Official Q+A Thread - Activation / DRM

[siapplepie]

cheers chris bud

yeh i tried that 2 but it wont launch on steam just nothing happens when u click on it...i tried via net again 2 but jus says fm.exe error its a nytmare..i dont get how it worked bt when i reset to factory settings on my laptop n then tried it again its having none of it..any help would be much appreciated!

[siapplepie]

it also says on the si website tht if u uninstall u can reinstall and play anytime so if any admin could help 2 it b appreciated thanks

[ballan98]

I'm trying to get this activated via the phone. It is asking for a 16 digit activation code!

What is this? I guessed it was the code on the back of the FM2009 manual but that is more than 16 digits.

Any help?

[ballan98]

wrong section

[Danny K]

I'm still having trouble getting the game activated via telephone here in australia.

please can someone print the australian contact number

[MiiCK]

I had problems with my game when first purchased, in Steam I had to go through the Updating Process twice, and then I had issues with my Activation Code, I persisted to enter the Activation Code, and after 3 hours of saying it was Invalid, it accepted the code!

After all that, I could eventually play the game, game works just fine apart from one thing, I have two boxes that pop up when I start the game, one of which goes away, sadly, the other one stays there...

*See Attached Picture*

Does anyone know what the issue is here? How can I fix it? I don't think it is my PC as it is a brand new PC and it only happens when i launch the game, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Michael.

[Totti]

hey people, am having a bit of a problem gettin the game running!!

every time i click launch on steam it tells me that the game is currently unavailable.

Does anyone no why it tells me this and how to fix it

cheers

[MiiCK]

Try connecting to the internet pal, if you haven't connected yet it will need to go through the Updating process then once you have went from 0% to 100% the game should be available to launch...

[Totti]

Try connecting to the internet pal, if you haven't connected yet it will need to go through the Updating process then once you have went from 0% to 100% the game should be available to launch...

av already got 100% updated already

but it just aint loading the game

[MiiCK]

When I first loaded up, I had to update twice, it got to 100% and then started again from 0%, I have no idea why the game can't launch.. try searching google? Sorry I can't help..

[Totti]

hey people, am having a bit of a problem gettin the game running!!

every time i click launch on steam it tells me that the game is currently unavailable.

Does anyone no why it tells me this and how to fix it

cheers

[Totti]

hey people, am having a bit of a problem gettin the game running!!

every time i click launch on steam it tells me that the game is currently unavailable.

Does anyone no why it tells me this and how to fix it

cheers

[McMaster#28]

MiiCK: As you mentioned you got the game in Steam I think the problem may be caused by the steam in-game friends feature thing. To disable this open steam, goto File->Settings. Then the "In-Game" tab at the top. Then untick the "Enable Steam community in-game" box. Click on ok, then start FM again.

Does that help? If not then sorry I don't know.

[sphinxclub]

How do I find the deactivation URL?

Mik

Hi All,

As of yesterday, we provided a level of insight into the Activation process for Football Manager 2009. The detail is below. We've now added an official Q+A into the process and the technology behind it from Murray, SEGA's DRM expert. I've decided to combine these into one thread for ease of use and will close the other threads forthwith.

"SEGA Confirm Football Manager 2009 Activation details" - 12th November

SEGA have today confirmed that activation servers for Football Manager 2009 will be turned on shortly before midnight on Thursday 13th November in time for the release date of Friday November 14th across Europe.

Despite the unprecedented anticipation for Football Manager 2009, SEGA would encourage retailers not to break the Friday 14th November street date so as not to disappoint customers who will be unable to play before the release date.

Buyers of the game can activate with one-time entry of the unique code on the back of the game manual by one of three methods

1. Register with STEAM and input the code during installation. This method has the benefit of automatically patching and updating the game.

2. Activation without additional software installation is available direct with Uniloc.

3. For those without an internet connection a local telephone number will be available and presented within the installer for customers to call and register the code. Where possible this will be a local toll free number.

Once the game is registered through any of these three methods the game will be activated and available to play. No further activations will be required unless the user specifically deactivates the machine it is installed on.

Activation for the Australian market will taken place at 6.00 EDT (Sydney) 14th November.

