Stop Adobe CS4 calling home to Mother Ship in OS X

Posted by admin

In How To, Privacy, Tips
28Jan 09

CS5 Update, May 2010:

From what I can tell the process described below can be used for Adobe CS5. There are a few additional entries that need to be made to the hosts file.‘Click here to view the list’

“License Expired. Licensing for this product has expired.” – Adobe CS4, 2009

In ‘Defeating the Adobe CS4 ‘License Expired’ dialog in OS X’ we explained how to reset the registration and serial number of the CS4 Suite.

In this post we describe how to shut CS4 up. If your Adobe apps are allowed to communicate with or ping the Adobe mother ship, or activate.abobe.com, any new serial numbers you enter will ultimately be rejected. So we must block the CS4 apps making outbound network connections to the Internet.

We will describe two methods in OS X for preventing CS4 pinging the Adobe activation servers.

The first is to use Little Snitch, an app for OS X that creates rules for blocking the outbound communication of apps and services. The drawback here is that Little Snitch is commercial software, although Pirate Bay might disagree, and that it is a heavy handed means of shutting only a couple of applications up.

The second method for blocking the chatter between CS4 apps and the Adobe activation servers on your mac is to edit the hosts file (/etc/hosts). There are several apps that can be used to edit the hosts file. At this time I recommend using the updated TextEdit approach (Oct 6 2009). See TextEdit instructions below and also comment #249:

- HostsWidget

- Gas Mask 0.4

-Terminal. You can use a Terminal text editor like emacs, vi, nano and pico or you can add individual entries to the hosts file by issuing the following command in Terminal:

echo “127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com” >> /etc/hosts

In the above command we have added an entry for adobe.activate.com. You can replace adobe.activate.com with the other domains in the list and add all the domains individually.

To be sure the entries were successfully added to the hosts file run the following command to look at the hosts file:

cat /etc/hosts

TEXTEDIT UPDATE!!! OCT 6 2009 – The following instructions for the use of TextEdit have been updated, see comment #249. It details a more direct approach for editing the hosts file with root privileges by issuing the following command:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

and then simply follow steps 8, 9 and 10. That’s it!

The following instructions for TextEdit are now deprecated. See the new ones as stated above.

- TextEdit. To edit the hosts file in TextEdit we must do so from within the root account. In OS X the root account is disabled by default so the first step is to enable the root user in OS X. Quit all Adobe apps, then;

1. Open Directory Utility (/Applications/Utilities)

2. Enable the Root User (Edit > Enable Root User)

Enable Root User OS X

3. Choose a password for the root account

4. Logout of your admin account.

5. Login to the root account. Select ‘Other’ in the Login Window. The name of the account is root (lowercase).

6. In Finder menu > Go > Go To Folder. Type /etc and click ‘OK’

Go To Folder

Go To Hosts Dialog

7. Ctrl-click the hosts file and ‘Open With’ TextEdit.

Hosts File OS X

8. Copy/Paste the following entries to the hosts file, making sure all the copied entries are pasted in between the ebtries “255.255.255.255 broadcasthost”
and “::1 localhost” (see pic):

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

9. The hosts file will now look something like this (note how the entries were pasted between “255.255.255.255 broadcasthost” and “::1 localhost”):

Edited Hosts File OS X

10. Save the changes. Quit TextEdit.

11. Logout of the root account.

12. Login to your admin account

13. Open Directory Utility (/Applications/Utilities)

14. Disable the Root User (Edit > Disable Root User)

Disable Root User OS X

15. Quit Directory Utility

16. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

17. Enter your admin password when prompted.

18. Relaunch Adobe apps. Enter your serial. Done.

(584) Comments

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582 Comments

Derik, January 28, 2009:

Where do I edit the root user in OSX Tiger 10.4 ?
admin, January 28, 2009:

In OS 10.4 Tiger you can enable root using Netinfo Manager in the Utilities folder.
Rory, January 28, 2009:

When prompted for my password in ‘Terminal’, it says “command not found”
admin, January 28, 2009:

If you are running 10.4 Tiger then replace ’sudo dscacheutil -flushcache’ with ‘lookupd –flushcache’ or ’sudo lookupd –flushcache’.

It is also important to note that you must be running in an Administrator account (rather than Standard or Managed) to execute these commands successfully, else you will be told you are not in the sudoers file.
jay, January 28, 2009:

After following these steps exactly, and entering my password when prompted in Terminal (which the letters doesn’t show up when you type…normal?) it still comes up with License Expired. Extreeeemely frustrating, can you please help me out with this? I greately appreciate everything so far.

Running OSX Leopard 15.5, if that helps.
admin, January 29, 2009:

@jay
see http://machacks.tv/2009/01/26/defeating-the-adobe-cs4-license-expired-dialog-in-os-x/

- Quit all Adobe apps
- Disconnect from all networks
- Delete /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
- Reboot (optional)
- Launch Adobe apps. Now you should be prompted for a new pass.
fdig, January 29, 2009:

I did everything right, but I still have the same problem as jay.
When I enter the serial I got the message “IMPORTANT adobe license activation…bla bla…” and after that I got the “license expired” message.

I dont understand why…. the host file is exactly right after using this guide…

Please help…
alex, January 29, 2009:

After following all the steps that you said (Quit all Adobe apps, disconnect from all networks, delete cache.db, reboot, reconfig hosts file) the problem still occur. It did ask me to enter a new serial number. However, after I reenter and hit enter. The Expired License alert still shows up. Any idea? I am using Power PC Mac G5. Thanks!
admin, January 30, 2009:

remember to flush the domain server cache:
10.5: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
10.4: sudo lookupd –flushcache
@alex + fdig: rather than entering the serial immediately, try installing CS4 as a trial and entering the serial after. also check the serial number your using (or not using).
alex, January 30, 2009:

Thank admin for the quick reply,
I did install it as a trial then enter the serial number. I used X-Force keygen serial number generator for Mac. It accepted the serial number; however when I clicked next, the license expired warning still shown. Before that, I also flushed domain server cache under administrator mode as you had described in your previous post. I have OSX 10.4, thus I use sudo lookupd -flushcache. I even tried sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. No hope! I am almost to the point to give up.
admin, January 30, 2009:

Hmmm…

If you still have the trial installer, perform an complete uninstall, afterward making sure all Adobe folders are removed from /Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Application Support and ~Library/Preferences.

Then try reinstalling and doing the process over. Messing with your system clock could help but that should not be necessary. Also make sure you have removed any older Adobe CS apps should your system contain any, and any Adobe Login Items or StartUp items.

Unplug the network cable (for testing purposes) in case the hosts file was not edited correctly
Arnold Hague, January 30, 2009:

I get right to the end press enter and it asks me for a pass word which I dont have I installed Leopard on to my imac without a password please help many thanks Arnold Hague
admin, January 30, 2009:

If you don’t remember entering a pass maybe you didn’t! In other words your pass is blank. Try hitting Return without entering a pass.

To reset an admin pass the easiest way is to boot from the Leopard Install Disc the go to Top Menu >Utilities > Password Reset Utility.
blitz, January 30, 2009:

Hello. First off, thanks for all your hard work! I do have a major problem, however. I was trying to follow the steps that you mentioned up there. starting with “Open Directory Utility”, but I can’t seem to find it in my Applications/Utilities folder. I do have this thing called “Directory Access.app”, however, “Enable/Disable Root User” is not listed as one of the options under any of the menus! I’m currently running 10.4, if that’s at all relevant.

Thanks!
alex, January 30, 2009:

Still doesn’t work. Do you think Adobe has figured out what we did to the hosts file and block it as well. I am very sure I removed all Adobe associates in my computer, and redid the entire process. I will try to reinstall my OSX tomorrow, see if that helps. Thank Admin for your support!
admin, January 31, 2009:

@blitz: If using 10.4 you use Netinfo Manager (/Applications/Utilities) to Enable/Disable the root user.
@alex: The steps above have worked and continue to work perfectly for many. I’m sorry you have not been one of them.
sitaktif, January 31, 2009:

@Alex and others :
It finally worked for me but I guess the dns flush was not enough. Here are the steps I did :
put all entries in /etc/hosts
remove cache.db (if present)
flush dns
(sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4) )
reboot
launch an adobe app
enter serial
should be ok
admin, January 31, 2009:

@sitaktif: Thanks for the feedback
gray_hat, February 2, 2009:

Why in the world would you log in as root to edit the hosts file?

The easiest way would simply be to use ’sudo nano /etc/hosts/’ and add in the lines (nano supports copy and paste like almost everything else in the terminal).
Peter Speck, February 3, 2009:

A much easier solution is to use the GlimmerBlocker ad blocker as it is system wide and enables blocking all those hosts without editing system files.
admin, February 3, 2009:

@gray_hat. You’ll notice this howto suggests many methods of editing the hosts file in OS X, including using Terminal text editors like vi, pico and nano.

If you want to edit the hosts file in TextEdit however (as those unfamiliar with Terminal might) you have to login as root. Satisfied?
Marcos, February 3, 2009:

CS4 stopped calling mothership ok, but even without internet connection, when i launch cs4 apllications, i enter a serial number from keygen, and says license expired..any tips? Thanks
Marcos, February 3, 2009:

ISame problems as Alex and other, now SOLVED. Try inputting (after flushing cache as instructed by admin), the lines mentioned above, instead between broadcast host and::1, instead of after fe:80 etc.
Then, upon RESTART of computer, type in these serials:
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287

1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432

Im almost sure it didnt work before, because the serials inputted by many are for windlws. These srials should work, for I was having the same trouble as Alex and others, and now it FINALLY WORKS! Laters all!
B, February 3, 2009:

Hello,

Did the entire host files entry really needed? On many webpage’s you can find different lists.

And what about the update? (It is possible to see some DNS name into your list)

Thanks in advance.
hydroxycut, February 3, 2009:

@Marcos
thank you for the serial…where did you get those? I have a keygen but it runs in windows but I used the mac serial that it generates…but does’nt work for me..but your serial did the job where can I get a key gen like yours? thanks!
B-real, February 3, 2009:

After I followed post #23 it was clear sailing from there, but I did have to re-install a few of the programs because they were apparently damaged after multiple tries at cracking the license expiration issue. once reinstalled it worked like a charm. Thanks!
svolto, February 5, 2009:

Thanks all post,
After following post 23 it worked for me too !!
JayZ, February 6, 2009:

I followed comment #23 and things have been working great!! ::BUT::for some odd reason, Acrobat Pro 9 has decided to give me lip! It is the only app asking for a SN and the one provided does not work. It prompts me for my mac password, runs through a “installing/fixing installation” and then blamo, it wants a SN. I can try my keygen tomorrow as i’ve already wasted some good sleep on this. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated!

Thanks you SOOOOOO much Macros!
Pikachu, February 8, 2009:

Jaz use this SN: 1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353
JH, February 8, 2009:

Hi, I’m having the same problem as JayZ. Any ideas????? I used HostsWidget to enter the required domains to stop ping back (and I assume it worked…?). All the products in the suite now work fine, except for Acrobat Pro 9 because it will not accept any serial number…please help! And thanks for all your awesome work so far!
Alvaro, February 8, 2009:

Hi,

Today I did everything by the book until this step 16th:

16. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

17. Enter your admin password when prompted.

However, I installed it and it works using trial version, and then using #23 key gen.

I am only using it offline. Also I downloaded the snitch application. And everything until now it works.
Oliver Timm, February 9, 2009:

Hello,

can somebody help me with the following?

echo “127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com” >> /etc/hosts

In the above command we have added an entry for adobe.activate.com. You can replace adobe.activate.com with the other domains in the list and add all the domains individually.

What does it mean to replace with other domains from which list? I just want to do it for CS4. Do I have to change anything or can I just copy and past the above command?
JH, February 9, 2009:

@Pikachu…

AWESOME! Thanks, that SN worked…thanks so much!
Clar, February 10, 2009:

Hi, I’ve gotten myself stuck while typing this in Terminal.

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

The response I get is :
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘

What should I do?
Shaun, February 11, 2009:

I’m completely happy with the delete cache.db file and replacing the serial… the only issue is its kicking out my CS3.. As man of you know.. After Effects does not support PPC in CS4 so I need to keep my AE CS3 active, but when I delete the cache.db file it also kicks out my CS3, and I’ve tried reusing the keygen to get a new serial for CS3 as well, but its not accepting it. Any thoughts?
lokoman, February 11, 2009:

MARCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WORKED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG MORE THAN MILLION OF THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

U RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D
steve, February 12, 2009:

thank you so much!!!!!!!!!
AspiringBrokeAssStudent, February 12, 2009:

Worked for Mac OSX 10.4

1. Turn on Little Snitch
2. Delete cache.db
3. Start any CS$ app
4. when prompted from CS4 app, enter new codes from Marcos in post #23

Opened both PhotoChop CS$ and Premiere Pro CS4. Sweet, thanks!
Oliver Timm, February 13, 2009:

Help Marcos

what you say in Post 23 seems to work for everybody so I want to try it as well. What do you mean with:
“Try inputting (after flushing cache as instructed by admin), the lines mentioned above, instead between broadcast host and::1, instead of after fe:80 etc.”

I did everything as per admin. And my hostfile looks same as the one above.
As far as I understand I need to change someting in the following:

127.0.0.1
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

What do I need to change????

Thanks
Tj, February 13, 2009:

@Clar & anyone having trouble flushing the cache: I think i can clear up the terminal commands. When it says to type in

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

What it means is that if you’re running OS X 10.5 Leopard, type in

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Or if you’re running OS X 10.4 Tiger, type in

sudo lookupd –flushcache

Do NOT type in the (10.5) or (10.4) since they are not part of the commands. Hope this helps

-Tj
JuliusC, February 15, 2009:

Having tried everything mentioned, including deleting the cash file, my photoshop version continues not to work. When opened, an error message tells me that my computer needs to be restarted in order to be opened, even after I have rebooted. The error message also mentions Error: 6. Does that help? What can I do?
raroldi, February 16, 2009:

Thank you!!!!! the serial number now works fine!
AlvinG, February 17, 2009:

hi. i cannot find the “/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db in my OS X 5.5.6. in this update, there is /Library/cache/adobe… i deleted all adobe cache files here… i really am not sure if it has any effect.
i followed the rest, but when i connect to the internet, it still pings the Adobe server. after opening an application, Adobe prompts me to input new SN…
any thoughts on this?
thank you!
my temporary solution is to turn my date back before Jan 20 or do not connect to the internet while working in CS4.
marcelpace, February 17, 2009:

heh, I really needed to say something, but it looks like lokoman expressed it better than I could:
MARCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WORKED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG MORE THAN MILLION OF THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
U RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D [2]
also, big thx to Pikachu!
U both saved my ass, big time!
x]
bart, February 19, 2009:

ok ,but i did host file etc all the way ,but when i put new serial i ok ,til i close photoshop, i can run it only once and if i close it i can’ run this again ,i need to go and clean cache.db and it start like trial just after instaling ,i got little snitch etc and i not fuc… working WHY PLEASE HELP !!!! ME
B.
william, February 19, 2009:

hey i thought i should just point out, that after 30 days, any serials that have been put on a blog (like this) get black listed by adobe, and will not work at all, no matter what you do with them afterwards.
Chuck, February 20, 2009:

Do I have to have a Mac and a phony serial number in order for this to work? I actually have the legitimate software and need to install on a third machine. I cannot get these steps to work. I am working in Windows XP. I have:

1. Closed all Adobe apps
2. Edited my host file
3. Removed cache.db
4. Flushed DNS
5. Disabled the “DNS Client” service (I’ve also tried without disabling)
5. Reboot
6. Launched DreamWeaver (haven’t tried opening any of the others apps, yet)
7. Entered legitimate serial number (this serial number has been activated on two other machines)

And… Tada! It does not work for me. Anyone have any further thoughts for XP folks? And do I need a phony serial instead of my legit one? If that is the case, I assume none of the SNs posted here will work, since they are all for Mac. Is that correct?
Miss Blake, February 20, 2009:

Thank you for this enlightened article!! Cheers from Brazilian Carnaval
Bart, February 21, 2009:

i try everything /etc/host i like in discription delete cache.db milion times ,it won’t work
what to do ???? try trial versions ,try retail cs4 master
only thing now work is Ps and only cous patch Adobe Photoshop CS4 [k] (INTEL).dmg ,so tell me what to do to make it work i need it very much (( ????????????????
Raym, February 22, 2009:

Ohh my god!! thanks man!! Your my hero!
william, February 22, 2009:

one thing i was wondering is that at home it works perfectly, the the moment i go to school, where we connect to the net through a proxy, cs4 can communicate with adobe.

i figured out that little snitch will solve this problem, but is there another way that wont require another program open to stop it connecting to adobe?
Richard Strom, February 23, 2009:

Hey all, the following worked for me:
I had the same problems as many: The License Expired Nagging kept appearing even when I was offline.

My key to success was setting the clock to January 19th, 2009 and then executing the following steps:

Basically, disconnect from the internet
Set up Little snitch 2.0.4i (TPB) or alter your hosts file as described in this thread
Delete the cache.db as described at the link above
Set the system clock the Jan 19, 2009
System restart should not be required
Start any CS4 app, and enter the license number given in comment 107 under the link above, or maybe any other serial will work (use the keygens provided, or…, or…)
You should be fine, then, and reset the time, and reconnect to the Interet (given that ou have Little snitch running or / and edited your hosts file)

Cheerio
Rick
Jonathan, February 24, 2009:

Warning: this is one of those irritating posts from an amateur user who doesn’t provide enough detail…

I started doing this and got up to the step of enabling my root user. I then disabled it. Now in Terminal I am getting this message…

You have mail.
-bash: rt: command not found

A friend says I must have modified my .profile and .bashrc. Anyone know how I can fix this??
bigmac, February 25, 2009:

You are all the best! Thanks to “admin” and “marcos” you guys destroyed it. Marcos do you have a keygen with more keys?
JuliusC, February 26, 2009:

Marcos, you are a leg-end (but not a foot!)

