blueirissoftware.com website down (2023.07.07)

[wittaj]

The thing is there are people on V3, V4, and V5 that didn't experience this issue and anyone on V3 or V4 probably are not paying the annual support fee.

I suspect it is some combination of the version people are on and the timing of their purchase. Maybe it is some defect that creeped into the newest updates?

Maybe it was the timing of when they purchased. In a few of the instances people posted that they renewed or bought in February, so maybe something around that timeframe is when something got worked in?

But the developer said he is taking steps to ensure this won't happen again. Let's give him a chance to get people going and I think we will get some sort of explanation. It may not be an explanation to the satisfaction of everyone, but I don't think he will stay completely silent either.

 

[oldandre]

It seems to me that one of 2 things had to be true for this to hit.
1. Automatic updates turned on (I don't, 3 systems)
2. Start the BI console to trigger the check for updates (I haven't).
Seems like maybe a bunch of people might have opened the console to check to see if they were affected. Best to use the web UI for such things.
I have some Microsoft programs that have to check subscription status to run. No Internet or MSFT down and it doesn't run. One is freeware. Now, they are a much bigger player and better equipped so the probably is extremely small.
All things considered, since most can recover if they can find their keys, I vote that we give BI some slack. Easy for me to say, I am not in demo mode.
Just my $.02. My condolences to those affected.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

....
The fact that big red button has a direct line to my system is what's relevant.

Plenty of software out there that works that way, by design. Annnd... they've been incorporating it in the software that makes automobiles function, and phones, and laptops, small power tools, etc...

 

[looney2ns]

Geez, can't believe all the hysterics displayed over this problem.
I guess it's Just like people that don't lock their cars, then whine that their car "was broken into".
Get a grip people.
By the way, I'm another one that has always had automatic updates turned off, and I've not had any license issues on two different systems during all this.

 

[biggen]

I have to say I have three BI systems and none of them had any issues either with all the stuff that happened the last couple of days. I don't know why some of us did and others didn't. I hope there is an explanation on that one.

 

[jrbeddow]

It seems to me that one of 2 things had to be true for this to hit.
1. Automatic updates turned on (I don't, 3 systems)
2. Start the BI console to trigger the check for updates (I haven't).
Seems like maybe a bunch of people might have opened the console to check to see if they were affected. Best to use the web UI for such things.
I have some Microsoft programs that have to check subscription status to run. No Internet or MSFT down and it doesn't run. One is freeware. Now, they are a much bigger player and better equipped so the probably is extremely small.
All things considered, since most can recover if they can find their keys, I vote that we give BI some slack. Easy for me to say, I am not in demo mode.
Just my $.02. My condolences to those affected.

A few people have proposed that those two conditions were needed for this to affect them: I can confirm that's not really the case. It affected my installation after about 24 hours from the first reports of this (so Saturday evening in my case), even though I never logged onto the console in that timeframe. The possible "gotcha" is that I do however have the auto-update "check" turned on (but not the full program auto-update).
Mine went into evaluation mode, but was easy to reinstate by re-entering the maintenance code. I also didn't have to manually reinstate the "Service" mode, it did it on its own.

 

[TonyR]

I don't know what I did right, or wrong, but I have not had any issues with my BI machine during all of this.

Ditto here....

Clean living?
</end sarcasm>

 

[TonyR]

Almost EVERY product has had an issue at some time. Heck both my vehicles have active recalls at the moment

And I'll bet that vehicle cost a lot more than $65, right?

 

[TonyR]

I have had BI for over 10 years. This was the first problem that was not my fault.

Same here........except for the "my fault" part, as I mever nake mistakes....

 

[TonyR]

Is that a pirate?

Not really...it's an animated GIF of an actor...but you know that, right?

I am sure that his NVR can't be remotely disabled,

Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.

.... but there are plenty of better options than going that route.

Go for it!

 

[TonyR]

It seems to me that one of 2 things had to be true for this to hit.
1. Automatic updates turned on (I don't, 3 systems)
2. Start the BI console to trigger the check for updates (I haven't).
Seems like maybe a bunch of people might have opened the console to check to see if they were affected. Best to use the web UI for such things.
I have some Microsoft programs that have to check subscription status to run. No Internet or MSFT down and it doesn't run. One is freeware. Now, they are a much bigger player and better equipped so the probably is extremely small.
All things considered, since most can recover if they can find their keys, I vote that we give BI some slack. Easy for me to say, I am not in demo mode.
Just my $.02. My condolences to those affected.

Good first, post, man...Welcome to IPCT!

 

[fenderman]

I'll be your exhibit A... I was affected and didn't post because the remedy has already been discussed and there's nothing to add.

Maybe I could instead pile onto the surprisingly few who are quite peeved with the idea that my paid application can be switched off at any moment if my system is connected. And my fault for not doing research on the fact BI requires a connection once a year... what an awful requirement for a "security" program that's more or less advertised as "works fine forever if you don't mind not getting updates."