Markets with later release dates such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia for Football Manager 2009 and Worldwide Soccer Manager in the USA will have servers turned active for midnight before their respective releases.

Official Q+A - Over to you, Murray:

How many computers can I install the game on?

You can install and play the game on 5 computers at a time. We call these "license seats". 1 License seat = 1 unique computer.

If after 5 computers, I uninstall the game from a computer, can I install it on another machine?

Yes, you can. Uninstalling the game will free up a license seat. You may also free up license seats at the soon to be announced deactivation URL

What happens if my computer breaks? Or I have to get a new computer? Will I lose a license seat?

Yes, but you can reclaim license seats at the deactivation URL. Here you can select computers you are no longer using and free up license seats.

What if I have to uninstall and reinstall 5 times on the same computer? Will I use up all of my available licenses?

No, it will not. Remember - we do not limit the installations. We only limit the "unique" computer the game is being played on. You may install 100 times on 5 separate computers without limitation.

After 5 installs do I have to throw the game away?

No, absolutely not. If you uninstall the game you can free up your license seats. In addition, you can visit: to free up license seats.

Do I need to provide personal information?

No. You only need to provide your license key.

Am I required to be online to play the game?

No. You may choose to activate online or over the phone. Online activation is faster and easier, but after this initial activation, you do not have to be online to play.

How long can I play the game without activating?

You may play the entire demo version of the game without ever activating. Any install of the full game will require activation.

What do I do in the event something catastrophic happens and I lose a 'seat'? Can I get it back?

Yes, you may visit the deactivation URL and release your license seats.

Do I have to use Steam?

No, you can use Steam or Activation Online or by Phone.

What if I don't have an internet connection?

If you don't have an internet connection you can activate the game by phone.

How much will the phone call cost?

Toll free numbers have been provided for the majority of countries where the game is sold.

How long will the activation take?

Online activation takes a few seconds. Phone activation takes about 5 minutes.

How long will the activation servers be available? Will I still be able to play the game 5 years from now?

Yes, we hope so. Nonetheless - after 18 months (estimated at present) we will release a DRM-free version of the game to ensure that you can play in years to come.

Do you collect any data? What data are you collecting?

Yes, we currently collect the Geolocation you have activated the game from. We also take a snap shot of your hardware footprint for the game.

Who will use this data?

This data will used by SI and Sega only to help make sure that future releases of the game have the widest location and hardware compatibility possible.

What software do you use to collect the data?

We use a product called SoftAnchor Insight. We ONLY use the Hardware Insight aspect of this product.

Is the information collected user identifiable?

No, all data collected is completely anonymous and on aggregate.

Are tracking what I do in the game?

No, absolutely not.

Do you install additional secret software on my computer?

No, absolutely not. All DRM related code is contained within the Football Manager 2009 exe. When the uninstaller removes this - there is no DRM related software left on your computer.

Is this a rootkit? Will you leave activation code on my computer?

No, absolutely not. All DRM related code is contained within the Football Manager 2009 exe. When the uninstaller removes this - there is no DRM related software left on your computer. The program will install a license file as well, but this non-executable (i.e. it cannot effect your computer) and will be removed on uninstall as well.

Are you using In-Game Advertising?

Yes, we are using IGA, but this has no correlation to the copy protection and should be addressed in a separate discussion found here - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=60932 .

Do I need to open a port on my firewall?

No, You should not. All traffic is standard web-traffic. It is the same as if you opened a web page.

Will you actively monitor me or my playing habits?

No - we are not doing any play monitoring or analysis. We are *not* using the Feature Insight package of SoftAnchor Insight.

If I buy a copy of FM2009 in the UK can I still play it in the USA?

Yes - we are not blocking authentication based on location.

Will you stop me using D-Tools / Alcohol 120%?

No – we do not stop other software running, we do however block ‘debuggers’ attaching to the FM09 process when running. We believe this is extremely fair and can see no valid reason for a person to be running a debugger against the FM09 process.

How will this affect second-hand games?

This will not affect second-hand games, you can go to the deactivation URL and remove all previous activations, the game will then be as if you had purchased new. The retail outlets are aware of the protection being used and are comfortable with it, there will be no blacklisting etc.

Will third party data editors work?