To quote
MARCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WORKED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG MORE THAN MILLION OF THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
U RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D [2]
Jonathan, February 27, 2009:

Ignore my comment. Fixed it. Look forward to doing this correctly soon
Daman, February 28, 2009:

ACE!!! worked like a charm… now i can surf and edit at the same time
Ariadne, March 4, 2009:

Just wanted to say,these were the most helpful instructions I found!It really works now!Thank you!
Rich, March 4, 2009:

Hi, Thanks for all your help. I read this and other install processes. This seems to be one of the best. I read this page several times and I tried practically everyone’s solution, specially 17 and 23 but to no avail. I’m using G4 Pre-Intel Mac and I have been wondering if anyone with a pre-Intel Mac was able to pull this off? And of course could they explain how. Thanks Folks.
admin, March 4, 2009:

Warning: This is a reply to a comment made by a dumbass…
Yo Johnathan – shove it! This is my house :p
PHANTASMAS, March 7, 2009:

I’ve deleted the cache in the Adobe PCD folder in LIbrary/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD, Ive done the
Step 1 – If you’re still going to install CS4, make sure you install it as a trial (do not enter a serial number). If you’ve already installed and have used one of the expiring serials, load any CS4 app, go to the Help menu and Deactivate. Quit any open CS4 apps.

Step 2 – Open Terminal (found in Applications/Utilities/). In the terminal window, paste in:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

Step 3 – Hit return and type in your admin password.

Step 4 – A file will automatically open in TextEdit. In TextEdit, at the bottom of the document, hit return and paste in the following:

127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

Step 5 – Save the file. Do NOT do a “Save As”. Close the file.

Step 6 – If you’re on OS X 10.4, reboot. If you’re on OS X 10.5, in a new terminal window, paste in:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Hit return and exit out of Terminal.

Step 7 – Launch any CS4 app and enter the serial from the keygen. The serial will last for decades.

AND I STILL CANT GET IT TO WORK!!! IT STILLS SAY THAT IT EXPIRED…………. WHAT SHOULD I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
rodvaN, March 8, 2009:

http://www.mediafire.com/?nzqjmkgh4jy
that crack may only work for Adobe Photoshop CS4, let me know if it doesnt work for you.
Jared, March 9, 2009:

Thanks a lot. This worked.
Just wondering if you can update it safely or not?
Marcos, March 9, 2009:

@ Oliver Timm, February 13, 2009:

Sorry for the delay, follow the boss (owner of site) directions fully, but in the copy paste line, paste the selections (#8 instruction) differently.Dont do it after the line fee80::. Do it instead in between 255.255.255.broadcasthost AND ::1localhost. Then follow the other instructions.
Marcos, March 9, 2009:

Thanks to all of yall for the comments, special thanks for Admin, take life easily and be happy with God, family ,pretty women and friends!
david, March 12, 2009:

Thanks for the post!!!!!!!!

The easiest way to update your hosts file would be:

sudo vi /etc/hosts

copy the ip/domain name above and past it into the host file
after press “i” for insert

to save and exit, press
“:” then “w!”

good lucky.
Kaléo, March 14, 2009:

Nice post and for sure it has helped lot of people! Congratulations to Admin and Marcos!
Nevertheless, I’ve got a problem last time I tried to execute that operations on my Mac. Everything worked smoothly, Adobe became “registered”, but the other USERS in my Mac got denied to use the internet. Just my ADMIN account could connect with the internet. Nothing could restore the old and working status. I had to reinstall Leopard to get the internet back to that USERS.

Could you tell me if (1) there is anyway to save a “backup point” in macintosh (just like in windows, with the “System Restore”) and (2) how dangerous is the comand “sudo” and how exactly it works in this operation with Adobe.

Anyway…
I thank you so much for giving us this precious tutorial!
Leo, March 14, 2009:

given the comment about serial numbers expiring within 30 days can anyone supply a new one?
I don’t know how to use a keygen.
If you can explain where to egt one and how to use it that would be fine also.
If I have a serial that is not on the web that someone with a keygen gave me a month or 2 ago would that still work?
Leo, March 14, 2009:

I tried these instructions and and still got the license expired but I didn’t do

.Dont do it after the line fee80::. Do it instead in between 255.255.255.broadcasthost AND ::1localhost. Then follow the other instructions..

So I guess I’ll try that. Do I have to deinstall CS4 for the 4th time, then get rid of all the files in the library again, etc etc before I proceed?

Should set my clock back? If you do that , can you set forward again later.

Also when I open my copy of any CS4 app it says that my trial application hjas expired .(I started this about 2 months now) . When I eneter a serial number at first it has a green check indicating it is good, then it says the license has expired.

So do I need a newer ser #?
should I set my clock back and try one of these same serial numbers again?

help please!
Leo, March 14, 2009:

Oh yeah – do I need to download a new trial copy of CS4
Cameron, March 15, 2009:

Thank you…

My little snitch annoyed me
JT, March 15, 2009:

Thnx for the very informative thread here, and everyone’s input certainly made it happen for me!
i followed all the instructions and nothing worked and only to find out that the keygen i’ve been using is out of date cos it still told me that my key is expired even when i’m not connected to the internet.
try #23’s serials
don’t give up, keep trying, it’s all worth it!!!!!!
Leo, March 15, 2009:

OK I got this to work, but only by turning back my clock to 1/15/09. If I update the clock I get a license expired note, if I turn back the clock it works again. I guess I could work this way, but I don’t think its a good solution.
Leo, March 15, 2009:

OK I got this to work, but only by turning back my clock to 1/15/09. If I update the clock I get a license expired note, if I turn back the clock it works again. I guess I could work this way, but I don’t think its a good solution.
Leo, March 15, 2009:

OK I did replace the script after “the line fee80::. Do it instead in between 255.255.255.broadcasthost AND ::1localhost” .
This time I set my clock back to 1/15/09. And reinstalled my copy of CS master suite.
Again it came up saying “this trial product has expired but when I entered a serial number I received over a month ago it accepted it and it worked. However if i reset my clock it said the license had expired. Set clock back again – 8it worked.

I don’t want to keep my clock back all the time though I guess I could when using certain programs. Isn’t there a way around this for me.

BTW when I run ” ping activate.adobe.com” in Terminal I get this :

PING activate.adobe.com (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.068 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.080 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.075 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.076 ms

etc
Is that correct or have I still notvgotten the hosts setting right?

Thanks
Leo, March 15, 2009:

OK I did replace the script after “the line fee80::. Do it instead in between 255.255.255.broadcasthost AND ::1localhost” .
This time I set my clock back to 1/15/09. And reinstalled my copy of CS master suite.
Again it came up saying “this trial product has expired but when I entered a serial number I received over a month ago it accepted it and it worked. However if i reset my clock it said the license had expired. Set clock back again – 8it worked.

I don’t want to keep my clock back all the time though I guess I could when using certain programs. Isn’t there a way around this for me.

BTW when I run ” ping activate.adobe.com” in Terminal I get this :

PING activate.adobe.com (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.068 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.080 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.075 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.076 ms

etc
Is that correct or have I still not gotten the hosts setting right?

Thanks
mario, March 18, 2009:

What marcos (post no 23) did worked.
thanks man
The acrobat doesn’t seem to work though. It asks for a serial. should i try the one i used for installation?
and should i update?
Nabeel, March 19, 2009:

HI, I have installed Adobe CS4 Master Collection for Mac on my Macbook Pro 2.53 notebook. I have latest OSX 10.5.6 version. After installation i open Illustrator cs4 first run then i put the master collection key now everything was working illustrator, photoshop, flash etc… i uninstalled illustrator cs4 from my system then in intalled Illustrator CS4 Middle East Version Trial for MAC… Now, its not accepting any serial number…. I’m doing you above mentioned steps but i have problem when i try to save the host file it says… You do not have appropirate access privileges… now i changed the permissions and there are read/write permission to everyone but still it says the same privileges messge… pls help me…

Thanks Bro.
shail, March 21, 2009:

All though most if it did not work, setting the year back to 2008 does work.
After that if you start any adobe application and then change the year back to the current year, you can save your work with the right date embedded into it. also, entering the script using the root user stops adobe from connecting to the internet
Software Hack tutorial, March 22, 2009:

Hey, is there a section just for latest news
theblahb, March 23, 2009:

this was awesome… thank you.
Dwayne, March 27, 2009:

Hey I’m just curious and I would hope someone is able to respond to me.

I downloaded photoshop cs4 from a torrent and used a keygen and the above mentioned host files using terminal (i use a mac). The photoshop seems to be fine meaning its my copy now.

I then downloaded dreamweaver trail from adobe website. when i went to install it i entered the same serial number i got from the keygen but was denied…so I just went ahead and did the 30free trial thing.

Here’s what i’m wondering. Is dreamweaver now my copy, or is it still a trial?? this is because there is no counter counting 30 days down for my usage and i have no clue where to go to “convert trial to real copy” or however such a thing would go. BUT, is this a legit thing or not…just wondering because when I go to the HELP menu for dreamweaver I don’t get that little drop down window (spotlight thing) where i can type something and it will show me on my menu/tool bar where the feature that I want is. With photoshop…i have that spotlight.

SOOO….I’m was hoping to get some feedback. I think dreamweaver is my copy now…but i’m still not too sure.

hope someone will reply.
Thanks.
ltjern8765, March 27, 2009:

Works perfect for me and I am running on a Power Mac G5 (Pre Intel) Model using OSX Leopard. I followed these directions exeatly and everything worked fine.

However, I did do one thing or should say took one extra step. After I disable the root user and close the directory utility, I then go back and delete the Adobe cache file again in Library/application support/adobe PCD/Cache/cache.db. It seems adobe recreates this file when the computer is restarted?? I am not sure if that was causing problems or not, so I got rid of it comletely and I then ran terminal commands as described in this article and entered my password.

Following this, I opened CS4, rentered my password, and everything is now up and running again!!

I did also run into one other issue. When upgrading from Tiger to Leopard, for some reason, I lost the ability to enable root user from directory utility (as described in this article). Actually…it did not even give me that option. There is a work around for this posted on the Apple website at the following link: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1278

Cheers & Good Luck!!
lars, March 27, 2009:

Hi… Im a bit confused. I have a purchased license for CS4. I have it installed on my work computer and on my home computer – with the all legal password. All I want to “hack” is that the two applications can be open at the same time. What is the easiest fix for this? For a non-tech person like me Would that be installing eg. LittleSnitch on my home computer and blocking all acces to Adobe. Would that work (or can can the software not run without contacting Adobe?)
Extremely thankful person, March 27, 2009:

Thank you sooo much for providing this information! It was very detailed and easy to follow!
If I ever need help, now I know where I will be welcome (sorry
Thanks again!
Mark, April 7, 2009:

hi all, first of all MANY thanks for all the great responses in here. Something very special for sure!!

But, I have a problem I did not have seen an answer for in here…

I installed CS4 master collection form a downloaded torrent and worked with it for several weeks, totally without any problems. I Hacked it with the ping-thingy… no problem there.

But as I discovered that I forgot to install Indesign, and I now needed it I reopened the master collection, I started the additional install for indesign and did a new ping-hack (overwrite the hidden terminal file).

I started Indesign, but basicly told me to fuck off… No Indesign for me.

Even worse, all the adobe CS4 products I had installed from the master collection now gave me the Meidung.

All saying my SN was expired…

Followingly I uninstalled everything, reinstalled everything, but no… still the “expired SN” bullshit. I uninstalled again and flushed the cashe, tried to delete everything from adobe from my HD, downloaded the official Adobe ” CS cleanup utitlity ” … but that said There were no CS files on my mac.

Anyone got some thoughts?

How do I erase every trace of the CS4 from my HD, without having to reinstall the whole god-damn OS…. ?
Mathew, April 7, 2009:

Hi ive followed all the steps but when it asks me to enter my password in terminal its not the password i use for everything, is there a way to find out what this password is or change it?
Alex G., April 10, 2009:

Thanks man it works. Post 23 !!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU. I was just using a wrong serial i guess…
D, April 11, 2009:

I got all the way to opening the hosts text and changed it but now it will now allow me to overwrite.. Help!
D, April 11, 2009:

ok ignore my post in #88, I realized I was not logging into my root account, got it all done.. Now I got to terminal and entered command and after my password input it said ‘unknown option: – flushcashe’

I have Mac OS X 10.4.11
cool, April 22, 2009:

thanks so much for the detailed information! it worked for me! im using 10.4 TIGER. what i did was:
-deleted cache.db
-typed sudo lookupd –flushcache in the terminal, entered my password
-launched CS4 entered MARCOS serials and then voila! it works! thanks admin and marcos for the helpful tips!!
George, April 25, 2009:

Dear shail (post 79), I LOVE YOU. I’ve been trying this for hours and all I had to do was turn back time!
Marcos, April 27, 2009:

@post84 Lars, even though u purchased the program, its valid for 1 machine only, so treat your other machine as not being legal…follow the steps as other did.
@all having trouble, 99% of errors are due to bad serial numbers, sobetter to unistall everything and use some registry cleaner if necessary.
If u intall sme progs, then decide to install others later, must do everything all over again, after cleaning and uninstalçling!
brianj, April 28, 2009:

Thank you for this. Everything worked like you said it would. Just one question. I already had a serial number and the program was working, but I still just wanted to do this so adobe would not be contacted. Is there a way to confirm that my adobe is not calling home?
admin, April 30, 2009:

Editing the hosts file will stop CS4 calling home.

For extra security you could use Little Snitch.
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

And listen to your network traffic and make sure nothing is getting through try Wireshark.
http://www.wireshark.org/download.html
Mentor, May 1, 2009:

I’m very new to Mac’s, but the above seems to work just great for me. BUT I seem to have lost connection to my NAS in the process. I can access it from the browser, but I can’t map or see it in Finder anymore. Any suggestions?
Umby, May 2, 2009:

Follow these instructions EXACTLY:

1. Install CS4 as “TRIAL” version.
2. “Enable ROOT USER”.
3. “Go To Folder” … “/etc”.
4. Open the file “hosts” with “TextEdit”.
5. Copy the following …

# Block Adobe Actitavtion
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com

6. Paste in-between these two lines …

“255.255.255.255 broadcasthost”
[PASTE HERE]
“::1 localhost”

7. Make sure the following file is Deleted (if applicable) …

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db

7. Open “Terminal” and enter the following …

For MacOS version 10.5 = “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache”.
For MacOS version 10.4 = “sudo lookupd –flushcache”.

Then enter your admin password when prompted.

8. Restart the computer.

9. Open “Photoshop CS4″

10. Use any of the following Serial Numbers …

1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353

11. DONE!
El Canardo, May 5, 2009:

Hi everybody !
First of all CONGRATULATIONS to Administrator & every ones who contribute to this process to install CS4 : It’s a real engineer work !!

1)-Just a thing : When I flush the cache in terminal, nothing tell me it’s Ok the host file is changed : And when I quite terminal and go to /Private/etc to open the host:
I see

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

But not the command “# Block Adobe Activation” at the begining of the entries !!!!!

2)-An easier way ? I found on the net a script [apple script] called “Adobe CS4 [ACTIVATION BLOCKER SCRIPT] [MAC] [CodeTempest] [DESCRIPTION]” on Mininova [Adobe CS4 [ACTIVATION SCRIPT BLOCKER] [MAC] [CodeTempest] [mininova]]…
Do you think dear Administrator that the script do all the job : That is to say it create a root account and flush and disable the root at the end ???
Because I tried running this script without create a root account : AND MY HOST FILE IS FULL EDITED !!! IS IT ENOUGH TO DO WITH THIS SCRIPT ??

Thanks a lot Admin ! and thanks for everybody you can help doing so ))))))

El Canardo
James, May 5, 2009:

Hi there… I’m a mac newbie but have performed many cracks etc. within my windows operating systems before this. I realize mac is far superior on most regimes but I had issues getting myself to use the sudo command for -flushcache.. which, gave me a nice warning. However, like the name implies, I’m sure I’m just flushing system cache to demolish all traces of any adobe type file that retains server contact information or password information. I decided to skip this step and go ahead and delete the cache file within the adobe application support file etc.. Well, I used the provided key rather than the keygen i was using and everything worked out smoothly. I was wondering if I will have to “pay” for this later by eventually executing those sudo commands or if I’m home free at this point?! Regardless, I appreciate everyone’s hard work on this, it will be much help to my career without dropping the 3k or so for the program! Take care.
admin, May 6, 2009:

# Block Adobe Activation is not a command but rather a description of the entries. The # (hash) symbol means the text on the same line is ignored when the script is run.

I have come across the script you mention and it works fine. You don’t need to create a root account since it prompts you for a password and runs with root privileges.
admin, May 6, 2009:

Will you have to pay for it later? Pay for what? Just joking.

I am pretty sure that rebooting your Mac flushes the dns cache anyway. You may be ‘home free’ although you will find out soon enough should the License Expired dialog return.
El Canardo, May 6, 2009:

Referring to post n°98 [1] :

Hello dear adm (AND EXCUSE MY ENGLISH I’M FRENCH ( ) ; What i can’t understand is that when i’ve done all you teach here to Edit the file, I REBOOT sure, but after if I come back to have a look to my Host File I don’t see on it “# Block Adobe Activation” !!!! -> WHY ??? WHAT IS THE PROOF THE CACHE HAS BEEN FLUSHED ? And why I cannot see the mention : “# Block Adobe Activation” on the Host ??

