The latest news on dongles: upgrade your old Analyzer 2 key today and learn about our new license update portal

by Dipl.-Psych. Michael Hoppstädter
Scientific Consultant (Brain Products)

Logo AnalyzerLicense dongles have always been used for our various Brain Products software. As both dongle technology and software evolve, we recently changed the dongle policies for BrainVision Analyzer 2. Additionally, we switched to a new license management system which will make updates for all our software dongles even easier.

HASP HL dongle technology has been retired with BrainVision Analyzer 2.2.1

Our USB license dongles for BrainVision Analyzer 2 can come in two ways: either as HASP HL or as Sentinel HASP keys. In fact, HASP HL keys are outdated, and we are not sending them out anymore. HASP HL keys are generally still working, but they have some disadvantages with respect to management of license features (see also our licensing pocket guide for reference) and configuration (especially for network dongles).

Therefore, we have decided to finally retire HASP HL dongles with Analyzer version 2.2.1. This means that you will need to use a Sentinel HASP dongle to work with our current and future versions of BrainVision Analyzer 2.

Of course, we do not want to build up any barriers that would keep you from using the latest version of our flagship analysis software. Therefore, we would love to upgrade your dongles as soon as possible! Our upgrade campaign was kicked off at the end of 2020 and we have already upgraded a fair share of dongles. Thus, we want to use the opportunity to convince you of upgrading today.

There are three great messages I want to pass along to you

  • Sentinel HASP dongles for Analyzer 2 are on the market since 2013 and therefore there is a good chance that your dongle is already up to date.

  • If you require an update, we can do this remotely in most cases. Single license dongles can be upgraded easily via applying an update (see also the second part of this article). Only network dongles will have to be physically exchanged. To avoid any gaps, you can send your old dongle back after you have received the new one.

  • We are offering the upgrade to Sentinel HASP free of charge until December 31, 2021.

Once your dongle is upgraded, you can proceed with the installation of Analyzer 2.2.1, and you’re ready for analysis.

Please visit our dedicated Analyzer 2.2.1 info page for more information. Here, you can find all details about how to check your dongle technology and what information you need to provide to initiate the upgrade right away. In case that you have any doubts about upgrading your dongle or if you have questions about the latest version of BrainVision Analyzer 2, please drop us a message at support@brainproducts.com.

New online customer portal for license updates

The second news is also in the realm of license updates. We recently changed the way how we create and manage licenses by switching to a new entitlement management system (EMS). This also affects license updates and how they are brought onto your dongle.

Imagine that you want to purchase more user seats for your Analyzer 2 network license, or you want to extend the functionality of Recorder by ordering the Video EEG add-on license. In both cases, the features stored on your dongle need to be adapted. Instead of downloading an executable and running a program, you can now update your dongle by simply connecting to our new online customer portal. We hope that this renewal of our license management will make life easier for both you and us.

In order to update your license

The latest news on dongles: upgrade your old Analyzer 2 key today and learn about our new license update portal

Figure 1: Overview of the new update procedure. First add the EMS URL in the driver configuration – and do not forget to click ‘Submit’. Second, you only need to click on ‘Update Licenses’ in the customer portal.

You need to set up the first two steps only once on your machine and every following update will be plug-and-play. Please note that you can only update a locally connected dongle (also holds for network dongles) while no other dongles should be connected during the update.

Since we implemented the new customer portal, we have already updated many dongles successfully with this procedure. If you have already received a license update for your Brain Products dongle and you have encountered difficulties while using the new customer portal, please feel free to get in touch via support@brainproducts.com.