The FM09 official data editor does work, rumours are that third party FM09 editors are in development – but as you can appreciate we have no direct control over these editors.

Is this going to stop piracy?

No. We expect that eventually the game will be pirated. Unfortunately, piracy is a hard fact in our industry. What we have attempted to do here is create a system by which legal users can get the utmost flexibility to use and play the game in a fair manner. We believe that by putting the hard work into providing a generous 5 computer seat policy and the ability to administer your licenses yourself that most people will not feel the need to pirate the application or put their computers at risk by downloading copies from torrents and will purchase a legitimate copy.

What are your plans for FM10?

We have made no provisions for FM10, but we will hold discussions based on the extensive feedback you have provided (thank you), we will also speak to our copy protection provider(s) and see how best we can accommodate your requirements, whilst retaining a stronger crack-free period. Please be assured that we value each and every FM player and will try our best to accommodate all of the requirements you have set-out.

Thanks for reading. One last point - off-topic posts in this thread will be deleted so please stick to legitimate questions only.

Cheers

Matt + Murray

[iamjerome]

hey i've bought the game as a present for my friend but out of sheer addiction... i couldn't help give it a go. i just clicked yes to everything and now i've ended up with a steam account attached to the game. is there any way i can 'let go' of my steam account's attachment to the game? eg uninstall the game perhaps and when my friend gets the game he doesn't notice i've played his present already... or am i royally screwed here?

also i'm relatively sure he doesn't want to install steam so could he STILL install via unilock or whatever that is? and how do i uninstall fm 2009 from steam exactly?

[rnnlrkn]

HELP!!!!

I have a laptop that has no internet connection so I have to do activation by phone. Here's the problem the number it tells me to ring from the rep. of ireland is 1800 550 499. This puts me through to a tollfreephonenumbers.com answering machine which has five options to leave a voicemail message. None of which have anything to do with football manager 2009. For example one of the options is "to leave a message regarding accountin and human resources press..." This is a shambles.

PLEASE HELP!!!

[Franny]

Hi, can anyone out there help me. Ive been trying since Friday since to get the game working and Im on the verge of taking it back to GAME. I currently have the game installed via uniloc, but everytime I try to put my authorisation code in I am getting the cannot connect to the internet message. I have turned off my firewall and also accepted the certificates as previously advised. But as i say i am still getting the same error. Im so ****ed off.

[fudgealdinhio]

can someone plz give me the number to call to activate it plz

[vangto]

I installed the CD version in Steam but want to get rid of Steam.

How the hell do I unistall FM09 in Steam??

FM09 is not in the Windows Programe thing and I can't find an option in Steam to Uninstall!!

Any ideas???

[bhoychucky]

if i have computer with internet access and one without can i install it on the one with internet access then get it authenticated then install it on the other computer without having to authenticate it again

[fudgealdinhio]

tht didnt work for me bhoychucky

[MiiCK]

MiiCK: As you mentioned you got the game in Steam I think the problem may be caused by the steam in-game friends feature thing. To disable this open steam, goto File->Settings. Then the "In-Game" tab at the top. Then untick the "Enable Steam community in-game" box. Click on ok, then start FM again.

Does that help? If not then sorry I don't know.

Yes, Francis, it does work, fixes the problem totally, i also unticked the boxes for notifications when friends come online and other pointless features too, NO MORE GREEN BOXES!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!

thanks mate.

I will stay on the forum to help any others if possible..

MiiCK!

[ArsenalFanatic]

Does anyone's EDITOR work?

When I try to open mine, I get the message saying that it could not open because its side-by-side configuration was not correct.

Any help please?

[Liam13]

just a quick question.

im currently tryin to install FM using steam. but its taking ages. there is only 18% done after a good 25mins.

is this normal??

[MiiCK]

Mine did take quite a while...

[MattyFTM]

You are running the patch code arent you (v9.1)

what do u mean by running it?:confused:

[MiiCK]

He is asking if you have the current update for your FM.. which is Version 9.1.0.

If you haven't updated your FM, you will need to do so as all updates are to help your FM work

[MiiCK]

My Football Manager 09 now works.

If you have a Green/Orange/Multi-coloured box on the bottom of your screen, go into Steam and make sure you have the box that says 'Enable Steam Community In-Game' un-checked, in: File - Settings - In-Game tab.