If I apply the tempest script method I described on the post [N°98 (2)], the mention “# Block Adobe Activation”, this time appear… WHY NOT WITH THE MANUAL METHOD ¿?

Anyway I very thank you for confirmation that the script is Ok : Not having to create a root account etc… is easier don’t you think so ? You run the script… AND DONE ! Finish !!

A last question : Is it normal that some times on the edited HOST you have at the begining of the entries :
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com and some times just 127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com ?
Same remark at the end of the entries some times you have “127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com” and some times you have “127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com”
You method seem to create 15 entries on the edited HOST. With the script method you obtain 16 entries ? -> IS IT BETTER TO HAVE 16 LINES OR NOT ??
And why sometimes we are advised to copy paste after “fe80::1%lo0 localhost” and sometimes beetween “255.255.255.255 broadcasthost” and “::1 localhost” ?

THANK YOU FOR ALL MISTER ENGINEER
If you want a microsoft office 2007 Ok and tested for Windows XP or something else, maybe I can Help you ! But that’s all I unfortunately don’t have you program capacities ôô

)
HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP CHIEF !
kris, May 6, 2009:

So maybe this is a dumb question, when using this method where adobe cant ping home?
Can I (or should I) run an update when it’s released? Or am i pressing my luck…do i just keep this version forever?

bye the way thanks for this post a nub like me would have never got this far with out some serious hand holding
El Canardo, May 7, 2009:

HELP !!!!
Hello everybody
Concerning my post n°102 !
Help everybody, if someone can help me I’m designer and must have finished some work on photoshop for this saturday !!!!!!!
If someone (the Admin icluded of course) can respond to my questions in my last 102 post ¿? I would sincerely appreciate. Moreover before re-install my OsX I really need to know how to flush this damned HOST ->> POST 102

thanks everybody who knows )

El Canardo
lepryth, May 9, 2009:

A huge thanks to Admin and everyone else!
I’ve managed to get everything to work using your guides.
However, Dreamweaver keeps giving me the license expired window. All the other Adobe Apps work fine now but not Dreamweaver (which as Murphy would have it, is the only App I actually need….)
Any help would be massively appreciated.
Keep up the great work!
lepryth, May 9, 2009:

Sorry,
in regards to Admins POST 6 – I don’t have the Adobe PCD folder? So I can’t delete the cache.db file?
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db

I’m running an OSX 10.5 macbook pro using Adobe CS4 Master Collection.
Thanks again!
lepryth, May 9, 2009:

GENIUS!
I went back through the whole thing from scratch.
Uninstalled and reinstalled. selected trial. followed the guide. used MARCOS (post 23):
“Try inputting (after flushing cache as instructed by admin), the lines mentioned above, instead between broadcast host and::1, instead of after fe:80 etc.”
Then deleted the cache.db file (yeah I found it in the ‘other’ Library) and then flushed the cache.
everything works great now!

So if you are trying to get your Adobe Apps working and you are following this guide but it still won’t work – Then your doing something wrong. read through everything again very carefully. I’ve spent 2 days getting it to work and all I had to do was read everything properly… I feel like an idiot, but a very happy idiot.
You all rock.
Cheers Guys.
El Canardo ;-((, May 13, 2009:

Hello Admin. and evrybody !
Sorry for having insisted last time but I was stressful with some job to do with photoshop…

CAN YOU – PLEASE ;-(((( – DEAR ADMIN HELP ME JUST TO CHECK THE FOLLOWING STEPS OF THIS METHOD ; WHICH LEADS ME TO THE FINAL MESSAGE (WHEN I LAUNCH AN ADOBE APP. / After all the process above described) :”CS4 software setup : Chose an option : I want to go on this trying version or give a serial number for this product —- ”

WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY METHOD ? [IF YOU COULD JUST HELP ME FOR THAT ôô... ?????] :

1/-I formated my HDD disk and re-installed my OsX (10.5.6)
2/-I ran the script I told you “Adobe CS4 [ACTIVATION BLOCKER SCRIPT] [MAC] [CodeTempest]” -> Which do all the job !
3/-I upgraded my OSX to OS 10.5.6
4/-I even launched the “Disk utility software” and made A DISK AUTHORISATIONS REPAIR !
5/-I checked my new Host file, then restarted my computer
6/-I, here (AND MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE INSTALLED IT BEFORE RUNNING THE SCRIPT !!??), installed the CS4 Master Collection program I have downloaded (“ADBESTAMCS4_LS4″ : Adobe CS4 Master Collection Multilanguage – Europe”) WITH Adobe CS4 Master Collection [SERIAL NUMBERS] [11.20.08] [MAC] [CodeTempest] SN :
1325-0718-2033-8652-0351-5370
7/-I deleted the /Library/Applications Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db file
8/-I restarted my computer (Note that the “cache.db” file had restored !! -> so I deleted it once more)

9/- AFTER ALL THAT, I launched any adobe app. WITH THIS DAMNED MESSAGE :
” CS4
Software setup
Chose an option :
*I want to go on with trying this version…
or
*I have a serial number for this product:—— ”

Except for Acrobat products which asked me JUSTONE TIME for a new serial (I found in “iserial Reader”) and worked good.

BUT WHY FOLLOWING THIS METHOD (Using the script with) I AM INVITED – EACH TIME I LAUNCH AN APP. – TO GIVE AGAIN AND AGAIN A SN OR GO ON TRYNG VERSIONS !!!!??

Maybe I must first install the CS4 Master coll. – WITH THE TRYING OPTION -
Then delete the “cache.db” file
THEN RUN THE ACTIVATION BLOCKER SCRIPT
Then restart the computer and launch an app. WITH – THIS TIME – A SN ?

BUT IF DOING SO.., AFTER HAVING RUN THE SCRIPT, YOU AGREE I DON’T NEED TO FLUSH THE CACHE IN TERMINAL ???
(IF THE APPLE SCRIPT DO THE JOB !??)

I’m quite sure my error comes from the fact I first run the script (That is to say change the Host file) and then install the CS4.. ??

IF YOU COULD HELP ME JUST ONE LAST TIME DEAR ADMIN, I’M LOST AND WONDER NOW HOW TO PUT MONEY ASIDE AS POSSIBLE IT IS FOR ME FOR THIS DAMNED SUITE ||||||||||||||||||

THANK YOU ANYWAY FOR THE HELP YOU WOULD BRING ME AGAIN
AND THANKS TO ANYBODY MIGHT HAVE SOLUTIONS !!

EL CANARDO
Zain, May 13, 2009:

Thank you so much, ur awesome the steps were so easy to follow even for a technologically-impaired person like myself, i had same prob and alex and others, but i used Marcos (#23 comments) serial numbers and it worked. I am elated i cant thank y’all enough, much love and good vibes
admin, May 14, 2009:

Flush the DNS cache AFTER running the script.

Run Terminal command: cat /etc/hosts
to make sure hosts file was successfully edited

Disconnect your Mac from all networks including the Internet. Then get CS4 up and running. Then edit the hosts file and flush the cache before re-connecting to the Internet.

Your message indicates yo delete the cache.db before restarting your Mac. CS4 will naturally ask you for a new SN on relaunch. Give it an SN AFTER editing the hosts file and flushing the DNS cache.

Finally the cache.db will often respawn even if it is empty. This is nothing to worry about. This happens if you launch an Adobe app even if you dont enter an SN. This may also happen if you rstart your Mac and you have some Adobe Login items present.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND deleting any Adobe Login items found in System Preferences > Users > Login Items. If Adobe Software Update launches on startup you know the Adobe Login Item is present!

Good luck El Canardo!
El Canardo ;-((, May 14, 2009:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH ADMIN. !
To conclude, and sorry to annoy you with repeating things : As a french, I have difficulties with technical english… ;-(

I’m quite sure this time I understood : It will work this time

JUST A PRECISION and I PROMISE I TRY , AND COME BACK WITH A SUCESS :

1)-I format & reinstall my OsX -> It’s more secure
2)-I diconnect, get and run CS4 as you said : THAT IS TO SAY I INSTALL THE CS4.. AS A TRIAL (entering the serial after AS YOU SAID TO ALEX, POST 9 ?)
3)- I delete the cache.db ? (I’m not sure having understood here)
4)-I RUN THE SCRIPT
5)-I FLUSH THE DNS CACHE [not with a root account, you confirm ? : I just open Terminal and write "sudo dscacheutil -flushcache" in the "TERMINAL_BASH_80X24" which open directly when you open Terminal ; hit return, give my password, and then quite Terminal WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ELSE]
6)-I restart the Mac, launch any adobe app. and give Marcos SN (Post 23)- this time – DONE !!

What you mean by :
“I STRONGLY RECOMMEND deleting any Adobe Login items found in System Preferences > Users > Login Items. If Adobe Software Update launches on startup you know the Adobe Login Item is present!”

YOU MEAN THAT After the step n°5 or before it I MUST DELETE any Adobe Login items found in System Preferences > Users > Login Items ??
Or even if I don’t and do the 6 steps here it will work ?

THANK YOU SO MUCH ADMIN FOR THIS PRECISION, and for you reactivity : I saw somewhere in this page that this page as more helpfull than others but that’s right true.
THANK YOU SO FOR YOU ATTITUDE MAN ôô

PS : Do you think you process will must adapt to SNOW TIGER ?

El Canardo
El Canardo :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-), May 15, 2009:

WHHHAAAAAAAAAAAOOUUUUUUUUUUU !!!!!!!!!!!!!
-) -) -) -) -)

ADMINISTRATOR )))) THANK YOU MAN !!! GREAT ! GREAT ! GREAT ! GREAT ! GREAT ! GREAT !

FANTASTIC, YOU’VE JUST MADE ME HAVE 3500 EUROS SAVINGS !

THAKS SO MUCH MAN !

I COME BACK TO DEVELOPP.. BUT IT WORKS PERFECTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYY !!!!!!!!!!!!
tom, May 16, 2009:

thank you so much ADMINISTRATOR everything is perfect!
And thanks to Marcos on :23 for the serial
San Tori, May 18, 2009:

THANKS A LOT MAN!
Serge, May 19, 2009:

I just cant seem to get CS$ working. Ive followed your steps exacty and still no luck. Im not very Mac literate as ive recently moved from PC to mac. Help please……
fredrik, May 21, 2009:

MARCOS, THANK U! finally worked after quite a few hours!
meow, May 24, 2009:

So I’ve tried this over and over again. The license keys in this thread are not accepted by the program (red x), but I have another key that is accepted (green check) and I always get the message “license is expired”. Only if I turn back the clock on my system (OSX 10.5) does it work. Suggestions?
Amanda.G, May 24, 2009:

The Hostswidget works great, except that it won’t let me input sites that have a – in the name. Can I leave those out, or do I need to have the name exact for it to work properly?

I did that, rather than edit the file in textedit, because my mac won’t let me enable the root account, its greyed out.
Phillip, May 25, 2009:

btw- you guys are AMAZING!!! thanks so much
EB, May 27, 2009:

Can’t you just set the date back a few years instead of doing all of this?
Th0masx, May 28, 2009:

Thanks guys!!!! really good job!!! it workssssssssssss
poopoopooo, May 28, 2009:

I need help I’m having trouble with terminal. after enetering the command sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
i get prompted to type in my password however tyoing in my password doesn’t work. No letters appear in terminal when typing..and after pressing eneter it says “sorry try again”
jamesbond007, May 30, 2009:

hey meow mix, assuming you’ve successfully installed cs4,
before starting any cs4 apps again, make all the entries,
127.0.0.1 as noted above, delete cache.bd as noted above,
best safe to restart your computer, then re-start ps4, enter
the serial# that worked for you. if you have little snitch
running, it may prompt for access to abode.com, just deny
forever. enjoy!
jordan, June 2, 2009:

I’m having the same problem. I’ve tried every single step on here, and it still gives me the same message, even if I turn back the clock, enter a working serial, and turn off all network connections, it still gives the same message. Can anybody help?
Bill, June 3, 2009:

Hey there. This worked for me (so far). I have a question though…

Since the Adobe apps on my machine aren’t able to phone home, can I use the Adobe Updater to get the latest updates without getting the ‘License Expired’ message?

Thanks a bunch!
CD, June 8, 2009:

THANK YOU Marcos!
Scientist, June 8, 2009:

listen to post no.23 his serials really work!! thanks to him and thanks to machack CS4 working again. i tried 3 serials (agony, frustration) before i finally tried his ones. thanks again!!
Acotn, June 9, 2009:

I still can’t mage to do it even now. It’s been going alright for me till now, I got past the Jan 20th or something, just recently all adobe programs have been screwing up. I’ve done all the activate, and i’ve also reboted, uninstalled, reinstalled, deleted the cache in the PCD file, and I’ve redone everything which worked the first time, but still no luck.

Help please
raj, June 9, 2009:

i’ve tried all of the above and then some, it hasn’t worked at all the same prompt comes up so would CS2 work if i decided to run that instead? Also, if I purchased a legitimate copy, would that work?
sprinter, June 9, 2009:

hey, the above worked fine for photoshop cs4, but doesnt seem to crack premiere pro cs4… would it need a different serial? the above serials all result in red x’s anyone got other serials/suggestions?
thanks for all the help guys!
sprinter, June 9, 2009:

okay got it to work, just had to reinstall as a trial version and go from there!
thanks for all the help everyone, great post and lots of useful comments.
Thanks esp to marcos at 23 and el canardo at 108
Derek, June 9, 2009:

Does it matter that I’ve been pinged already? Or should these steps all still work “post-ping”? Sorry if this is repetitive, I read most the 117 entries, just not all of them
Brandon Crooks, June 11, 2009:

DUDE!!! thank you so much i was running around every were and you saved mi arse !! thx a mill
Joey, June 11, 2009:

Marcos you are the greatest!! That serial worked like a charm and we are up and running (without having to restore my mac!!)
Hamroth, June 12, 2009:

Thanx a lot admin, your works are really really good
Also thanx to Marcos….goof work guys!
mac, June 12, 2009:

AWESOME!!!
i had a lot of trouble with this until i just tried POST#97
that post suggest two things that differ from the original post – restarting your computer and using the keys provided within that post.

now CS4 MASTER COLLECTION WORKS FINE.
Gabe, June 12, 2009:

something is different between the text u supplied for copy/paste vs. what was pasted into the hosts file shown in the picture.. the first line of the text u supplied for copy/paste is 127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
that is nowhere to be found in the picture of ur hosts file..? will this make a difference?
Jeroen, June 13, 2009:

Hey it works!!!! I was just about to shoot myself, but because guys like you I didn’t.

My path of succeeding was like this:
- ged rid of the cashe (http://machacks.tv/2009/01/26/defeating-the-adobe-cs4-license-expired-dialog-in-os-x/)
- Follow all the 18 steps wich uses the root user
- and because I already had little snitch installed I could block any adobe server connection which again came through

Maybe this will help for the guys who still have problems.

Thanks again, your my hero
Jeroen, June 13, 2009:

And I should say I use mac OSX 10.5 leopard
Rebel Designer, June 14, 2009:

Guys… this post have been very very helpful…

Just one thing please: can any one post or send me by mail the license key for CS4 MIDDLE EAST Version cause these generators and other keys are not working with this suite… Please, Thanks in advance

send me
@ email
rebeldesigner@gmail.com
@ Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/rebeldesigner
@facebook
http://www.facebook.com/rebeldesigner

Thanks
jan, June 14, 2009:

many thanks to the man #23 -> deleting cache.db und use 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432

all works fine, greets from germany

thx machacks for this great post!
Lady, June 15, 2009:

For everyone who was homefree with all the cs4 apps, but running across a problem when launching acrobat,

use this: 1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353

as someone upthread posted. this worked great.

I am newer to mac, not familiar with the hierarchy of things with mac, as i have been a pc for many years.

i now am bilingual, lol, in a sense.

this and the cache cleanin tut really helped me, and also gave me some lessons on the way my mac is set up that i was unfamiliar with before.

not only was i able to get thie suite working but i also am more comfortable with my mac than i was before…

thanks for this! also, thanks for additional help downthread, admin. its nice to see you take out additional time to help ppl with further questions…
daniel, June 15, 2009:

It worked for me too…I installed little snitch although I unplugged my ethernet cord from the imac prior to running photoshop (and after deleting the cache.db)

This serial number worked for me

1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287

I’m running leopard
Andrew, June 16, 2009:

I know I’m MAJORLY behind on this post but, wow, Marcos, YES YOU ARE A LEG-END. Thank you soooo much!!! I was getting close to giving up hope but you’ve restored it all for me. Abbasolute genious!!!!
AdamI, June 17, 2009:

Hello Admin, Sorry for my english:) I can’t save in terminal file the Addition: sudo lookupd –flushcache. What can I do?
JG, June 18, 2009:

I just wanted to say thank you. It took some tinkering and reading of the comments… but I’ve got it!!!! This does indeed works for all of you having problems… keep trying.
YSL, June 19, 2009:

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Works well…….
problem solved, June 20, 2009:

Hi, Just fixed the same problem.