It does in fact keep working.... The developer simply needs to keep scammers from generating keys so on occasion it does check to validate the key... There was obviously an issue that is being remedied... If you don't like the solution fuck off and use another product..... You're a no position to make demands... This is how 99% of paid applications that require a license work...

 

[jepster]

Ha, I'm still laughing... I have almost 20 systems, and the three with this "Eval BSOA" (Blue screen of annoyance) were out of service contract, so I was very happy to see the licensing site come back online so I could buy 3 more support renewals... supposed to be "auto-renew" but they didn't. I'm trusting that my 3 renewals pay for coffee, Jolt Cola and delivery pizza for Mike & Ken. You two GO! Thanks for the fixie. I feel confident that BI will become more reliable after this incident, as I'm sure everyone behind that BI StoreFront will cogitate over this and we'll see better changes/features come that would not have been occasioned without this bit of turbulence.

What I love about spending my CCTV budget with BI is that I feel the money goes to the right person/people, the programmers that actually make this bunch of 1's and 0's do all the cool stuff that I want, and that I've come to really depend on, and not some marketing department dreaming up ways to just convince me that this software does what I want it to do.

I think the kvetching we've seen is a good indication that people using this software depend on it, and chose or choose to stay on it for good reasons. Sounds like many of us have gone down that dark and dusty 2-3 year road of cctv/dvr/nvr company failures/disappearances. I've got a shelf here full of useless crap, all for different reasons, but it's junk on a shelf (shit on a shingle) at this point. Dedicated Micros, Nuvico, HIK, other stuff I tried. No thanks. I've already been on BI for longer than some other big commercial products.

You'd think that with nearly 20 installations I'd be a pro user, know everything, perfect systems... but nope, this software is always surprising me and there is always more to learn; I'm still a noob. But I know for sure that if my mind comes up with an idea, that I can get it done with BI (and sometimes a soldering iron). It is those instances where I propel forward in my BI skillset, solving a problem with the tools hidden away in BI by someone who truly enjoys this stuff. I frequently amuse people with some of the integrations I've done with BI, and then everyone wants that feature! "How do I do that..."

Usually my problems with BI are from bill gates, not BI. This time, bill gets a pass... but not for long, he'll be back. :>)

Gotta go, I have a couple more machines to build, bringing on a couple more sites with BI.

73

 

[opus too]

Hopefully the people that are away from their BI install learn something called remote desktop exists. You don't have to be there to fix it.

 

[tward392]

"Hysterics" lol... Like I said, maybe it's my fault for not doing research on how BI behaves. I thought I was buying a support license... and that is clearly not the case.

It is for support and updates, obviously something went wrong and I'm sure Ken will fix it and it won't happen again. If you want to pay once and run it forever that is your prerogative. Some like to support him and like what he does with the updates. I pay yearly and seldom have to contact support. This software runs 24/7 usually without a hiccup. When I have had to contact support they are quick to respond and fix/help with whatever my issue is, even if it is just me being stupid. People just need to calm down, the site is back up, things will be back to normal, pay or don't, your choice.

 

[smiticans]

Who knows how many BI licenses are out there, but the fact that the number of people with issues during this period has such few number of instances posted here and on other platforms indicates that it really was a low percentage of people this impacted. Heck this thread is only 200 replies and each one isn't a "my system is in eval".

I'm sure there were a large number of people affected by this issue. I manage six Blue Iris systems and out of the six, three of them went into evaluation mode. No, I do not have auto updates on etc, and I do not believe that had anything to do with this issue. The common denominator I noticed between the BI system that went to eval mode were they were running on an extended support key that was required for the system to be running on the version it was currently on. The systems that did not go into eval mode were running on version supported by the original registration key. One of my systems I was able to just re-enter the support key and it was back online instantly without restarting the software, the second one wouldn't accept the support key until the website came back online today and the third one shutdown completely and wouldn't re-open. I had to re-enter the original registration key, support key and restore from a backup because it wiped all of the settings.

I just didn't make a post about it because I didn't feel it was necessary since there were already numerous posts about the issue. I'm sure a lot of people didn't post about this issue for the same or similar reasons.

 

[SKG]

I was also hit by this, thankfully only one of 4 installs were affected. Sadly, it hit my home install which runs on linux using wine on an older BI version (5.5.6.9). I was able to leave eval mode very quickly but ran across a bug, if the website was unreachable turning the updates check at boot, the instance would crash. That was a lot of fun. I thought I had found a work around of replicating the website update check response but it went back to eval mode again. Oh well, website is back for now, hopefully can take my time finding a true solution to the server checks.

 

[saltwater]

Now I'm tinkering with Frigate and ZoneMinder....

Good luck with that. I'm serious, please report back with your progress.

 

[badmotorscooter]

Mine was affected, and I have auto update turned off. I just punched in my renewal code and eval mode went away, though I waited until today to try that. I figured I'd wait a few days after I checked on here Saturday morning and saw the chatter. I think I'm good now, had no other issues.

 

[Pentagano]

Great to hear he's back up and running.
I'm sure we'll see some patch updates soon.
For those who have paid their maintenance fees anyway.
Best to support him IMHO