If you still get the box after Restarting your Steam & FM then go into the other tabs E.G. 'Friends' and un-check the boxes there too.

I will still come back daily to see if I can help anybody else

Good luck to you all, hope your game works soon, and if it does, please come back to help other FM 09 lovers.

If you fixed a problem, you could fix someone else's!

Cheers, MiiCK.

[Rees]

It activates on Soft Anchor, I click "OK" then nothing happens.

I then double click FM.exe again and get the Soft Anchor screen, again with the tiral over message, put in my code, successful activation then nothing again - repeat for ever.

Win XP steam of Unilock no difference.

PLEASE HELP!

Hi.

We have had some difficulty in repeating this problem in test - the good news is that we have now done so & hope to have a fix which we can provide for this in the next few hours.

[MiiCK]

Glad someone is here to help mate, cheers for coming on to lend your help!

[MattyFTM]

ok i have had enough! you have ripped my son off £28 and apparently there is no refund from where he bought it! we have tried all that you have suggested and still not able to play the game! this is an absolute disgrace selling a game to fans that appears incomplete! all you have succeeded in doing is ripping people of and wasting their time since release! will be seeking consumer advice on this disgrace!

[Boco Boco]

Let's see if i've got this right. SI implement a universally loathed system to deter piracy or whatever dubious reason they may claim, but, as is usual in these cases, they succeed only in severely damaging relations with a large number of loyal customers. Meanwhile barely hours after release the game is available in fully cracked form and the very people SI hoped to deter were in fact playing copies of the game long before a significant number of legitimate buyers were able to. So, inadvertently they have encouraged people that wouldn't normally search for cracked copies to in fact download the pirate versions just so they can play a game they have already spent money on, not to mention those that would have bought a copy over the coming days and weeks, but due to this sorry debacle then went elsewhere to get a cracked copy. So rather than deter piracy they have in fact increased demand for it in regards to their game. Was this whole bungled excercise worth it?

I second your great views.

Seriously, I am thinking that I should avoid buying future FM on the first day. Maybe I should wait for all the problems to be solved and with patch number 1x to be available, then I will walk into the shop to get my "fully patched FM"

[feedthegoat]

My opinion of SI has diminished significantly to the point where I will never buy any of their products again. I've been lucky as I haven't had my fingers burnt by this as I could see what was going to happen and so I decided not to buy the game, if SI decide to go with this again next year they will be in a whole heap of trouble as people will not want to get their fingers burnt again.

I was looking on amazon this morning and there are a lot of negative views on there much in the same vein as those that were given for Spore, this will hurt SI and Sega significantly. I went to my local Tesco store yesterday and for whatever reason they have removed the game from the shelf, I asked in store if they had the game and they said that they had to remove the game from sale, presumably because they were getting a lot taken back and were having to give refunds.

The only way I think that SI can redeem themselves is to issue a product recall and remove the ludicrous activation and DRM and go back to the system they have used in previous years, it's obvious that if SI don't do this then even more people are likely to acquire a pirated version of FM10 next year, but unfortunately that is unlikely to happen.

I just hope SI listen to their fans rather than the lure of the £, and the talk of the suits at Sega.

[Miles Jacobson]

I went to my local Tesco store yesterday and for whatever reason they have removed the game from the shelf, I asked in store if they had the game and they said that they had to remove the game from sale, presumably because they were getting a lot taken back and were having to give refunds.

Can you please let us know which store that is, as we've just spoken to Tesco head office, and no feedback like that was given at all? I know they were sold out in a few stores, but no reports of copies being removed from sale.

As for the rest of your post, there were issues with the activation on Friday which myself, Paul C and SEGA have apologised for, and for which a statement is forthcoming from SEGA & SI that will give the full details of what happened and what went wrong.

There are now only a very small amount of users still having problems (not that is of any comfort to them), and we are working through those on a case by case basis, with well over a hundred thousand people happily activated and playing the game without any problems. We are determined to get everyone playing the game and through these issues.

[Miles Jacobson]

Oh - I should also point out that if you are still having problems activating, the thread to look at is http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=63556

There is a detailed FAQ there on how to get up and running - if you still have issues after following that guide, you can either post in there to get help, or go to SEGA's customer support site at help.sega.com to raise a ticket (you can use the same username and password that you use for these forums).