You must make sure ALL abode hosts are deactivated!!! I was missing the line:

127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com

And perhaps they keep adding new hosts all the time……..
Gabriel, June 23, 2009:

@marco: Thanks, Man!!!!
Danielle, June 25, 2009:

Thank you!
Ake, June 27, 2009:

Thank you and especially for Umby in Reply no. 97!! It’s done
Snakes, June 29, 2009:

Got the whole thing working with the key in post 23 and all the other instructions , thank you very much !
TanMan, June 29, 2009:

I’ve tried this multiple times… And tried post #23. I have leopard 10.5. Tried the photoshop trial version… But when I open it, it say License Expired… It’s so frustrating. None of the codes here are working either.

Please help me!
samuri_penguin, July 5, 2009:

thank you #97 Umby, May 2, 2009:
now i can use Adobe Master Collection Creative suite 4
by following that method #97 from 1-7 and….

log out >>> turn into your account

8. Make sure the following file is Deleted (if applicable) … check again***

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
9. Open “Terminal” and enter the following …

For MacOS version 10.5 = “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache”.
For MacOS version 10.4 = “sudo lookupd –flushcache”.

Then enter your admin password when prompted.

10. Restart the computer.

11. Open “Photoshop CS4″

12. Use any of the following Serial Numbers …

1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353

13. DONE!
kim, July 5, 2009:

hei marcos your serials worked thanks a lot.. everything is fine just follow the steps and use marcos’ serials
davido, July 6, 2009:

I don’t know why but when I arrive at the point of flush the cache in my 10.5.7 with “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache”, nothing happend, not password deny.

Any suggestion?
Grace, July 7, 2009:

Hey I was at this for a few hours. I was losing hope until I found my answer in post 23.

Just wanted to say thanks to admin and Marcos for your effort.
crevelo, July 9, 2009:

Great!!!!!!! followed thread #97 and works just perfect, still to check for how long. has anybody used it for a long time already???? I’m looking forward to work on CS4 and don’t want any interruptions….please some feedback, wanna know if it’s a permanent crack and how to keep it going….THANKS A LOT TO ALL!!!!!!!!!
www, July 11, 2009:

I have CS3 running fine on OSX 10.5.7. Can I follow this method to install CS4 and keep CS3 or do I have to uninstall CS3?
Ignacio, July 11, 2009:

Not working dude!
Mannheimer, July 12, 2009:

O my God! This page rocks! Now I can enjoy!!!!
Thanks
Taylor, July 14, 2009:

Thank you so much. This worked a treat. Very grateful!
DJ, July 17, 2009:

@ Admin – After hours of struggle I finally got everything working, thanks to you and Marcos. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Now I am scared to be connected to the net while using. Should I make sure I am disconnected while using the programs or am I being paranoid?
graphicguy, July 18, 2009:

same here as meow any suggestions!
supermonkey, July 20, 2009:

Why didn’t more poeple use Gas Mask 0.4. That was MUCH easier than going the TextEdit route.
domain, July 21, 2009:

Nice site! Thanks for the great post.%d%a%d%aPeople should read this…
Hakubi, July 21, 2009:

Comment #23, THANK YOU!!!!!
ph.gabriel, July 22, 2009:

MACROS, Thanks a mil. it worked just fine.
Francisco, July 23, 2009:

Hi… I have a Macbook and i’ve installed Adoce CS4. By starting any Cs4 application the sofware tells me that the CS4 license has expired.
Well I’ve tryed the steps below and it didin’t worked out because i cant find the file Cache.db.
Can somebody please help me.
I need this software as quick as possible.
reid, July 24, 2009:

worked perfectly. thanks!
Mat, July 31, 2009:

Dude! Absolute lifesaver! worked and absolute charm! Cheers man.
Josh, July 31, 2009:

I did the process and everything works perfectly. I do have a question though, when adding the server info at the bottom of the HOST file, I hit return twice before pasting. Does the line spacing have any impact on if it works or not? Again, my version is working perfectly I just have no way of knowing if it calls home or not.
junior, August 3, 2009:

Worked perfect the first time, thanks!! I used #97 instructions.
Jen, August 5, 2009:

Thank you so much!! I followed number 97, and it worked!! Been trying to install it for ages!! Thank you so much everyone for your help!!
ALYSSA, August 5, 2009:

Perfect, and I’m incredibly happy to have found this site. My software works perfectly, and it’s all thanks to this article.
flamingape, August 6, 2009:

I’ve been following all the steps above so far everything has gone fine, thanks. I’ve got as far as Step 16 and have entered sudo lookupd –flushcache into the Terminal, but i’m not being prompted for my admin password, what am i doing wrong? (10.4 user)
junior, August 7, 2009:

flamingape,
Did you log out of root and log back into your admin account when attempting the terminal commands?

Also I had a question does anyone know if this will work for Illustrator CS4?
jones, August 9, 2009:

I did the block and have been able to get hold of serials for Dw PS Fl”working great! I didnt do the Master suite so non of the above serials can help me sooo

Does any one have individual serials for illustrator fireworks etc. anything else?
jones, August 9, 2009:

Does any one have individual serials for illustrator, fireworks, etc. not a master suite one?
Ellie, August 9, 2009:

FINALLY WORKED!!! If you were one of the people who, like me, tried EVERYTHING and couldn’t get it to work, maybe your problem is with the Photoshop version you downloaded. Even when I tried to run it as a “Trial Version,” it wouldn’t let me, telling me the License of the Product was Expired. In the end, I had to delete the Photoshop I downloaded using BitTorrent and instead go to the official Adobe site to download the trial version.

Hope that helps!
flamingape, August 10, 2009:

Hi Junior, yeah logged out of the root account and logged in to admin, and disabled root user. After i enter sudo lookupd –flushcache in to Terminal nothing happens, do i need save it?
victoria, August 11, 2009:

Hi, first thanks to everyone for you help – especially to admin! I have fallow and done all the steps (i have mac os 10.4) when i enter “sudo lookupd –flushcache” terminal answers “unknown option: -flushcache” “Macintosh:~victoria$”. I don’t know what this does mean, what is wrong? I would be grateful if someone could help thanks
PEPEchuy, August 12, 2009:

hello,

qhen i enter “sudo lookupd –flushcache” (in my mac 10.4.11) terminal answers:

“WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type “man sudo” for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.”

I don´t know what this does mean. Could you tell me please what to do?
jze30, August 12, 2009:

did all the instructions but still didnt work, then i followed sitaktifs post(comment #17) works perfectly! Thanks for this amazing to not be bombarded by the cs4 activation nazis
headwork, August 13, 2009:

Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! It’s finaly working!!!!!!!! ))))
BEEN TRYING FOREVER, August 14, 2009:

Thanks to everyone for their posts in getting this to work. I have followed all the steps and I am getting:
Excuse the interruption but our records indicate the serial used to set up this software is invalid.
Why is this happening, have done the new script in #23 too.
Is there anyway to fix this rather than working offline?
I am using mac osx 10.5.8. I uaed the script for 10.5,
Can someone get back to me about this as soon as possible please.
Thank you
BEEN TRYING FOREVER, August 14, 2009:

FINALLY
Got it working so don’t worry about last post.
All I can say to everyone that is trying. combine admins original steps(thanks admin) with post 23 adjustment step(thanks marcos). You just need to add another 2 steps that arn’t IN admins.

STEP 16: DELETE THE CACHE FILE: – /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
THAN DO ADMINS STEP 16- THE TERMINAL BIT
FINAL STEP: RESTART THE COMPUTER and turn internet off and than load photoshop and put in serial.
You can than go back onto the net.
(thanks to post 97 for these 2 steps.
It will work so don’t give up,
Cheers again admin
NICK, August 14, 2009:

Hey all..

Got Adobe CS4 master suite working fine on my computer (Macbook Pro 10.4) after following the instructions on here. I am able to use while on and off the internet with no problems at home BUT.. when I go into school and use there wireless internet supplied I get the message of “licensed expired” please enter new serial or trial for 30days?? Is there anyway I can stop Adobe talking to different internet servers or can you only set it up for one? Hope it makes sense.

Thanks

Nick
mswalnut, August 21, 2009:

somehow, this did not work for me. moreover, now my CS3 says that the licensing is no longer valid. this is a crisis for me as I am a graphic designer and must turn over new designs by monday am. HELP!
jake, August 22, 2009:

Comment #23 fixed my issues with the expired license. Thanks for this!
Herb, August 23, 2009:

Thanks everybody. Works great. Make sure to use the full set of strings from post 97 and follow directions carefully.

One issue. After using this fix, upon rebooting my machine (MBP 2.33, 10.5.8) , it never remembers my Airport network. It finds it fine when I enter the name and pass under “other network…” Just a minor inconvenience. Could be unrelated, but I’ve run down the possibilities pretty thoroughly. My networks are still there in Network Preferences, when I double click it it finds it right away. Just not off the boot.

Here’s my host file:

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
127.0.0.1 services.eyetv.com
127.0.0.1 updates.elgato.com
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

(Blocking EyeTv as well)

Thanks for your thoughts, anyone.

Cheers,
Herb
Herb, August 23, 2009:

Hmmm… I spoke too soon. A known issue with solutions here:
http://forums.macnn.com/92/networking/363970/leopard-will-no-longer-remember-wireless/
and
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6673193#6673193
Good luck everyone.
Aloha,
Herb
Travis, August 24, 2009:

MARCOS YOU ARE MY FREAKING HERO!!!! YOU DESERVE A MEDAL!
Travis, August 24, 2009:

MARCOS YOU ARE MY FREAKING HERO!!!! YOU DESERVE A MEDAL!
ebuyc, August 24, 2009:

I used textmate.
$> mate /etc/hosts

255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

save

closed terminal and re-opened

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

open CS4 photoshop and re-entered a valid OSX key.

works fine for me.
Grateful, August 27, 2009:

Followed the step and voila! It works. HDR here I come.
Zylo, August 28, 2009:

Thanks so much man! This has helped me a ton, especially with the serials listed by people above. LIFE SAVER!
Erock, August 29, 2009:

i’m trying this with snow leopard and wondering if this isnt working case the steps to clear the dns cache are different now.
Moog, August 30, 2009:

Trying to install CS4 on Snow Leopard. Done all of the steps above and keep getting a “Licensing for this product has stopped working” error message. I’ve reinstalled CS4 numerous times, deleted the cache.db file ran the cleaner recommended by Adobe’s website and still keep getting this popup. Does anyone know a way around this? Thanks.
chewy79, August 31, 2009:

Hey Guys. I am not getting past the License Expired warning and just want to remove all of CS4 so I can install a working version of CS3. My question is: If I do the uninstall and run the Adobe CS4 cleaner, will it automatically remove that scripting I put in my host file or am I going to have to go in and remove that manually? If I have to do it manually should I do this before or after the uninstall and cleaner process?

Thanks in advance.
admin, September 1, 2009:

@chewy79 – remove it manually. If you want CS3 to reach adobe to register itself then remove the hosts file before re-installing. Otherwise leave it.
chewy79, September 1, 2009:

Cool. Thanks for the hlep!
EM, September 1, 2009:

I’ve been using a host file modification patch since february with no issues. I installed Snow Lepoard last night and PS, ID & AI worked all day until early this evening when they all stopped working. No message, the applications simply wouldn’t open. Nothing happened after two bounces. Very strange. I’m going to try install again and see what happens. I would appreciate any tips or experiences…I have so many CS4 files that I wont be able to open!
Gabriel, September 1, 2009:

Stop Adobe CS4 calling home to Mother Ship in OS X

16. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5) does this work fo snow leopard 10.6
gabo, September 1, 2009:

Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)

i just wana know if this is goin to work with MAC OS X Snow Leopard ( 10.6 )

otherwise i wont upgrade
Ouch, September 1, 2009:

I tried this on Leopard and it works!! Brilliant!! Will this method work on Snow leopard also?
EM, September 2, 2009:

I just tried to reinstall PS CS4 as a trail. Install process ok, but wont even open not even one bounce??? Any ideas? Anyone?
AmyC, September 2, 2009:

I have followed these steps for Snow Leopard. Everything seems to be working fine. I did have to use the alternate serial for Acrobat. So far so good. Will post a note if anything changes.
gabriel, September 2, 2009:

hey 206. it does work in snow leopard 10.6 CS4 runs without a problem but for some reason i dont know after i upgraded to SNOW the anti-virus went crazy i removed it but its giving some code 10 error only when i restart. if anyone knows how to fix this thing please post it
bjp, September 6, 2009:

Thanks guys

I downloaded a trial version of illustrator from the official adobe website, then i installed Little snitch.

This is what worked for me:

Macbook Pro OS X 10.6

Step 1. Find & open Directory Utility (‘yourHD’/system/library/coreservices/Directory Utillity)

Step 2. Enable the Root User (Edit > Enable Root User) & Create a password for the root account.

Step 4. Logout of your admin account.

Step 5. Login to the root account. Select ‘Other’ in the Login Window. The name of the account is root (lowercase).

Step 6. In Finder menu > Go > Go To Folder. Type /etc and click ‘OK’

Step 7. Ctrl-click the hosts file and ‘Open With’ TextEdit.

Step 8. Copy/Paste the following entries between (255.255.255.broadcasthost) AND (::1localhost) in the hosts file:

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

Step 9. Save the changes. Quit TextEdit.

Step 10. Logout of the root account.

Step 11. Login to your admin account

Step 12. Open Directory Utility (/Applications/Utilities)

Step 13. Disable the Root User (Edit > Disable Root User)

Step 14. Quit Directory Utility

Step 15. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5 or later)

Step 16. Enter your admin password when prompted. (password will be invisible so keep typing and hit enter)

Step 17. Launch Your Adobe app setup. Install trial version.

Step 18. Run Little snitch, deny connection with adobe product.

Step 19. Open Adobe app. Enter your serial. (i used 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432) Done.
deadlytux, September 6, 2009:

EVERYBODY LISTEN:
=============

first of all, thanks to the administrator to solve my problem, it was really helpful.
BUT listen to MARCO (post nr. 23) to solve the License Expired problem too.
Your hosts file should be like hims, and use his serial, these work.
Thanks again!
Good luck
mia, September 7, 2009:

it won’t work plus now i can’t find adobe pcd where the cache’s in anymore
i was at the point where i could type in the serial but then it said it’s gonna connect to the server and there it was again: license exposed
i installed the full master collection…is that the problem?
cause you’re all talkin about some trial version?
jeanpierre, September 8, 2009:

Everything worked fine for me as well, but for Acrobat Pro 9, its asking for a different serial and i can’t seem to find a valid serial (like in post 208), does anybody have one???
jeanpierre, September 8, 2009:

Never mind, I found one!! For anyone with the same problem, here is the serial for Acrobat Pro 9: 1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353!! Thanks to all, this blog really helped!!!!!!!!
Chris, September 10, 2009:

Thank You All!
D_Mill, September 10, 2009:

I have a one month old macbook pro and I have tried the above tutorial but run into the same problem each time ive tried installing CS4. I get to step 7 where i try to open the host file but every time it says file not found. there is the little arrow in the bottom corner of the host file which i guess means it is an alias or something. Any idea why that would be happening and how i would go about fixing this so i can continue with the installation? Thanks.
pieuw, September 11, 2009:

PLease help me out…:
Did all the steps mentioned but when starting up cs4 and entering a valid serial, only one new window opens and says something: ‘mportant Adobe license activation’ ‘ the software may attempt to contact Adobe servers over the Internet… blablabla.
Then I click OK and the window close BUT photoshop doen’t start.

Anyone familiar with this? Any solutions? Would be greatly appreciated! Please?
Tobi, September 11, 2009:

Hello everyone. by mistake i deleted the whole hosts. can someone please post the whole text that has to go in there. thank you very much!!
@lodog, September 11, 2009:

Tobi, your original hosts file should look like this:

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost
Tobi, September 11, 2009:

thanks alot. u saved my day!!
Adina, September 11, 2009:

So I decided to take the LittleSnitch route. Here is the thing. It keeps on stopping what I am doing to access ANYTHING, which I guess is the point. Here’s the real question, when I get it to where it tries to connect with Adobe and I say to deny forever, will I still ALWAYS have to have little snitch on for it to not contact adobe, because its really annoying!
Michael, September 11, 2009:

Hey all… this is very very very very helpful!… however, i have one small problem. I have gone through number 97 process.

CS4 works fine when i’m off line, however, when i go online a pop up screen comes up which says “This serial number will no longer permit you to use this product.

My mac version is 10.4.11

Anyone help!!!, please , lol
Jon, September 12, 2009:

Thanks so much macros for the serials, mine didnt work i know everyone said thanks to the guy a thousand times but honestly, Good job and thanks so much, and ofcourse the admin too
Anstey, September 12, 2009:

thanks alot. u saved my day!!…
CooCooRiku, September 14, 2009:

I have the same issues with Moog.

CS3 worked fine in Leopard, but I got the “Licensing stopped working” warning and could not open any CS3 apps. I removed all of them and installed CS4. Tried everything that admin and the rest of you suggested here but still see the Licensing stopped working issue. I’m suspecting that somewhere in the system recorded previous registration failure. Anyone can help?? Thanks!!!!
CooCooRiku, September 14, 2009:

by the way, the Licensing stopped working when I ran a clean install of Snow Leopard, then migrate my backups from Time Machine. Prior to this, things worked fine
Matt, September 14, 2009:

Just followed bjp’s directions and it worked perfectly. Just as a little side note you can access the directory utility through system preferences in the accounts setting section. Go into Login Options and hit the join button down the bottom and then select open directory utility. Now to get on to my web design assignment :S
Kaiross, September 15, 2009:

Thanks one more time. Works like a charm and I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to fiddling with my computer.

Any chance anyone knows the textedit entries to make my computer stop pinging the microsoft mothership to verify my trial of OfficeMac 2008?

