[SOLVED but not for free] How to clone Sentinel HASP HL key for free

[asheenlevrai]

Hi,

 

We recently purchased a very expensive piece of software that requires a hardware key (USB dongle) in order to work (license). (Win10 x64 platform)

 

However, since multiple people use the software and pass the USB dongle around, we almost lost or broke it several times already. I'm scared at some point we'll just lose it or brake it for good.

I contacted the seller and they say they cannot give us a backup dongle. They can sell us another key but that would be the price of a 2nd license.

They said if we lose or break the USB dongle, they might replace it but this would take weeks. This is exactly what I fear: all of us would be blocked from using the software for a long time.

 

The USB dongle shows up in Device Manger as 2 devices: "Sentinel HASP Key" and "Sentinel HL Key".

 

1) Software clone: I googled for ways to clone it and found numerous website that offer to clone our dongle for a fee. Generally it involves "dumping" the content of the dongle into a file by using a dedicated software and then sending the dump file and a copy of the installation file of our specific software to the guys that will design a custom software clone of our dongle and then sell it to us.

 

2) Physical clone: I wonder if there was a way to maybe make a physical clone of our dongle. Probably not since it contains a chip of some sort, I guess...

 

Is there any way I could clone the USB dongle myself? Without significant cost and without involving a third party?

 

Thank you very much in advance for your help and advice.

 

Best,

-a-

[WereCatf]

3 minutes ago, asheenlevrai said:

Is there any way I could clone the USB dongle myself?

That would technically be piracy.

[asheenlevrai]

Or maybe I could "share" the dongle using something like this:

https://www.net-usb.com/share-usb/

or

https://www.flexihub.com/usb-over-ip-software.html

and leave the dongle plugged into a USB port in a "safe" location where no one would touch it...

 

Thoughts?

[asheenlevrai]

18 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

That would technically be piracy.

Technically yes...

Now if we respect the EULA and never use both the USB dongle and its clone at the same time, this would hurt no one... I guess... right?

I know it's a thin line...

 

[WereCatf]

2 minutes ago, asheenlevrai said:

Or maybe I could "share" the dongle using something like this:

https://www.net-usb.com/share-usb/

and leave the dongle plugged into a USB port in a "safe" location where no one would touch it...

That seems like a more reasonable approach. That way you wouldn't risk losing the dongle by accident.

1 minute ago, asheenlevrai said:

Technically yes...

Now if we respect the EULA and never use both the USB dongle and its clone at the same time, this would hurt no one... I guess... right?

I know it's a thin line...

The point is that we're not allowed to talk about/assist in piracy here on the forums. The USB-over-network approach should be fine, but cloning the dongle would be piracy and we can't really discuss that option.

[asheenlevrai]

2 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

That seems like a more reasonable approach. That way you wouldn't risk losing the dongle by accident.

The point is that we're not allowed to talk about/assist in piracy here on the forums. The USB-over-network approach should be fine, but cloning the dongle would be piracy and we can't really discuss that option.

Thanks,

 

I hope I can solve this by using an USB-over-IP solution.

ANY RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED

I guess there's no free software to do this, right?

 

If I cannot, I won't go on discussing the other option (clone the dongle) on this forum.

I hope I won't be forced to go to the dark side

 

[WereCatf]

1 hour ago, asheenlevrai said:

I hope I can solve this by using an USB-over-IP solution.

ANY RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED

I guess there's no free software to do this, right?

I'm only aware of free Linux-to-Linux solution for USB-over-IP, sorry. I think all cross-platform solutions are proprietary. I would actually like a cross-platform USB-over-IP solution myself as well, would be useful for certain server-stuff.

[givingtnt]

what's the software ?
Are you sure there arn't other solutions ?
Edit : NVM lol, it's irrelevant.

Yeah no, these keys are encrypted and you have pretty much 0 chances of figuring out the key to acess the data. 
Maybe you coul ask for another key ? but then that would 1000% defy the purpose.
You're pretty much stuck here for this (as other have said) illegal usage of the product. It is piracy through & through.


However. you may perhaps be able to go around the problem entirely. 
You could setup a server with a VM & the key plugged into that, and connect remotely to use the software.

This would 
A. reduce significantly the risks of damage / loss of the key
B. still let you acess the software from pretty much any computer behind your company's firewall.

[NinJake]

We have the same Sentinel HASP HL key in use for our software at work. For the last 10 years or more they would use these keys and keep them plugged into the actual end-users' computers. Either late 2017 or last year sometime I did exactly what @givingtnt said. Except rather than setting up a VM, I repurposed an older machine and upgraded the HDD to a SSD/ bumped the 4gb ram to 8gb and set the computer up in a server room for all the users to remote into.

[asheenlevrai]

17 hours ago, givingtnt said:

what's the software ?
Are you sure there arn't other solutions ?
Edit : NVM lol, it's irrelevant.

Yeah no, these keys are encrypted and you have pretty much 0 chances of figuring out the key to acess the data. 
Maybe you coul ask for another key ? but then that would 1000% defy the purpose.
You're pretty much stuck here for this (as other have said) illegal usage of the product. It is piracy through & through.


However. you may perhaps be able to go around the problem entirely. 
You could setup a server with a VM & the key plugged into that, and connect remotely to use the software.

This would 
A. reduce significantly the risks of damage / loss of the key
B. still let you acess the software from pretty much any computer behind your company's firewall.

I didn't understand the 1st part of your answer. Maybe you want to PM me?

 

They would give us a 2nd key only if we purchase a 2nd license and this would be around $15k.