[feedthegoat]

Hi Miles,

It was the Tesco Extra store in Pitsea, Basildon, Essex.

tbh, the staff there aren't the greatest and may even be the fact they have:-

1. Not recieved the game yet

2. Not put it out yet.

3. Never even heard of the game.

However they did have FM09 Handheld out, but yet FM09 PC wasn't even on the chartlist whereas Call Of Duty 5 was as was Left 4 Dead, there wasn't even a bay for the game either or even a standee, this is what made me ask at their Electrical Desk in the store if they had it and was told they had to remove the game from the shelf, seems a little strange to me, and something you may want to take up with the store itself, I did look thoroughly all round the 'Home Entertainment' section just in case I missed it but to no avail , they are pretty slack tbh and could probably do with a kick up the arse! They only had FM08 on sale for a couple of months and then it was replaced with a 'Temporarily Out Of Stock' sticker.

[Cigol]

I'm guessing STEAM automatically activates the game for you? Just want to make sure.

[Luckz]

Scores of people have been asking if two (or more) family members who live in the same house can install and activate and play Football Manager 2009 without this being frowned upon or been seen as doing something illegal. If a father and son played FM2009 over a network, would they be required to buy two copies of the game?

Also, lets say you legally own two computers, you activate the game on both computers, but you only play the game on one machine whilst leaving person X to play the game on the other computer, would this be constituted as illegal?

I do think you should clear this up on the opening post, because lots of people have asked these questions.

Bump. A few definite answers to this would be appreciated. I can't say for sure if We only limit the "unique" computer the game is being played on. is meant as a Nope, that isn't possible/not allowed.

[Miles Jacobson]

Hi Miles,

It was the Tesco Extra store in Pitsea, Basildon, Essex.

tbh, the staff there aren't the greatest and may even be the fact they have:-

1. Not recieved the game yet

2. Not put it out yet.

3. Never even heard of the game.

However they did have FM09 Handheld out, but yet FM09 PC wasn't even on the chartlist whereas Call Of Duty 5 was as was Left 4 Dead, there wasn't even a bay for the game either or even a standee, this is what made me ask at their Electrical Desk in the store if they had it and was told they had to remove the game from the shelf, seems a little strange to me, and something you may want to take up with the store itself, I did look thoroughly all round the 'Home Entertainment' section just in case I missed it but to no avail , they are pretty slack tbh and could probably do with a kick up the arse! They only had FM08 on sale for a couple of months and then it was replaced with a 'Temporarily Out Of Stock' sticker.

Thank you very much for this extra info - we will take this up with that store and find out what happened with them

[feedthegoat]

Thank you very much for this extra info - we will take this up with that store and find out what happened with them

No problem, as I say with any luck it will give them a kick up the arse and get their house in order, they are getting very sloppy for putting out new releases.

[gregiboy]

Whats the phone number? - my computer that im using fm on doesnt have the internet only this one does. do u need to use the same computer to activate it and play it on?

[Miles Jacobson]

I'm guessing STEAM automatically activates the game for you? Just want to make sure.

Yes.

Bump. A few definite answers to this would be appreciated. I can't say for sure if We only limit the "unique" computer the game is being played on. is meant as a Nope, that isn't possible/not allowed.

I've answered it before on the forums. In theory and being literal about it, it is frowned upon and is against the EULA. In the case of father and son, I personally couldn't care. I would care if it was a shared student house, with multiple adult individuals doing the same, I would. Just my personal opinion, mind, and not that of the law, and I cannot speak for SEGA on the matter.

[Miles Jacobson]

Whats the phone number? - my computer that im using fm on doesnt have the internet only this one does. do u need to use the same computer to activate it and play it on?

When you install on the second machine (the one without internet) it will give you the number when you choose to install via telephone.

[gregiboy]

how do i install via telephone - there doesnt seem to be an option - it just installs it

[Danster999]

Miles, please help me!! I did email Marc Duffy yest but he hasn't replied, and I'm not joking I have now spent about 10hrs trying to get this work!!

The error message says: 'The application failed to intiaite problem oxc0150002. Click on ok to terminate the application??!??