Mille grazie!
kirsten, September 16, 2009:

I have tried everything written down here, and I am still getting the “license has expired” pop-up when i start photoshop. i can’t find the cache.db file and i have done sudo dscacheutil -flushcache a few times and nothing seems to be working. is there anything more i can do?
w00t, September 16, 2009:

comment 210 worked awesome! thanks!
Kaiross, September 17, 2009:

@#210 (bjp) or anyone else,

Will this (or similar) work for a trial version of Lightroom 2.0? I’m using OS X 10.5.8 and downloaded their trial yesterday and love it. Would like my “temp” license to not expire in 29 days. Any advice short of buying the program?

Thanks in advance
jinx, September 18, 2009:

Worked wonderfully. Thanks a lot!
Bearspirit, September 19, 2009:

For the ones who getting “license has expired” pop ups when starting any adobe app.
Delete the “/Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher” directory and the “/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db” file. Launch Adobe.app , and enter your serial (i have used 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-34320. Done.
It worked like an charm for me.
Daniel, September 19, 2009:

I’m in the same boat as kirsten I’m having the same problem with my CS4. I cannot find this Adobe PCD/cache.db file that everyone is talking about and flushed my cache repeatedly.

And i tried both of the serials the Marcos put down that everyone is ranting and raving about during installation. Nothing.

Are there any new serials by any chance? Thanks in advance for any help.
Daniel, September 19, 2009:

Ok so I can’t even download the TRIAL now without getting the error. I guess Adobe just knows somehow.

F my life.
Adobebane, September 19, 2009:

Ok, Admin or anyone….
I’ve followed multiple instructions on this…changed the host, installed little snitch, etc.

No matter what serial I use, after every time I insert the serial and click OK, the next screen to pop up says “Important. Adobe License Activation: The software may attempt to contact Adobe servers over the internet in order to complete the license activation process and validate the right to use this software on this machine.
“No personal information will be transmitted during this process”

When I click OK, I always ALWAYS get the same “license expired” popup.

ANYONE? suggestions???????
Curious, September 21, 2009:

If I just do not connect to the internet while using adobe will it “ping the mothership?”
EL CANARDO :-), September 22, 2009:

HELLO ADMIN HOW ARE YOU ?

TELL ME JUST ONE THING CHIEF : DO YOUR METHOD WORK WITH SNOW LEOPARD ??

THANKS A LOT FOR EVERY BODY

El Canardo
diane, September 23, 2009:

Hi I am new to Mac’s and have tried your suggestions but now it is saying in the terminal window when i paste the local host info “command unknown” what am i doing wrong?. i’m still getting the problem with the cs4 master collection asking for serial number . also acrobat reader 9 is asking for a serial number again it won’t let me open any pdf’s as it keeps throwing the window to enter serial number.

can someone please give me step by step instructions as when i’ve tried following the instruction on this page it does not give me the option to enable root user as its grey and cant select it.
I am the only user of the computer. any help will be appreciated.
elias, September 26, 2009:

thanks for support! everything is working with Snow Leopard. I had Xcode previously installed, then followed steps described at top without having to login with root account simply modified hosts file, saved it (eneterd admin passwrd), entered sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (works with 10.6.1) in Terminal, and ONLY THEN started installing CS4, entered registration codes from post no.23 and voila!!! Good luck!
Goldeneagle, September 27, 2009:

@ Bearspirit
Man, your tip worked a charm. Thanks a million dude !!

Just writing chronology of my events, so that anybody trying can get some help out it:

Installed Snow Leopard
then , I had downloaded the TRIAL from Adobe’s website on September 25, 2009.
Serial from mac-bb
Then, Tried machacks.tv method – editing hosts file !!
Didn’t work !!
Error received – “Licensing for this product has expired…. Error: 150:30″

Tried deleting cache.db file. Didn’t work !!
Tried deleting folder inside Flexnet – didn’t work either !!

Uninstalled, reinstalled, restarted …. repeated this process two times
Installed Little Snitch and reinstalled – didn’t work

was just about to give up., but then I just read Bearspirit’s tip.
Fortunately it worked.
Had the Acrobat’s problem of asking for SN – used Pikachu post .

Hopefully this will last a long time !!

Serial used: 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-34320
Serial for Acrobat – 1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353
Will, September 28, 2009:

Hi I’m hoping someone can assist me. Everytime I input sudo dscacheutil -flushcache into Terminal it states ’sudo: /private/etc/sudoers is mode 0444, should be 0440′ and also ‘postdrop: warning: unable to look up public/pickup: No such file or directory’? Does anyone know how to rectify this?
W
yan, September 28, 2009:

I followed the instructions everything works great. But now I want to update to snow leopard. I was wondering if there was a solution for OSX 10.6.
HwyMan, September 29, 2009:

Wow! That worked the first time i tried using Marcos changes and serial. Awesome guys!
Chat, September 30, 2009:

Hey guys! please help. I stucked with “Terminal”. I inserted the exact characters but when the password request shown. I have not set any password yet. I can press “return” to continue so I came back to “Account” and set a password BUT WHEN I CAME BACK TO THE TERMINAL TEXTFILE. EVERYTHING IS ALL GONE. ONLY BLANK PAGE.

Please suggest. Thanks in advance.
B, October 1, 2009:

Hello, this is good tutorial, the last one for deleting cache.db helped, but the thing is I am using Vista (I know wrong site but I can’t find help from anywhere else) but can someone please tell me how to stop after effects from connecting to the internet on Vista? Someone have a link maybe?
Nav, October 5, 2009:

IS IT OK TO RUN AND INSTALL ADOBE UPDATES? or the whole thing will fail?
PLZ ANSWER.
thanks.
Michael, October 5, 2009:

Pure Genius. Thanks
admin, October 6, 2009:

UPDATE

You can use terminal to give TextEdit root access to the hosts file. Open a terminal window and enter the following:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

Hit return and enter your admin password when prompted and again hit return.
Your Hosts file should automatically open in TextEdit.
Add the following to the open Hosts file:

127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

The entries should ideally be made between the existing broadcasthost and ::1localhost entries.
Save the file and quit TextEdit.
Now, If using Leopard, you should use Terminal again to flush your cache:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

You can also do the same in Tiger with the following Terminal command:

lookupd -flushcache
NoOb, October 6, 2009:

hey can you do a from-the-very-begining step by step process on how to use hostswidget or the terminal- i realy do not understand how to do this. Please don’t use technical language
Scooter Muppet, October 7, 2009:

OK.. I am obviously doing something wrong since I have enabled the root and still can’t save the host file… WTF? Running 10.6.1.. I have to get to the Directory Utility through the accounts section unless I am looking for the wrong thing..
ck, October 7, 2009:

Thanks to the admin and other supporters.

Yes, I managed to do it with

IMAC/ SNOW LEAOPARD 10.6.1 by following line 220.

What I did extra was:

I didn`t use trial version. Original was already installed. All I did was to deactivate it first.

On directory utility active directory was unchecked/ disabled. I don`t know we need to or not, I enabled it.

After I finished with root user when I wanted to flush the cache, system needed me to enter my regular admin account password (not the temporary root system administrator password) and gave me an error because my imac doesnot have any passwords, it was blank. So I went to accounts just for this step and I created a password. It was “1″. And then system let me flush the cache.

I downloaded and installed this program “Little Snitch” however it is really annoying. Yes, I uninstalled it so far and tonight everything works fine. I hope that it will work without this snitch.

The rest is all the same. Thanks again guys.
admin, October 7, 2009:

@Scooter Muppet – r u using the new recommended command:

paste the following into a Terminal window and when prompted enter your admin password. (note: you must be in an admin account to perform this command)

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

and then copy/paste the entries mentioned in the article

this is now the recommended/fastest/best method for editing the hosts file
admin, October 7, 2009:

forget hostwidget – see comment #253
admin, October 7, 2009:

Anybody using the by now ancient trial CS4 dmg can only run this by moving the clock back to say 2008
ImFromTheInternet, October 7, 2009:

I’m running Leopard 10.5.8
Just wanted to say that I followed instructions on post #249 and now everything seems to work fine (for the moment)
I hope I don’t have to “activate” this thing again.
Scooter Muppet, October 8, 2009:

Hey thanks… apparently me typing it wasn’t going to work so I copied and pasted.. no idea why but it now works…
LPZ, October 8, 2009:

I had same problem, and now it WORKS!! Comment 23 was the Key. 2 thumbs UP for Marcos!! Thank you ALL, for you great comments.
LPZ, October 8, 2009:

Forgot to say, I am working with a Macbook Pro, running Snow Leopard. Good luck Everyone.
Vince, October 9, 2009:

hey man.
how come when im in terminal it wont let me put in my pasword?
it comes up, but when i attempt to put it in, it wont work.
MAC, October 10, 2009:

hey
I never got the “license has expired” problem. BUT after using it for a while it suddenly says: “excuse the interruption, but… Our records indicate the serial number used to set up this software is invalid.” then asks me for a valid serial and i put in a generated one. then it works, but as soon as i restart any cs4 app the problem starts over again!!!

will this whole operation fix this problem??? or is there anything else i can do to fix it??

appreciate all the help i can get
jabrgr, October 10, 2009:

I’ve been using Little Snitch blocking Adobe’s software from calling home for some time now but find it annoying to (seemingly) continuously have to make new rules as there lways seems to be something that wants to connect to somewhere on the internet. Changing the host file seems like a great solution as the only apps I want to prevent from calling home is Adobe’s. I have tried this and just to make sure I have kept Little Snitch running (with deleted rules for Adobe apps) and opened various Adobe apps and the Little Snitch warning popped up which makes me think that changing the host file is not working in my case. I followed the instructions of comment #249. Any comments? I am running Snow Leopard on a unibody Macbook.
Jonni, October 10, 2009:

Admin,
My friend tried installing the torrented master collection for CS4 on my MAC leopard recently. He said he tried using the Keygen and that it didn’t work, so he uninstalled it. I simply bought the retail CS4 production suite instead. Now THAT doesn’t work because “License has expired” keeps popping up. I’ve tried your awesome instructions several times, but it still doesn’t work… Can you help?
admin, October 12, 2009:

@Jonni: see http://machacks.tv/2009/01/26/defeating-the-adobe-cs4-license-expired-dialog-in-os-x/
admin, October 12, 2009:

@ jabrgr: it seems likely that Little Snitch intercepts the request to connect before the hosts file is checked by the system. even if Little Snitch resolves the adobe domains to IP addresses correctly I do not think this bears any relevance on whether your mac can actually connect to those domains, if you see the difference (resolving vs. connecting). if you ping one of the adobe servers does it ping back from 127.0.0.1? if it does you have configured the hosts file correctly.
oren, October 12, 2009:

@ Marcos #23
Thanks. I have had same problem with Alex and that worked perfectly!
dee, October 12, 2009:

does the same steps work for CS3 premium suite ? wt sn tp put?
thanks in advance u’re a genius!!
Jonni, October 13, 2009:

Admin, Thank you so much!!!!!! <3
I really appreciate it. All my retail-purchased software works perfectly now! Thank you thank you thank you!
Take care.
test, October 13, 2009:

Says cannot edit host, and it’s a write – read file
trent, October 13, 2009:

hey, i noticed that you said in an earlier post that you need to have an administrator account in order to do this stuff.
how do you make an administrator account again?
because i did everything you said and whenever i put in sudo lookupd-flushcache it says “not found” or something…
please help!
allen, October 14, 2009:

I have a question.. when I go to directory utility and go to edit, my “enable root user” option is white.
Therefore i cant select it, do u have any suggestion?
Pops, October 14, 2009:

Hi Admin
I tried for like 5 hours last night to get this thing to work. Please note: my CS4 is torrented and for some reason I’m greatful I did not go buy – with so many problems. I’m using an old serial number from the torrent, hope that is not the problem. I’ll try again tonight using the latest recommended option… I hope it works. I’m close to frustration now.

Your sight is very useful hey…

Anyone with a working serial number (I don’t really wanna use keygen) can you please share…
JoeR, October 14, 2009:

When I ping activate.adobe.com it comes back to 127.0.0.1. This would indicate it is working. Also, I have little snitch running with ALL of the adobe programs blocked from making ANY connections. Yet, after I delete cache.db (and restart) I am prompted for a new key and then it still comes up with license expired after it accepts the key. Little snitch shows NO outbound connections after it has accepted the key.
tcoffin, October 14, 2009:

dear Admin,
whenever i type in “sudo lookupd-flushcache,” it keeps saying “command not found,” even though I’m the only user on this computer and therefore i know i’m an admin.
what should i do?
Please help!
Joe, October 15, 2009:

i’m trying to do this for illustrator cs4 and it’s still not working. HELP!
i used little snitch to cut off the connection
i deleted cache
i did all that stuff in terminal and i put tons on sn’s in and they all have the red X

HELP ME PLEASE!
Lou, October 15, 2009:

Can you run the Adobe updater? Or will that break this workaround? Has anyone tried an update? Please let me know. Thank you for this work around!!!!!!
tcof, October 16, 2009:

hey, i don’t know if this is appropriate since i didn’t get flash cs4 from a trial, but i don’t know where else to go so here’s my question:

i copied a working Flash CS4 file from my school’s mac and then copied it to my mac’s desktop. but when i click on it, it says, “the license for this product has stopped working. please restart your computer.”

what should i do, admin?
please help!
thank you for your time!
Robert, October 17, 2009:

I am implement the #249 suggestion and this is no problem using CS4 apps.
This is bad consequence that is the adobe PCD and adobe update6 processes keep running using mire than 50 % of my MacBook pro core 2 duo process time.
The fans are blowing at maximum speed all the time.
I am using 10.6.1
I don’t know haw to stop that background useless work.
hector, October 17, 2009:

Hello, thanks to all for the great advices, i did all the instructions and it worked, in fact i was running all the apps of adobe cs4 with no problem, for a long time, but suddenly yesterday all the apps of adobe stopped working, and i dont know why, i tried everything all over again and after the second run of photoshop it stop working and it doesnt say anything about the license or anything, it just doesnt start, i double click the ps cs4 icon and nothing. not even the loading splash. and the same for all the other apps, if i delete the cache.db file photoshop will start and will ask me for the serial number and i put any of the serial number from this site or some others that i have found and photoshop will start but if i close the ps4 and i start it again it wont start anymore, and if i try the same with for example illustrator cs4 it wont start not even by erasing the cache.db. any ideas? i had the cs4 working for several months but yesterday no more.
can you help me or any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
knowshananigans, October 17, 2009:

Has anyone had any luck using this on snow leopard??? Same instructions?
Tomato, October 18, 2009:

Thanks heaps Admin! I performed the instructions successfully (I think) on an Indesign CS4 (Trial), with Snow Leopard 10.6.1; just a query though: after flushing the cache, was there supposed to be a confirmation from Terminal, i.e. ‘You have successfully flushed your cache’? – because I wasn’t so sure when the next line was blank, but I assumed everything is okay, since Adobe performed auto updates with no issues. Also, Admin, if say, next week, I’d like to install the Photoshop, do I need to perform all the steps again, or the once is enough? – (Admin you are too smart!) – I have bookmarked this webpage in my ‘Secret’ folder in the bookmarks because I like it so much.
yaboo, October 18, 2009:

seems I constantly keep getting asked to enter a serial number. I am using a dual g5 with 10.5.8. I have the hosts file and little snitch to no avail.
Forsberg, October 18, 2009:

Yo guy! you ROCK!!! these posts are awesome!!!!! I just need one more thing… I need a crack for dreamweaver!!!!! the one posted earlier for photoshop worked like a charm!!!!! Any Help????

Thanks guys!!!!
Mewball, October 18, 2009:

Umm, Where can i get a mac keygen, the link to this page only had a “Block Adobe Activation” thing and 2 windows keygens. Help D:?
Gina, October 19, 2009:

Thanks for all your help, Gas Mask worked fine for me. WARNING if you upgrade to Snow Leopard, you MUST upgrade your Little Snitch as well or all your programs will be able to call home.

Gas Mask and deleting the Cache worked for me.

Any word on if you can safely update any of the programs?
admin, October 19, 2009:

@JoeR #274. You are probably using the trial version of the CS4 suite to install with. This expired earlier this year and will always yield the license expired message. Test this theory by changing the date on your mac (in System Preferences > Date and Time) to 2008. Changing the date back to 2009 after successfully launching the CS4 apps will mean the files you save will be saved with the correct date. Once you re-launch the CS4 apps however (or restart the mac) with the date set at 2009 you will get the same error message (of course).

The long-term solution is obvious.
admin, October 19, 2009:

@allen #271. You are probably in a non-admin account. Use the latest TextEdit method stated in #249 whilst in an admin account.
admin, October 19, 2009:

@test #269 – you are probably not in an admin account. use the latest textedit method for editing the hosts file.
admin, October 19, 2009:

@trent #270 – the reason you are getting a ‘command nt. found error’ in Terminal is because you are entering the command incorrectly. The command is:

sudo lookupd -flushcache

not

sudo lookupd-flushcache

for the record you create accounts in System Preferences > Accounts > unlock padlock (if locked) > click ‘+’ symbol to create new accounts.

apologies if i published the typo. will check now.
LJ, October 19, 2009:

I type the command into the terminal but it is telling me no such file or directory???
BigShotBob, October 20, 2009:

So what is the actual Serial number that is to be used? It seems like everybody is using different numbers, so which is correct?

Also, can the serial be used on Dreamweaver? If not, which is Dreamweavers?
Jess, October 21, 2009:

I’ve followed all the directions… no dice. When I delete the cache.db and open Photoshop back up, I’m prompted with the licensing agreement… when I hit “next,” I’m immediately confronted with a: “Licensing for this product has stopped working. This product has encountered a problem that requires that you restart your computer before it can be launched. If you continue to see this message after restarting your computer, please contact either your IT administrator—” blahblah message.