 

As for the VM option, I'm currently thinking about:

 - using a real machine with the USB dongle on and access this machine via VNC

or

 - using a real machine with the USB dongle on and share it via USB-over-IP to the clients (LAN only)

A VM seems a bit overkill for now, but if there is any benefit from this option, please enlighten me.

 

Tx

-a-

[asheenlevrai]

15 hours ago, NinJake said:

We have the same Sentinel HASP HL key in use for our software at work. For the last 10 years or more they would use these keys and keep them plugged into the actual end-users' computers. Either late 2017 or last year sometime I did exactly what @givingtnt said. Except rather than setting up a VM, I repurposed an older machine and upgraded the HDD to a SSD/ bumped the 4gb ram to 8gb and set the computer up in a server room for all the users to remote into.

Thanks :)

Indeed, that seems like a convenient-enough approach.

May I ask what software you use for the remote access?

I was thinking about VNC but maybe it's not fast enough.

Or Remote Desktop? But then the way clients need to accept to be logged out for another to log in may become problematic if a clients forgets to log out... I have little to no experience with RDP...

 

Tx

-a-

PS: the server would be running W10 since the software we use runs on Windows

[NinJake]

5 hours ago, asheenlevrai said:

May I ask what software you use for the remote access?

I was thinking about VNC but maybe it's not fast enough.

We do use VNC. The software we use only requires editing some text every now and then so it's not an issue as there's not a lot of "moving parts" to the software. Remote Desktop would be fine, as if you were to attempt to remote in while someone else was still "in but away", it would pop up a prompt on the away person's screen saying "asheenlevrai is trying to connect.." and after 60 seconds of no response it would let you in. If the other person is still working on the software, they click a button which keeps them in.

 

The only issue is if the software can't be running in 2 profiles at once. Each person would have to make sure to quit out of the software before logging out.

[asheenlevrai]

21 hours ago, NinJake said:

The only issue is if the software can't be running in 2 profiles at once. Each person would have to make sure to quit out of the software before logging out.

Yes. That's exactly the kind of issue we're going to face (with RDP).

I guess we'll stick to VNC although for us it could be problematic since the software we need to share involves manipulating video files in real time...

[Karnel30bill]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:34 PM, asheenlevrai said:

Or maybe I could "share" the dongle using something like this:

https://www.net-usb.com/share-usb/

or

https://www.flexihub.com/usb-over-ip-software.html

and leave the dongle plugged into a USB port in a "safe" location where no one would touch it...

 

Thoughts?

Guys, I will throw you another software for thought. Cloning and remote access to dongs with https://www.donglify.net/
I am surprised by such software, but as it turns out, it is official and there are no problems with licensing.
We tried at the office to give out a key for employees, so as not to suffer with reconnections.

[asheenlevrai]

47 minutes ago, Karnel30bill said:

Guys, I will throw you another software for thought. Cloning and remote access to dongs with https://www.donglify.net/
I am surprised by such software, but as it turns out, it is official and there are no problems with licensing.
We tried at the office to give out a key for employees, so as not to suffer with reconnections.

Thank you

 

It's quite pricey since it's a monthly subscription.

How is this product different from other options previously mentioned?

 

Tx

-a-

[Karnel30bill]

21 minutes ago, asheenlevrai said:

Thank you

 

It's quite pricey since it's a monthly subscription.

How is this product different from other options previously mentioned?

 

Tx

-a-

Well, a big plus is that there is a multifunctional. You can share one key on multiple devices.

 

I agree, the price is not very sweet, but for office teams is quite affordable.
And buying for a month is even more profitable if you need access for a short time, so as not to overpay for the whole year

[Karnel30bill]

28 minutes ago, asheenlevrai said:

Thank you

 

It's quite pricey since it's a monthly subscription.

How is this product different from other options previously mentioned?

 

Tx

-a-

UNG or Flexihub is also a good option, I like that it is possible to access all USB devices. But also, everything depends on the price.

[asheenlevrai]

" You can share one key on multiple devices. "

 

But not at the same time, right?

[Karnel30bill]

2 hours ago, asheenlevrai said:

" You can share one key on multiple devices. "

 

But not at the same time, right?

At the same time. That's why I brought this program as an option.

I don’t know how they succeed, but the fact remains. And as they point out absolutely not all keys lend themselves to them, but most can.

[asheenlevrai]

20 hours ago, Karnel30bill said:

At the same time. That's why I brought this program as an option.

I don’t know how they succeed, but the fact remains. And as they point out absolutely not all keys lend themselves to them, but most can.

That's very interesting!

Thanks a lot :)

I'll look into it

[asheenlevrai]

On 12/5/2019 at 1:00 PM, Karnel30bill said:

At the same time. That's why I brought this program as an option.

I don’t know how they succeed, but the fact remains. And as they point out absolutely not all keys lend themselves to them, but most can.

It works!

This is just GREAT. Thank you so much.

 

Best,

-a-

 

PS: a bit expensive to my taste but the job is done and the app is super easy to use

[Karnel30bill]

On 12/6/2019 at 5:12 PM, asheenlevrai said:

It works!

This is just GREAT. Thank you so much.

 

Best,

-a-

 

PS: a bit expensive to my taste but the job is done and the app is super easy to use

I was glad to help. 

[asheenlevrai]

On 12/10/2019 at 9:52 AM, Karnel30bill said:

I was glad to help. 

Since the last update of Donglify, I now suffer from frequent disconnections.

This means the "client" PC's temporarily loose the connection to the USB dongle and thus cannot work as expected.

This seem to be relatively random.

 

Do you experience the same thing? Is it due to the update?

 

Thanks for your feedback

-a-