Since sending this, I have realised that I needed to download notdet but it stiil doens't work. Thing is my PC is slow, so I have installed it FM09 on my laptop which doesn't have Internet connection? This hasn't been a problem with previous champo games, but then we didn't have this keycode?? When I put the code in now, it just says:

Enter Your License Key:

tr2mgwu9b6zs0c7yyip10naw9 (tried in caps as well)

Please wait…

Online: tr2mgwu9b6zs0c7yyip10naw9

Phone: TR2MGWU9B6ZS0C7YYIP10NAW9

Please note the differences between "0" and "o"

So

What on earth do I do now?? I have cut and pasted it as asked to do when online, and even wrote it again in caps, but no luck??!?? On my laptop it actually now goes into a SoftAnchor online option, but obviosuly I haven't got internet on my laptop. I've tried to go onto Softanchor online, and yet it doesn't take it coming up with the same info as on previous mail? I've downloaded Storm but that was only to buy the bl00dy thing! Have I got a dodgy access code? Thanks for any help.

I have looked in the request about this problem, and have downloaded netdot but hasn't really helped as it now pops up on the Soft Anchor site, but as it's notonline on my laptop, what can I do? I can't Install it on my PC, as this doesn't have a DVD drive!

Any help is appreciated as booked afternoon to sort this! Thanks

[gregiboy]

why cant somebody just tell us the phone number - is it some sort of secret

[gregiboy]

finally i found some numbers...but they dont ring?

0870 010 8002

[MiiCK]

0870 010 8002 - Old Number

0845 871 2345 - New Number

** Read This Below, Should Help Some Of You **

SEGA UK Boxed Product Support Contact Information.

The contact number for SEGA UK boxed products:- 0870 010 8002 is temporarily unavailable.

Please direct your boxed product/s queries to the following number:

0845 871 2345 - Option 3

Calling an 0845 number costs 2p per minute daytime, and 0.5ppm at all other times when called from a BT landline. Other networks may vary.

Alternatively you can submit a query through the Support Section for further assistance:

http://help.sega.com/?group=default&t=EnglishUK

SEGA PASS login required.

Hope this helps some of you!

MiiCK.

[MiiCK]

Miles, please help me!! I did email Marc Duffy yest but he hasn't replied, and I'm not joking I have now spent about 10hrs trying to get this work!!

The error message says: 'The application failed to intiaite problem oxc0150002. Click on ok to terminate the application??!??

Since sending this, I have realised that I needed to download notdet but it stiil doens't work. Thing is my PC is slow, so I have installed it FM09 on my laptop which doesn't have Internet connection? This hasn't been a problem with previous champo games, but then we didn't have this keycode?? When I put the code in now, it just says:

Enter Your License Key:

tr2mgwu9b6zs0c7yyip10naw9 (tried in caps as well)

Please wait…

Online: tr2mgwu9b6zs0c7yyip10naw9

Phone: TR2MGWU9B6ZS0C7YYIP10NAW9

Please note the differences between "0" and "o"

So

What on earth do I do now?? I have cut and pasted it as asked to do when online, and even wrote it again in caps, but no luck??!?? On my laptop it actually now goes into a SoftAnchor online option, but obviosuly I haven't got internet on my laptop. I've tried to go onto Softanchor online, and yet it doesn't take it coming up with the same info as on previous mail? I've downloaded Storm but that was only to buy the bl00dy thing! Have I got a dodgy access code? Thanks for any help.

I have looked in the request about this problem, and have downloaded netdot but hasn't really helped as it now pops up on the Soft Anchor site, but as it's notonline on my laptop, what can I do? I can't Install it on my PC, as this doesn't have a DVD drive!

Any help is appreciated as booked afternoon to sort this! Thanks

Try connecting to the internet for a while on your laptop, remove Ethernet Cable (usually yellow) from your PC that has internet and plug it directly into your laptop, this will surely help you...?

Internet connectivity shouldn't be a problem if you have Internet in your area, connect to a friends Internet and then use FM09 from your house without internet.

[MiiCK]

how do i install via telephone - there doesnt seem to be an option - it just installs it

You don't install it Via telephone, you activate it Via telephone mate.