Any ideas? Siiigh. =/
Bobby B, October 21, 2009:

When I finished downloading the suite I installed the programs under the trial version first. So when I went to open one of the programs I was prompted with a message saying that the location has changed since the program was installed. Then I go to accept the terms of agreement and the app completely just closes down. I have tried it for numerous apps and they all do the same thing.

So I went ahead and completed the steps above thinking it may solve the problem but it just does that same thing and closes down after I click accept on the terms of agreement. I haven’t entered a serial # yet. Any clue as to what the problem may be?
trent, October 23, 2009:

thank you so much admin!

sorry i posted so many comments, i was obsessed because i didn’t take my OCD medicine for a week.
calvin, October 24, 2009:

guys i’m hoping someone will be able to help me out. i added the thing to the hosts file and i cleared my cache. i went back and i entered a new serial number but it still says serial expired every time. any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you very much!
mxdude, October 25, 2009:

Hi

I’m on the part where i have to add the bit below but when i log into root it doesn’t load peoperly and goes all crap why is this? I tried saving on my normal account and it wont save so i assume you have to do it in root account.

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
RDAM Eva, October 26, 2009:

My God, you are a genius! Thank you so much!
Chad, October 27, 2009:

hello all, thank you so much for all the info. It’s great that there’s a community out there that’s open to sharing. I’ve tried this method this morning, along with deleting the cache file. It works great, however I just used it too install Photoshop, when i install others like indesign or illustrator will i need to do something with the cache again or is there a specific order i need to do these steps for that. I also have come across something that said if adobe can’t call home after a while you will have to enter the serial again. Is there a work around on this if true. would making the cache file a read only help with this? thanks so much
Xilef, October 27, 2009:

#249…I LOVE YOU!
Chris Carter, October 28, 2009:

So great… thanks so much guys!
rebecca, October 28, 2009:

I am trying to use Photoshop CS4 on Snow Leopard 10.6.1 on MacBook Pro.

I have done everything. Deleted cache.db, copy/pasted the lines into Terminal (in hosts), deleted flexnet folder, used Little Snitch, and have tried so many serials on here. The only thing that will make it open is ALSO changing the date to 2008 but I don’t want to keep my date wrong (once you change it back, doesn’t work).

PLEASE could someone give me the solution ONCE AND FOR ALL?
styleairx, October 29, 2009:

It worked…I used the serial from Marco’s post and I followed the stuff from 249, I too got the permission denied thing at first…but then I read that the sudo command requires a non blank password…so I went and set a password and the sudo command worked! It all worked, awesome!!!!!
Marrom, October 29, 2009:

When I typed in the Terminal [ sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts ] and typed my password i received this informations

2009-10-29 15:58:18.666 TextEdit[1127:c0b] *** CFMessagePort: bootstrap_register(): failed 1100 (0×44c) ‘Permission denied’, port = 0×4703, name = ‘com.apple.TextEdit.ServiceProvider’
See /usr/include/servers/bootstrap_defs.h for the error codes.

So after I wrote in the Terminal [echo “127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com” >> /etc/hosts] and i received this information

-bash: /etc/hosts: Permission denied

What I did wrong? Please, help me!

Marrom
admin, October 30, 2009:

@Marrom – r u running in an admin account or a ’standard’ account? In order to invoke the sudo command you should be running in an OS X admin account. System Preferences > Accounts …
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ rebecca – This has been covered in the thread already. It is likely you have installed using the the trial CS4 dmg which expired earlier this year. You need a new installer.
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ mxdude – see #249
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ calvin – same prob as rebecca. u r prob using a trial cs4 dmg. u also need a new installer.
admin, October 30, 2009:

@Jess – ditto rebecca and calvin
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ Gina – it may be possible to update the apps by downloading updates direct from the adobe site
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ yaboo – need a new installer, you are prob using the expired trial cd4 dmg…
admin, October 30, 2009:

there is no confirmation. you should not expect one.

once the hosts file is edited – it is edited. steps do not need to be repeated for further installs (assuming they are in the same machine – obviously)
admin, October 30, 2009:

@ hector – re-install. or call adobe.
le, October 31, 2009:

hi, i followed #249 and i am using LEOPARD so i have to to flush my cache. Can you plz tell me how? if i understood right i had to write in terminal: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. Was that it?
Because nothing changed. the file cache keeps being creating again and again when i try to open an adope application and as i am asked for a new serial, i type one and its being rejected from adobe.
le, November 1, 2009:

all my applications seem to work without a problem, except adobe acrobat, that keeps asking me for a serial, and rejects whatever keygen i use. Any ideas to solve the problem..?
Thank you in advance..
Armand, November 1, 2009:

After following all of the instructions to ensure CS4 worked properly, which it did really well, my very new Bamboo Fun Wacom Tablet acted up. I can use the pen but the mouse either doesn’t respond or responds as soon as I touch the pad and opens everything it touches. It causes menus to vibrate etc. I am working on a Mac powerbook Pro with Leopard. Any ideas on how to resolve.
J Ramos, November 1, 2009:

I did purchase the CS4 Production Premium. However, I need to install it on 3 machines but it won’t let me. Any advice of what I can do? It is already installed on the 3rd, but it tells me I only have a few days remaining.
Erikvw, November 2, 2009:

I have a problem with saving hosts. A screen appears that says that I can not save hosts, anybody who can help me, thanks!
Erikvw, November 2, 2009:

It has already succeeded . By post 249, thanks!!
Anon, November 2, 2009:

Worked perfectly, thanks
varo, November 2, 2009:

For step 9- This should be easier to copy and paste:

127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
Kirsten, November 3, 2009:

Hi, I have just got the brand new imac with SNOW LEOPARD, I installed this and it worked 100% on my old mac with leopard. But now when I put “sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts” into terminal and type my password it comes up with a message saying that it couldn’t open the hosts file. The hosts file does not exist. Any ideas what I must do now?
Kirsten, November 3, 2009:

never mind I was being an idiot, left out the last s in the word hosts
andrez, November 3, 2009:

I have followed all the different steps several times and can not get it to work. please help me! pleaaaaase

I have tried both ADBESTAMCS4_LS1 and ADBESTAMCS4_LS4 entering serials and as trials

I have used diferent serial #’s. (like 5 times for each version LS1 and LS4)

I have enabled root and went into hosts file and modified… also trough terminal with root access… and I also used the automated script wich does the same thing.

and also open the file to make sure the entries are there.

and I also tried ping and gave me the correct ip address.

these are the steps I take:

before uninstalling the current version that did not work and says the license expired:

1) I deleted all the startup adobe files in system prefs > accounts
2)change my clock setting back to nov 2008
3) I uninstall CS4 master. (with CS4 cleanup script)
4) modify host file using

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

between the existing broadcasthost and ::1localhost entries.
Save the file and quit TextEdit.

5) flush cache using sudo
6) delete MacintoshHD/app… /cache.db and delete my trash
7) restart so I am sure there is no adobe programs are running
before installation I go over step 1-7 again to make sure everything is right.
9) go offline to make sure there is no way it shouldn’t work.

INSTALL

10) install using the latest version installer ADBESTAMCS4_LS4
11) use default install location choosing trial version

12) go through the same steps 1-7 before opening an app

13) try to open an application and it says:

Licensing for this product has stopped working.
This product has encountered a problem which requires that you restart your computer before it canbe launche ….
Error: 6
http://www.adobe.com/support/

I will use the serials that worked for everyone, specified for mac not windouz

1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432

please help me if I am doing something wrong
ADMIN please help, I also saw your explanation with EL CANARDO and it seems like ot worked for him.
Mudskipper, November 4, 2009:

I had little snitch installed but when I upgraded to snow leopard little snitch needed to be upgraded too. Without knowing I opened CS4 redendering the serial number useless. I’ve tried new keygens but all claim to be expired.

I’m pulling my hair out!

Can anyone help?
angelo, November 4, 2009:

Mac user – osx 10.6

Ok, after 2 days of labour it worked.
What’s the trick that helped me:

Before installation, i turned my clock back to 2008.
Did all the steps above
… Install the master collection
- remove the PCD cashe files.
- enter one of these 2 serials:
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432
- set clock back to normal and done.

I tried almost everything. But getting every licence error there is I think.
So the clock thing worked for me. Could also by the serials, but all the serials I tried light up green.
But these two are deffinately working for mac
andrez, November 4, 2009:

I just tried 2 more times
.
1) erasing everything that says adobe on it… (all macinHD/app… and applications/util) but did not change the clock this time
2) reverted the hosts file back to how it was and go offline
3) delete all the account/startup files
4) restart computer and open installer_LS4
5) open bootstrapper and install RI
6) choose trial option (…still offline)
7) after installation, modify hosts file with root access and also run the auto-script
delete cache.db file
9) flush using= sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (enter password)
10) open an adobe application an it says:
his product has encountered a problem which requires that you restart your computer before it canbe launche ….
Error: 6
http://www.adobe.com/support/
.
I dont even get a chance to use the trial or enter a serial …please help me
dany34, November 5, 2009:

Hi, is it possible that adobe has another server for control activation?
Because if I delet cache.db file, use SN which is not do “Licesing is expired” message, but when I close Photoshop, and reopen it, it checks that this SN isnt correct.

When I do this without Internet connection, it is ok, so there must be another server which checks actiovation

thanks
jorge, November 6, 2009:

Should I let the software make an update or not?
DeeMarie, November 8, 2009:

HEy…
ok so I keep getting the license has expired msg.. when I tried do what they said on here, it didn’t work, I didn’t even have the AdobePCD folder… so I couldn’t do it that way… and when I tried to do this decativation/ crack it didn’t work either.. I would greatly appreciate anyones help in the manner.. oh and I am using Snow Leopard 10.6.1 just fyi…

thanks everyone:)
AJ, November 8, 2009:

@BJP #210, Thanks, I have OSX 10.4.11 and after a while of searching and trying Illustrator I finally got it working with the help of BJP’s comment. At the beginning you can also choose to fill in your serial, denie this and install the trial version first, at the end of the installation you’ll be asked again to fill in the S/N and then it works.
michael, November 8, 2009:

Hey all, been reading all these posts, getting very confused about everything. Can anyone that has done this for 10.6.1 please post their exact steps please. As it will benefit people who are trying to run this.

Thanks,

Michael
BR, November 9, 2009:

everything was working fine for me.. and also involved blocking all kernal task connections at port 443. but then had someone complain they couldn’t connect to hotmail. Once I removed the block CS is giving me a “Excuse the interruption, but our records indicate the serial number you are using is invalid”. So my machine has found a new place to phone home. Anyone else figured this one out yet?
FENT, November 10, 2009:

hi all!
iv’e been trying to save the hosts file, but it keeps telling me that “This document can no longer be saved using its original Western (Mac OS Roman) encoding.” and i shoud try using UTF-8

Pleaaaaaase help me here! what should i do?
admin, November 10, 2009:

make sure TextEdit > Preferences > Open and Save > Plain Text File Encoding values are ‘Automatic’ for opening and saving files. Can’t see why saving as UTF-8 should be a prob.
FENT, November 10, 2009:

OOOHH!! this is awsome!!!! THANKS IT WORKED.

At first i was afraid of changing the encoding of the file but i did it…

my mac took long to restart and i was starting to get scared but it log in again with no problems.

Now, im new with little snitch, i denyed access to all adobe apps, now a “configd” app with the terminal icon wants to connect to internet, what should i do? allow or deny?

i dont know if this will affect my successfull instal…

—————-

I thank you a lot for this hint and this adobe package.
Charles, November 10, 2009:

YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY
YAY’
YAY
YAY
I F***KINGGGGGG DID IT!!!
WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO
YEAH!!!
THANKS TO POST #97!!!!
U ROCK MAN!!
<3333333 UU XDD
wheatshoes, November 10, 2009:

#249 method worked on Snow Leopard with a serial from #154. Brilliant!!!!
ap, November 11, 2009:

just got the new mac.. installed followed all the steps.. double checked in my host text edit, i can use the programs if i change the date, but i can not seem to stop it communicating with adobe with all the changes.
anything i might be doing wrong? help please..
thanks a lot in advance
.ap
steven, November 11, 2009:

Hey,
Great thread here. Just wanted to post my solution in case it’s helpful to anyone. I’m on Snow Leopard. I was getting the error 150:30 that said licensing for this product has stopped working. I’d tried numerous things and still the error. Basically what I did was delete /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher folder. There’s a folder by the same name at /Library/Application Support. Yeah, you don’t want to delete that one. Delete the one under preferences. Next run the LicenseRecovery utility provided by Adobe. That solved it for me. Hope it helps.
steven, November 11, 2009:

Sorry, that was a bit unclear. Once I got rid of the error then I was able to follow the above instructions: edit the hosts file after starting in trial, and then putting down the licence. So far so good.
Woodawn, November 11, 2009:

Uh-oh! I didn’t read the directions carefully and I copied the info into the bottom of the hosts file instead of between the appropriate 2 lines. I am unable to edit that file directly b/c it says I do not have sufficient permission to edit. I changed it to a read/write for my user (admin) and I still can’t get it to save. I tried repeating the terminal steps but it doesn’t open that file like it did the first time (os 10.5.7).
Megan, November 11, 2009:

I am not a tech person. I followed the text instructions (this site confused me a bit) and I think I got it to work. I did download Snitch and then followed the instruction to put the text in the host as well. It worked. Thanks so much!
Martin A, November 13, 2009:

I came across this post and read many of the comments. I’ve already installed PS CS4 without issues, so didn’t need it. I mostly use CS3 Master Collection and see no need to upgrade, but decided to try PS CS4 anyway.
1. I already had Little Snitch on my system blocking Adobe among other things. It’s a great little firewall.
2. I downloaded the trial from Adobe’s site. Also best way to make sure it is clean.
3. I got the [k]rack for PS4 from here: http://rapid.org/board/showthread.php?t=146476
4. Although I probably should just have run it as a trial, I also entered a valid serial obtained from the latest iSerial Reader, obtained here: http://rapid.org/board/showthread.php?t=32793

It works for me at least.
Mark, November 14, 2009:

No luck with flushing cache. Still getting an expired serial when I try to open. Running 10.6.1. Suggestions?
ecooo, November 14, 2009:

Hi, where to get the trial version?

i try:
regsiter at adobe and choose lightroom
where you could coose language and version for download i paste:
http://trials.adobe.com/Applications/MastCol/CS4/Mac/ADBESTAMCS4_LS4.dmg

is this working? is it still necessary to change the date for installation or the whole time?
jonathan medina, November 14, 2009:

okay im trying all of this but every time it asks me for the password it keeps on denying my password any help??
MH, November 15, 2009:

I purchased Adobe CS4 and installed it on two computers — a Mac Pro, and a MacBook. It’s been a while since I’ve ran any of the Adobe applications, but when I recently launched Photoshop, I got the “Excuse the interruption…” dialog.

There is a remote possibility that I have upgraded my MacBook to a different model than the one I activated CS4 on (and just can’t remember it). The only recent change I can recall is moving from a platter-disk to an SSD (I wonder if that’s the problem?)

Anyway, bottom line — I’m a legit CS4 owner, and can run the software I’ve f*cking paid a lot of money for.

I read everything I could on the Adobe site, and there’s no information for people in my situation. I was hoping, for example, to simply be able to “reset” all activated computers, and start over (as you can, once per year, with iTunes sharing.)

So, I’ve resorted to following the instructions in this post, but have run into some problems:

1. I purchased LittleSnitch, and blocked Photoshop from making any connections.

2. I deleted the cache.db file.

3. Launched Photoshop and entered my legitimate serial number.

Unfortunately, I *still* get the “Excuse the interruption…” warning. It must be that the Adobe installation has recorded in some other file that my legitimate serial number has been found to be activated on machine other than *this* machine.

Would anyone have any idea what the problem is in this particular case?

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide.
Clint, November 15, 2009:

I’ve been following the instructions and so far have not had any success.

I open up Terminal and paste:
sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

Then, after entering my password I paste the following in between …broadcasthost & ::1 localhost:

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

Then I perform the step:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

And I still get the notice that I need to activate the software.

I’m running Snow Leopard OS x 10.6. I installed CS3 so I’m not sure if that’s the reason why I’ve had no luck as I only have about 3 days left before my time to activate expires.

Should I remove CS3 and download CS4?
Daniel, November 17, 2009:

Hi I have a legally purchased PS SC4 but have done this using little snitch for Illustrator. Should I block adobe air and Adobe updater (perhaps effecting future updates of legally purchased PG CS4) would Updater or AIR contact the servers to cancel the serial?
Simon, November 17, 2009:

The host text file cannot be overwrite and save.
Daniel, November 20, 2009:

Just use little snitch too easy!
AJS, November 22, 2009:

The process was successful for me when installing InDesign.

If I were to download a CS4 trail of Photoshop, would I have to go through the same procedure again, or do I just enter the same serial number and see if it works.BTW, should I uninstall old copies of photoshop etc?

Anyone help??
Trebor, November 23, 2009:

Thanks, worked flawlessly.
Tried lots of hacks, this one worked.
silveragony, November 23, 2009:

Amazing!. IT WORKED!!!!! Downloaded trial verison of PS CS4 Extended. I completely removed every file or Preference that had to do with Adobe. Ran the /etc/hosts, flushed the DNS with sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5) Restarted, didn’t use any of the provided s/n and disconnected my internet. started it up a few times, then reconnected the internet, allowed little snitch to do its business with blocking and PRESTO! It works. Thanks to every post… all 351!!!
KC, November 23, 2009:

the text edit wont save for me when i change it
any ideas?
João, November 23, 2009:

I must really be a noob!

