I've been using an old paid version of Blue Iris for years, so the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay has not been visible all this time. However, today when I opened UI3 in my browser, all my camera windows are (surprisingly) displaying the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay.
Why is this overlay suddenly visible, and how can I get rid of it?
My old paid version is apparently "Release 5.2.9.19 x64 (6/17/2020), or at least that's what's displayed when I login to Blue Iris Admin's main menu and view the "About" tab. The "Registration" section of this tab is blank too (not sure why my registration info is not here), and if it makes any difference, the "Software Support and Maintenance" section is set for "No automatic updates".
I don't understand why this change happened on its own, but I'm hoping someone here can tell me how to fix it -- without paying for an upgrade or a newer version that I do not need.
Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
Their server crashed over the weekend. You will have to re-register with your maintenance key and maybe your original key. If you can't find same, or need help, contact support. I had to re-enter my current maintenance key on one of our systems.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
Thanks louyo, I didn't realize that MY system would fail due to THEIR server failure!
In my opinion it is never a good idea to cause your customer's systems to fail simply because your own server crashes.
I think an improvement to this software would be to create a checkbox in Admin that allows me to "Disable automated online checks" rather than to continue to force me to "Check at startup and daily at [time]". Then I could check manually whenever I felt like it, and I could rest assured that my system would never fail like this again because of a server issue on their end.
The bottom line here is that my system should be completely independent from their server if that's what I want.
In my opinion it is never a good idea to cause your customer's systems to fail simply because your own server crashes.
I think an improvement to this software would be to create a checkbox in Admin that allows me to "Disable automated online checks" rather than to continue to force me to "Check at startup and daily at [time]". Then I could check manually whenever I felt like it, and I could rest assured that my system would never fail like this again because of a server issue on their end.
The bottom line here is that my system should be completely independent from their server if that's what I want.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
My guess is that they didn't think such would happen when they implemented the check, maybe their approach design just didn't work. Sometime in the last year or so, they changed the way they enforced the rule that you can't use updates beyond your 12 month registration/maintenance expiration. This also resulted in the demo version.
In this case, my SWAG was that the demo mode only happened when you opened the console or it tried to auto update. I very rarely open the console, using the UI. It could be recovered by entering the proper key, with some confusion about which key(s) were needed if all had expired.
My guess, going forward, is that changes will be made to avoid such in the future. Since I wasn't really affected, I am not irritated. I have looked at other NVR's and always decide that BI is better for me. We have 3 non BI, hardware, NVR's and there is no comparison IMO. Seems like there was Dahua software back in the day.
In this case, my SWAG was that the demo mode only happened when you opened the console or it tried to auto update. I very rarely open the console, using the UI. It could be recovered by entering the proper key, with some confusion about which key(s) were needed if all had expired.
My guess, going forward, is that changes will be made to avoid such in the future. Since I wasn't really affected, I am not irritated. I have looked at other NVR's and always decide that BI is better for me. We have 3 non BI, hardware, NVR's and there is no comparison IMO. Seems like there was Dahua software back in the day.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
Moving forward changes can be made as part of a new update and provided you are in support you can update your system but what about people like the OP who is running with an older version and doesn’t need or want to update to the latest?
I think this is where the problem lies to ensure that they won’t be impacted should the same re-occur.
I think this is where the problem lies to ensure that they won’t be impacted should the same re-occur.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
I agree. I suppose there has to be a balance between that and fending off the pirates. Many/]most activation type products have maintenance fees cover major upgrades, not minor/fix kind of upgrades. Another set just ask customers to be honest.
Glad I don't have to figure it out.
Soldier on.
Glad I don't have to figure it out.
Soldier on.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
I agree. I suppose there has to be a balance between that and fending off the pirates. Many/]most activation type products have maintenance fees cover major upgrades, not minor/fix kind of upgrades. Another set just ask customers to be honest.
Glad I don't have to figure it out.
Soldier on.
Glad I don't have to figure it out.
Soldier on.
Re: Why is the "Blue Iris Evaluation Version" overlay visible on my cameras today?
Yes, it seems their programming approach failed. They probably forgot to anticipate something ...maybe their approach design just didn't work
It apparently happened to me when it tried to auto-update. However, in my case it should NEVER try to auto-update because I want my system unchanged, probably forever. This why I suggested a new setting that would let me block/disable auto-updates.my SWAG was that the demo mode only happened when you opened the console or it tried to auto update