On the whole....this is all the fault of the code generator problem....Mackie had all the chances to arrange the code generator before this happened. On the other hand the d8b is obsolete now so hack or no hack it shouldn't matter for Mackie any longer.
1: is it legal to bypass an id chip for a good cause to get the d8b upgraded to V5.1 since its no longer available?
2: is it legal to use the d8b as a control surface (D8Bridge)?..... a cheap Mackie control surface replacement when compared to the MCU pro control surface cost...http://www.mackie.com/products/mcupro/index.html.
3: is it legal to modify the apogee clock with a switch for termination and no termination.
4: is it legal to BUY new auth codes from 3rd parties by providing the ESN to them (On this forum there are rumors that an insider at Mackie is providing/ selling codes to people...is this true? ). Could it be that Mackie didn't want to fix the code generator due to this insider...so that he/she stops doing this?...thinking aloud....
On the other hand the plugins should be bought since they are available online. In fact i bought FINAL MIX few months ago for my second d8b.
On the other hand the desk is OUT OF PRODUCTION