I have installed this stuff for several times and could not perform a 100% good activation. My main problem is to activate the Acrobat Pro that comes along with CS4.

I did everything as you say, admin, however i choose the old advice in which I had to log in as root (I cannot access the host file using the terminal since nothing happens after I input my password – which is blank), I managed to make the changes on the host file and after logging in as admin I perform the flushcache on terminal (however I don’t know if I am doing it right since nothing happens after I input my password – which is blank).
So after all this I run for the first time a CS4 app, like PS, and i can activate it quite easily. I close the app and run it again I don’t get any activation notice, so I assume everything is OK. However, when I run ACROBAT PRO for the first time, I get the activation log once again and I cannot activate it with any of my serials, even the same as I used for PS won’t work.

Please help me out since I really use ACROBAT a lot.
Arthur, November 24, 2009:

@post#23: Thanks, solved my problem!

On Leopard I used a similar walktrough, but did not flush and I pasted the list on the very end of the TextEdit file. Worked great for a long time, even when I upgraded to Snow Leopard with Time Machine. But with my recent clean install I was still getting the licensing error. Anyway, post#23 solved it!
Gav, November 24, 2009:

Fantastic Blog – thanks so much!
Alexalexalexalexalexalexalex, November 24, 2009:

YAY! WORKED!
im on a macbook pro mac os x 10.6
first, the Directory Utility is in SYSTEM/LIBRARY/CORESERVICES/DIRECTORY UTILITY
then you just follow instructions in the post until you have to open terminal. Type in
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
it works for 10.6
then enter the serial No from comment No23:
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
and it works!

i would love to do that for indesign. I cant find it on the PirateBay. What can I do? Can I download somewhere a trial version or something?
Please help!

Thanks!
Alexalexalexalexalexalexalex
Ryan.Stryker.Heartfield, November 26, 2009:

THANK YOU ADMIN! and Thank You Commenters! You guys got my MBP 13 Snow ‘hooked-up’! Hello world, here I come!
danire, November 27, 2009:

Hi admin
Thanks for the great instructions! It all worked perfectly. Still I have some issues/questions:
- indesign still tries to connect to adobe (photo and illu don’t), I performed ping and it came back, such as explained by other posts above. Does this mean, that it is safe to work with the program? Or do you recommend to rely on Little Snitch’s blocking to be on the safe side?
- in the host file, after all those lines, is it necessary to remove these following lines? They repeat 5 times.
# Block Adobe Activation
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
……
Thanks a million for your support!
danire, November 27, 2009:

ah one more question: if not using snitch, how can the adobe updater be turned off? shall I add swupmf.adobe.com (or swupmf.adobe.com.edgesuite.net?) to the host file?
Thank you for helping
Fabio, November 27, 2009:

Doesn’t work, also after uninstalling and re-installing.
I have followed everything and everything seemed to be ok.
“No valid license found” (in Italian) and, then, application quits itself.
Also after trying to remove cahe.db and re-beginning by inserting another SN (no internet connection). What shall I do? Am I the only one with this problem?
Thank You in advance!
Fabio | Rome
Fabio, November 27, 2009:

Are the steps mentioned working still in Snow Leopard?…
madcadet, November 27, 2009:

I, too, have a Middle East version. I cannot find a working serial number. Will the adobe server prevent you from getting a green checkmark instead of the red x when you input the serial number? None of the SNs that the keygen gives me have worked. I did the host file modification and cache flush as instructed. Do I need to remove the program and start over?

Does anyone have a good serial for the ME version?
Benji, November 28, 2009:

Hi all !!!

I have tried so many different ways as explained here but still DON’T WORK ! :-X

Something is very amazing. I trash the cache.db file and the restart (little snitch running, host file modified, and cache flushed), but after the reboot the CACHE.DB FILE APPEARS AGAIN LIKE A GHOST in /Adobe PCD/cache/

Any idea ?

Thanks for everything
Tyrel, November 28, 2009:

Any advice on this for OSX 10.6.2 Please please please!
rox, November 29, 2009:

Guys… I have a problem, I followed this guide step by step when I installing the Adobe Photoshop CS4 and it works.
Then the next day I trying to install the Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, all the serial number I enter has been rejected. Why? It because I blocked the Adobe CS4 connect to the activation server or maybe all the serial number I’ve enter is not for Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Mac OS X version?
Please HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
andrea, November 29, 2009:

Thanks alot from italy post97!
xmas71, November 29, 2009:

Thank you so much guys! Its all working! LUV YA!!!!!
Tiaggy, November 30, 2009:

If you followed the instructions in the top of this page and still getting the “license for this product has expired” message:

1. uninstall the suite.

2. open the terminal and type:

sudo rm /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/pcd.db
sudo rm /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db

4. reinstall the master collection.

Enjoy
VIVEK, November 30, 2009:

Hi!

I just wanted to ask this:

In the instructions above you have asked to type the following in textedit file:

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

These are 15 instructions.

However, in the very next screenshot, the first line is missing from the instructions, its only 14. Which one is correct?
alex, December 1, 2009:

THANK U A LOT FOR THESE TIPS!!!
I was stuck with my CS4 stopped
u r marvellous!!!
tonia, December 1, 2009:

i have installed the program first not using “trial” version and when i tried to open it it was given me that the lisence was expired so i started searching and i founded these instructions hear i flowed the exactly but when i tried to open adobe i gives me the same massage. iam running snow leopard on my mac
Cyko, December 1, 2009:

THANX MARCOS! i just had a little problem getting there, but it worked perfectly!
Which means u don’t have to download anything illegal, just download the trial version from adobe.com!
FOLKS! IF U ARE HAVING PROBLEM STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING! LOOK AT THIS!
okay, for those of you who can’t find the cache.db or choose the trial version when you install,
get an app called CLEAN APP! it doesn’t matter if it’s a trial version, but i’ll post the serial
CAPP-8883-8879-8888-8883
ERASE THE CS4 USING CLEAN APP -> THEN REINSTALL! the cleanapp app will erase anything created by the cs4, so when you install it again, you can actually put serial or choose serial mode when you install it, just like your first time!
Cyko, December 1, 2009:

HERE ARE SOME SN!
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432
1325-0959-4455-7483-2536-2567
1325-0590-1637-5329-2631-0978
1325-0051-1253-2953-2623-3607
smei, December 2, 2009:

big thanks to all the step-by-step guidance, and not forgetting marcos for the serial.
I am another macbook pro mac os x 10.6 and it all work well for me.
THANKS!
Maren, December 2, 2009:

Any solution for problem in post #327?

I have the exact problem, anyway i could erase the cache. and enter the same serial, but i cant open PS and AI at the same time… so its not a good solution….
Anonymous, December 3, 2009:

Can hosts file be returned to original state later? Or will “call home” subsequently succeed and reset product to unregistered?
bobcat, December 3, 2009:

Awesome. Thank you very much.
CS4U, December 3, 2009:

It appears that if I connect to a VPN and then start an Adobe CS4 application then Adobe can call home. Wondering if anyone else has found this, and if I can do anything to prevent it, or whether I just need to ensure I don’t connect to a VPN when starting Adobe CS4 programs?
julie, December 4, 2009:

ok im at step 16. typed in:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
askig me for my passsword
and i cant enter it. it wont let me type it. any help on that tx.
jay, December 5, 2009:

Hi, I just tried it and well… i think it worked! you’re a genius. Thanks so much for yourr help. I did however have some issues with the “sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)” deal but i think it went through.
anyways thanks again!
Meg, December 7, 2009:

Thank u so much! Comment #61 made it work!
maximus, December 7, 2009:

worked for me! alllll the programs are working, except dreamweaver, and i suspect it is because of a previous install with the stand alone DW installer, going to have to uninstall it and completely remove any trace of it, than re install again than it should (in theory) work after reinstalling with the master collection installer using the same serial..
DT, December 7, 2009:

I got rid of the cache.db, then did the terminal actions (comment 249) and still got the licence expired message. I’m on a macbook pro osx 10.6.2. Really desperate, can you help???
DT, December 7, 2009:

I had the trial version of Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop. I then got the Master Collection after the trials expired and I’ve tried all above but still get the licence expired message. Tried opening premiere without being conected to the internet but got same result. What do I do???
desperate, December 7, 2009:

I’m experiencing the same problem as some of the people commented, and no-one seems to have answered:
i haven’t been able to make CS4 work so i wanted to finish some stuff up on my CS3 series, but now those programmes want a code too, even though they worked perfectly this morning and had a legal license!!! please tell me what i have to undo in order to make them work again. Thanks so much….
BLASSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTT, December 7, 2009:

Can anyone please give me a serial number for indesign, i cannot find one!!!!!!!
Arkeelaus Sherman, December 8, 2009:

Hi Everyone! I have followed the steps in 249 and i am still getting the bouncing icons. I can install ok, but none of the programs will load. I have 2 macs one macbook pro w. tiger and one macbook with leopard and this is the problem I am having on both!! Someone please help me!! This is a cry for help!!!
Frustrated, December 9, 2009:

Im not sure what the problem is~ I have done everything and I am getting the same results. The bouncing icons.. can someone please take the time to help me! this is urgent..
Ruby, December 10, 2009:

Please ignore my previous post. I managed to get Little Snitch to work.
Thank you again to all you kind and generous people who share their knowledge.
James, December 13, 2009:

Install CS4 master collection.
Turn off your airport or unplug your Ethernet cable.
Load say Adobe Dreamweaver.
Enter a serial number from one of the posts above.
Then you just follow post 249. Its very easy.
Replug or start your airport and you can then start working in CS4 no issues.
Stephen, December 14, 2009:

I have done all the above and now have error: 3
LICENSING FOR THIS PRODUCT HAS STOPPED WORKING. Please help. Does anyone know what to do?
Lee, December 14, 2009:

Should I do the command terminal thing before or after installation?
oh la la, December 14, 2009:

i can’t run it properly, i have followed your instruction, even uninstall and re-installing doesn’t solve the problem (cs4 master)

it always show “license is expired”

anyone can help?
JFront, December 15, 2009:

Hi here is my issue:
Downloaded a trial version of Photoshop CS4
Turned off my internet connection
Got a working serial from the internet 6 days before my trial expired. It worked.
I don’t get a “enter serial number” window anymore when I launch photoshop
However, I found out that as soon as I reconnect to the internet and launch the application. it will try to connect to adobe to verify SN.
So, I’ve tried the steps in entry 249 and everything goes well until I try to save the text file at which point I get the following message: “This document can no longer be saved using its original Western (Mac OS Roman) encoding.”
Since I don’t know what are the consequences of changing the encoding , I have not changed it.

I am running Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Snow leopard)

what should I do, I’d like to re connect to the net, and since the SN is working I’d rather not uninstall

HELP!!!!
james, December 16, 2009:

hi guys, ive been at it for days so you can imagine how unghappy i am right now, im getting over this.

dont all the terminal stuff, serials are working fine.

i still have little snitch running and planned to for a week or so just to make sure.

problem is, snitch is still detecting illustrator connecting to http://www.wip3.adobe.com

this is what my text edit file looks like after the terminal thing…

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

snitch is still trying to stop the wip3.adobe.com!!!!!!

is my script not working?

please guys and girls, make my christmas!
Benji, December 17, 2009:

FINALLY WORKS !!!

For those like me have troubles with the activation of the CS 4 (after all of the tips in this page) :

1. Desinstall the CS with the adobe cs 4 desinstaller
2. Remove manually all the “called something Adobe” files in :

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/
/Library/Filesystems/
/Library/LaunchAgents/
/Library/LaunchDaemons/
/Library/PreferencePanes/
/Library/Logs/
/Library/Preferences/
/Library/ScriptingAdditions/

/Users/Shared/Adobe/

/Users/…/Library/Application Support/Adobe/
/Users/…/Library/Preferences/
/Users/…/Library/Receipts/

3. Follow the steps commented on post 249
4. Restart

5. Launch Little Snitch

6. Install the CS4 with this SN :

1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432

7. TURN OFF AIRPORT OR INTERNET CONNECTION

8. Launch Dreamweaver

9. Quit Dreamweaver

10. TURN ON INTERNET CONNECTION

11. Quit Little Snitch

11. ENJOY…
Mr Mink, December 18, 2009:

Hey Admin! Can you or someone write a method that works for 10.6.2 (snow leopard)? I think after what i read many people will be thank full if u could write down a full method/solution for snow leopard incl. me .
I don’t understand how to do by the 10 different ways i read, sorry…

A n00b called Mink
TAB, December 20, 2009:

So far so good! Thanks guys!!! just use the applications mentioned, follow the steps and everything should be good…
Playa, December 20, 2009:

I have done it all and phoroshop works no problem. When I Install after effect (or any other apps), it does not pick up the installed serial number. it shows the trial info. Entering the serial again fails as well?

I originally did it all on 10.4 – all worked. I up graded to snow leopard, did a clean install. and now stuck..
Step 97 worked before, now not. any advice?
Playa, December 21, 2009:

Is little snitch now essential? it is not clear that this is 100% required?
Kimi, December 21, 2009:

Comment #23 saved the day!

THANKS!!!
402, December 23, 2009:

Many thanks, it finally works!!!!

For those like me have troubles with the activation of the CS 4 (after all of the tips in this page) :

1. Installed CS4 Master Collection for mac as a trial.
3. Follow the steps commented on post 249
4. Delete cache.db file
5. Restart
6. TURN OFF AIRPORT OR INTERNET CONNECTION
7. Launch Photoshop and activate with the SN :
1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432

8. Quit Photoshop
10. TURN ON INTERNET CONNECTION
11. Run Photoshop again. this time it picks up some updates, which I did not install.
11. ENJOY…

PS. the only thing. Adobe Acrobat Pro, that is a part of the CS4 wanted another serial. so i had to uninstall it and use my previous version 8.

once again, many thanks
nick, December 24, 2009:

Totally worked, gracias!!!
Ken, December 27, 2009:

I followed all the steps here, and then used a program called Gas Mask – http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/development_tools/gasmask.html to edit my host file. All you have to do is add these after the f8 in Gas Mask and click save:
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

After you’ve done this, open up any CS4 application, type in a new SN and everything should be fine!
Playa, December 27, 2009:

Snow Leopard success!

OK, the issue I had is the serial numbers supplied in #249 are not for Mac. For some reason they allow photoshop to work but nothing else.

To fix I did all of #249 but used serials from #23
Hi, December 29, 2009:

why can’t I save the modified hosts?
rhondahz, December 29, 2009:

Should I do the command terminal thing before or after installation?

Is the serials from #23 for the master collection?
joeyinc, December 29, 2009:

Thank you so much, I used this site abt 6 months ago and like an idiot never saved it, so when I upgraded to snow leopard after formatting my hd it was really great to see this blog still around and as useful as before, thanks again
Jacky, December 30, 2009:

Thanks for the information.
How can I test if I did everything correct before connecting my imac to internet?

Is there a way to test it?
Hi, December 30, 2009:

why is it not possible to save the hosts file here?
DrDr, December 30, 2009:

#249 works great on Snow Leopard, MacBook Pro. Follow the instructions one by one and enter a serial you found, that’s all!
ideep13, January 1, 2010:

comment 249 and 23 worked for me.. thank you guys.
love from Slovenia
Angela, January 2, 2010:

I need help!!! I am completely new to Mac as of about 3 days ago…. I don’t understand most of this terminology and the whereabouts of most of the files….. I was about to do the TextEdit version but I don’t have a Directory Utility in the named folder, so thought I’d do the Comment 249 version – however I don’t know what Terminal is!

Please help me….
Angela, January 2, 2010:

Since leaving this post I figured it out…..

I typed Terminal in Spotlight and found it. I then followed everything but wasn’t able to clear the cache. Anyway, I then rebooted my machine and used the first serial on Comment 23.

THANKS SO MUCH to everyone that has posted on this site.
MJ, January 3, 2010:

I seem to have trouble downloading any new adobe software since editting the host files. My original adobe softwares crashed so i downloaded new ones and now once i install them it comes up saying it is only a plug-in and if i try and open it (adobe flash for example), it says there is no default application specified to open the document ‘flash player.plugin’. I dont really know what this means and how to get around it to use the software i need. any help would be appreciated
Gaby, January 4, 2010:

I did everything that it says here for me to do and I’ve had no problems with any of my CS4 programs except for Adobe Acrobat Pro. Everything else (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc.) work fine from the very moment I did this, and yet Acrobat keeps asking me for a serial number or a 30 day trial. Is there something in specific that I need to do in order to get Acrobat to work along with the rest of the suite?
SIAO, January 9, 2010:

hello everybody wuuuaahhhhh i’m about to commit suicide this is my first time to hack mac i am a pc (IBM) user before… okie calm down ehem’ i try using all the procedure that was listed here maybe the problem is my understanding but please help me i am using mac os x 10.6.2
now first install the cs4 then asing for the serial i input a serial then it accept then the dialog box appear ” important adobe license activitaion blah blah ” then expired license then i delete the cache.db and it reallt works now i try also the root user thing i put the 127.0.0.1 blah blah. entries in the hosts then when i’m trying to flushcache error happen there is a message ” not found ” something like that how can i overcome all of this (T_T) huhuhuhuhuhu by the way there is also cs3 install in my mac do i have to un install it or not? before it was full operational after i install cs4 it became also a trial huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu
djeev1, January 9, 2010:

First of all thank you for all help given in these 3 pages:
http://machacks.tv/2009/01/28/stop-adobe-cs4-calling-home-to-mother-ship-in-os-x/
http://machacks.tv/2009/01/26/defeating-the-adobe-cs4-license-expired-dialog-in-os-x/

How did I proced do to install adobe CS 4 master pack

SETP 0
I’ve disconnected my internet connection

STEP 1 (could be avoid and replaced directly by STEP 3)
I’ve first installed the product with a serial number generated by the crack given in X-FORCE folder, but after installation i got the message”license has expired”

STEP 2 (could be avoid and replaced directly by STEP 3)
I’ve deleted the file in:
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
Please note that after deleting this file , when you’ll open an CS4 application you will be prompt for a new serial number. Go to step 3 to find the correct serials.

