zendesk.com/entries/223394-are-dongles-guaranteed

Connection Error

If the upgrade of the dongle fails and you see the following error message:

Make sure that:

• You are using the latest version of Softron Dongle Programmer (Version 3.0 or later - check that the icon and user interface match the one shown in this article)
• Your computer is connected to the internet.
• Your network does not have a firewall that blocks communications on port 8080. (you may want to confirm this with your network administrator)

If you still have an issue after having checked the above, get in touch with our support desk.