STEP 3
I’ve used the serial numbers given in post #23 (1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287) for all CS4 applications except acrobat pro (where i’ve used after installation, the serial number given in post #241: 1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353)

STEP 4
then i’ve followed post #249, where it says:

——————————————————————————————————————–
You can use terminal to give TextEdit root access to the hosts file. Open a terminal window and enter the following:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

Hit return and enter your admin password when prompted and again hit return.
Your Hosts file should automatically open in TextEdit.
Add the following to the open Hosts file:

127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

The entries should ideally be made between the existing broadcasthost and ::1localhost entries.
Save the file and quit TextEdit.
Now, If using Leopard, you should use Terminal again to flush your cache:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

———————————————————————————————————————-

This worked for me for all application. Hope this will not change for any reason.

As I’ve written previously, I think that we could avoid STEP 1 & 2. I didn’t try it but I guess in order to avoid these 2 steps, I should first edit the Hosts file as given in STEP 4 and then install the product as in STEP 3. If someone can confirm, this could help future users.

Good luck and enjoy and again thank you for this forum and all your helps.
djeev1, January 10, 2010:

These 2 videos on youtube could also help you:

Modify Hosts Files On Mac OS X:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7-Uov3JY98&feature=player_embedded

Block Adobe activation on Mac OS X:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FATcErUDz8g&NR=1

Enjoy
Geoff, January 11, 2010:

Hi Guys I wonder if anyone can help?

Have followed the instructions exactly (I think). My hosts file looks like this:

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
::1 localhost

I cleared the cache (I think I did it right) with the sudo lookupd command (I’m running 10.4.11) and have tried rebooting but every serial number I try is rejected. Is there something obvious I am doing wrong?

Many thanks
Geoff, January 11, 2010:

Have solved the problem – I hadn’t realized that I had to install as a trial and then input the serial number it was hanging on the initial install. All seems to be working now with the serial posted on line 23 Marcos. Good work all!
don, January 13, 2010:

question do i have to block incoming from adobe with little snitch and how can i get updates .
jiggywiggy, January 15, 2010:

I’ve tried every possible way. Delete the cache.db file. Installed as a trial. Inserted all 127.0.0.1 lines between the broadcasthost/localhost ones. Rebooted. And still I get this pop up:
excuse the interruptions, but
our records indicate the serial number used to set up this software is invalid
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
this serial number will no longer permit you to use this product

Why won’t it work? I’m using a mac 10.4.11 intel mac
jiggywiggy, January 15, 2010:

Does it matter whether my internet connection is using a proxy? I’ve tried including the 127.0.0.1 list in the ‘bypass proxy settings for these hosts & domains’ field, but that didn’t work either. I was still getting the popup.
jiggywiggy, January 15, 2010:

Found it out already: if you’re behind a proxy (like at school or work) then do all the stuff shown here. Besides al that, also add the complete 127.0.0.1 list to the ‘bypass proxy settings for these hosts & domains’ field at the proxy preferences. Upon reboot this etc/hosts trick will work just like it would if you weren’t using a proxy to access the internet. Don’t forget to reboot!
Grundit, January 16, 2010:

Further to my last, when I paste the instruction from 249 I get an error message, the document “hosts” could not be opened because the files doesn’t exist.
infrno, January 16, 2010:

Ok so if you want to know how to do this correctly, follow these steps.

1. Delete cache.db file if it exists – then restart
2. sudo dscacheutil -flushcache – then restart
3. enter a serial from comment 23
4. done
infrno, January 16, 2010:

sorry forgot to add you have to add in the entries to the local host before doing step 1.
Silver, January 16, 2010:

Hi Everybody, great forum, I am running snow leopard 6.2 on a macbook pro, I have done eveything but when I want to flush my cache I got a message, sudo: /etc/sudoers is mode 0664, should be 0440, segmentation default, could you please help me with this? Thanks.
Silver, January 16, 2010:

it says segmentation fault not default…
thank you!!!, January 16, 2010:

IT WORKED!

I am so thankful I stumbled upon this site. I had been searching everywhere for a workaround or cd key for Dreamweaver CS4. All I could find was a key for the beta, which had expired.

Quickly, I’ll sum up what I did (I’m sure this is all already on here, but in case someone just stumbles upon my post):

- I couldn’t get past the “license has expired” notice, so I followed solution #2 on http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/494/cpsid_49485.html

- before reinstalling, I followed the instructions on #249

- just to be safe, I turned off my Airport

- then I installed, using the serial number 1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287

- tested it, and it WORKED! Turned Airport back on and it still worked!

Thank you everyone SO MUCH. Can’t tell you how much this helps me
Aleman, January 18, 2010:

Thanks Guys for publishing the list of servers, Strange lowly Windows 7 User here, but you instructions worked fine . . . If you know where to find your Win7 hosts file and know how to edit it as an admin user
Ge-off, January 18, 2010:

So here’s my dilema:
The serial for photoshop worked like a charm and is still working after blocking the ping back. SO thank you sooo much!

My problem is now I am trying to get the other software in the suite. I want Illustrator and Indesign. Can someone please give me the serial key for these two on mac. I’ve tried all the serials in this post and another. None of them are valid anymore. Any help would be appreicated!
Wayward Number, January 18, 2010:

after following all the steps. upon opening any of the apps i get a “licensing for this product has expired” any on have any ideas?
audrey, January 19, 2010:

works great.
anyone have the same thing to block apple software? I want to access final-cut pro.
thanks
Griffin, January 20, 2010:

Um, never mind. Got it worked out. Sorry for the crash log splatter.
eric, January 20, 2010:

I’ve used this method for over a year on my ‘09 MBP 10.5x but I just bought a new iMac running 10.6 and when I set up my iMac from my old Time Machine backup, all Adobe products stop working. Any thoughts? Could it be the OS upgrade? I keep getting error: 150:30 (licensing has expired). Help Please
Fem, January 21, 2010:

I think I played around with this too much. I got what Grundit (429) got – an error message saying that the document ‘hosts’ doesn’t exist.
Help D:
ZaraThustra, January 24, 2010:

I just followed #249 + flushed the cache and deleted library/application support/adobe/adobe PCD/cache/cache.db then restarted my comp, entered a serial from #23 and it worked. Thank you so much!!
ZaraThustra, January 24, 2010:

(btw, when I did this, I had the trial version installed. the trial period was over, but I never opened it after the 30 day period. I don’t know if that changes anything)
kofole, January 26, 2010:

@249 and @421
Thank you very much! Working! 100%
I’m using a mac 10.5.6 Mac G5 2,3. Master Collection CS4. I’ve used the serial numbers given in post #23 (1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287) for all CS4 applications and for Acrobat. /All the applications work the same number, another number is not needed./
Gecko, January 27, 2010:

Hi there! After mutiple hours of frustration, it finally worked thanks to Marco and Comment #23. I’m really happy it works! (for now, lets cross fingers) I also blocked those apps from connecting to Internet from my firewall settings. Hope this fix the issue! I was almost giving up… thanks!
susy, January 27, 2010:

thanks alot! it works! saves me the pain of reentering my registration code
Dorian, January 27, 2010:

After countless hours of installing, uninstalling and re-installing, looking for and deleting adobe files and reading threads after threads I was finally able to install CS4 as a trial after my first trial had expired. Or so I thought. The option to “use this product on a trial basis” is there, but when click next i get this: “a problem was encountered while trying to load the trial period for adobe creative suite 4 master collection”

Any ideas?
I’ve tried the editing hosts and using little snitch, but nothing seems to be working. I’m getting desperate here since I need PS, Illustrator and InDesign for school.
Claire, January 28, 2010:

I did EVERYTHING and at the very end with the Terminal

I type in: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

and I get this response. What am I doing wrong?

Last login: Fri Jan 29 00:48:39 on ttys000
claire-nowells-macbook:~ clairenowell$ sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘
claire-nowells-macbook:~ clairenowell$ sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘
claire-nowells-macbook:~ clairenowell$
JD, January 29, 2010:

fyi if you are doing this at home behind a router it is easiest to block the phone home through your router block url and ip lists./
vuko75, January 29, 2010:

on leo the host file is here:
/private/etc/hosts
AceHack, January 29, 2010:

This worked perfectly!!!! At first after making the host changes I was still getting the expired message. So what I did was flushed the cache and then ran the trial program. After I ran the trial program I entered one of the codes in comment 23. It worked well. thanks!
tom, January 29, 2010:

hey all thanka for help this is the way how I have fix it

1 – open up the terminal.
2 – type “sudo -s” (without quotes)
3 – enter your password and press enter
4 – now you should see something like this: bash-3.2#
5 – type “nano /etc/hosts” (without quotes)
6 -Copy/Paste the following entries to the hosts file, making sure all the copied entries are pasted in between the ebtries 255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
and ::1 localhost (see pic):

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

7-Save the changes.
8-Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5/10.6)
sudo lookupd flushcache (10.4)

9-Enter your admin password when prompted.

10-Relaunch Adobe apps. Enter your serial. Done
seema goel, January 31, 2010:

Hi, When I do the final step in the terminal window:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

I get a “bash syntax error near unexpected token ‘(‘ ”
and am not not prompted for my admin password. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.
seema goel, January 31, 2010:

Don’t worry. It worked! Thanks for all your efforts!
raychopp, January 31, 2010:

None of these methods work in Snow Leopard 10.6.2 without Little Snitch, which is a constant pain.
Q, January 31, 2010:

exact same issue as marrom #303
I cannot get permission and i have changed the admin password 3 times and restarted
so frustrating, please help
Q, January 31, 2010:

…hmmm, seemed to work ok using the long method
thanks
hannah, February 1, 2010:

Question: When I open trial version of CS4 to “deactivate”it I cannot figure out out to activate the the deactivate button. Do I need to do this every time to get the correct keygen? Thanks
peterjuan, February 1, 2010:

“The document “hosts” could not be opened. It does not exist.” I get the same message as grundit following same
instruction. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this issue? trial expires in 29 days…thanks.
Steve, February 1, 2010:

Ive done everything till the “TERMINAL” part. I don’t appear to have anything named terminal in 10.6….. Its not in my Utilities that’s for sure..
Steve, February 2, 2010:

I have 10.6 Snow Leopard and have carried out everything till you say OPEN the TERMINAL. Have been in the Utility folder and I don’t appear to have anything named TERMINAL…??
Ken, February 2, 2010:

Should I accept updates from Adobe for CS4 after installing this workaround?
alex_stupid, February 3, 2010:

It’s works, with my MacBook pro with OSX 10.6, with post #359. Many thanks
koots55, February 3, 2010:

So I have read all the other comments concerning cs3 and cs4. I use this method for cs4 on my computer. Works great. But a friend of mine needs cs3 because his computer will not handle cs4. Does this method work for cs3 as well?
Derek, February 4, 2010:

OK I followed these directions about 10 times easily and this is still not working. i have blocked everything removed my laptop from the internet etc. and I still get the License error. Any help would be great.
JoJO, February 4, 2010:

Dreamweaver 1192-0099-6817-0618-7538-0626
Mels, February 5, 2010:

Thank you so much for the steps! The instructions I got with the torrent were way too confusing and this was super clear. We’ll see if it worked in a couple months when Adobe CS4 doesn’t call home – hopefully…

Good luck all!
Christine, February 6, 2010:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!
Monkey, February 7, 2010:

I was having a lot of troubles and the key is in the comment 23, im using snow leopard, excellent post!!!
jackalie, February 8, 2010:

Small question: where do I have to enter the “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache”? Is that directly in the grey cursorbox when you open terminal? Or do I first have to enter?
And after the insertline “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache”, do you have to put an enter afterwards or just leave or quit the terminal? Can someone help me please, I’m a little bit afraid of terminal and won’t do bad things. I’m really stressed for two almost two weeks, and read two whole nights of all 429 items, so I won’t mess it up with the last step…. I use snow Leopard 10.6.2
Question 2. When I insert my installation disc, may I use the serial key, or is it better to do the trial and then reinstall?
Question 3. I took the step in the texeditfile (change the host) but I also run Little snitch at the same time. No problem? Thanks in advance
daluli, February 10, 2010:

Hi admin, I have the same question as james in no. 398. everything worked fine, but to be on the safe side I also installed little snitch. LN is showing that http://www.wip3.adobe.com is trying to access the internet when I start InDesign. Please, can you or anyone help? Thank you!
daluli, February 11, 2010:

just saw that there is also this link trying to access the internet when opening indesign: swupmf.adobe.com.edgesuite.net. how can this be prevented?
Mike, February 15, 2010:

Comment #23 : Marcos

Thank you thank you so much! I tried everything and your solution was the one that worked
sarah, February 15, 2010:

please help. i am at the LAST step.

do i click for the 30 day trial, OR do i enter a serial number?? if i entere a serial number, where do i get this number from??? i reallly want this to work.. forever. PLEASE HELP FAST.
baggednismo, February 17, 2010:

I cant get anything to work from the cs4 suite… i have done this over and over on both my mac book pro 10.6 and imac 10.5, I have done everything posted here on this site and many others. absolutely none of the trial software from adobe will activate using a 1325 key, I have 3 different keygens that produce mac and pc keys. I have also tried using keys posted here in the comments but nothing in the end. I guess i just need to wait for an older copy of the software as the new trials block these keys…
tomato_tot, February 17, 2010:

hi, would like to ask if I did install cs4 as a trial version then did all the steps…would like to ask the steps on how to add the serial number? thanks!
admin, February 17, 2010:

These methods work fine in Snow Leopard with or without Little Snitch
admin, February 17, 2010:

thank you!
admin, February 17, 2010:

try adding swupmf.adobe.com.edgesuite.net to your hosts file
http://www.robtex.com/dns/swupmf.adobe.com.edgesuite.net.html
s, February 17, 2010:

I did it all this several times. but still not working. what did i wrong? i went to terminal, and entered my password. then, do i have to something to save it?
somebody please email me… my computer is 10.5.8…
nuwan, February 17, 2010:

I mac is mac OS 10.6 I can’t login to the root. pleas help me
thank you
azmie anuar, February 18, 2010:

those guys out there, you are ROCKKKKKKKK….i managed to use CS4 smoothly..i used mac snow leopard 10.6.2….at first, failed……and then tried again..and violaaaa..

thanks again….
admin, February 18, 2010:

“works great.
anyone have the same thing to block apple software? I want to access final-cut pro.
thanks”

people can use Little Snitch to help detect these servers and any others of interest and publish the results…
redfix, February 20, 2010:

Thanks a lot: I managed to get it to work.
However, it was the first time I’d used Terminal, and (stupidly!) I managed to delete the whole contents of the host file. So now there’s nothing in there at all, not even “broadcast host” or “localhost”.
So my question is, what does this file do, what will it affect with nothing in it, and should I copy the contents from the image at the top of the page into the file? I’m using 10.6.2.
Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks.
admin, February 21, 2010:

interesting Q

it is possible that the hosts file by default establishes 127.0.0.1 as ‘localhost’. if this is the case then it would be important to have a default hosts file config.

this link will help you go back to default http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=832010

i wonder if you delete your hosts file whether OS X will re-create it in its default state on reboot?
if you do delete it completely and it does not come back on reboot you can recreate it by entering:

touch /etc/hosts
or
sudo touch /etc/hosts (if you get permissions errors)

and then use whichever technique to edit it
redfix, February 21, 2010:

Thank you, admin.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work – it couldn’t find the hosts file to write it to (there’s an alias there, but now it won’t open).
Btw, I think it was using Gas Mask that deleted the contents of the file.
If the file’s not necessary, and as I can still connect to the web, I think I’ll just leave it.
Thanks again.
rachel, February 22, 2010:

#323 worked and was a breeze, thanks andrez!!!
weston, February 22, 2010:

ok so i got rid of the cahce. turned the clock to 2008?! and did all the host files like the admin said?! and running il snitch.. and so now i can only open one program at a time.?! and to open another i have to go clear the cache. and re enter the seriel keys all over again!? but only opens one at time!? what can i do to fix it so i dont have to keep renenter this stuff?! and can open more than one adove each time!? and after i open it once.. it will not open again until i clear cache!?
cisco, February 22, 2010:

I LOVE YOU! IT WORKED… There is a file on TPB called cs4AllKeygenCore (doesn’t help to give links to TPB… just search). It contains a CORE Keygen.dmg… Yes a .gmg (Feb 22 2010). I ran it on my mac, generated the code (after deleting the file in the previous article), and CS4 Illustrator is running… Yay!
redfix, February 23, 2010:

Re: no.485, I tried again – after sleeping on it. I deleted the hosts file, and restarted. No new file was created, so I created one using the commands you provided, and an unaliased hosts file is back where it should be.
Thanks again, admin
krnpanda, February 23, 2010:

what do i type in the terminal for osx 10.6?
krnpanda, February 23, 2010:

im at the step where you enter sudo dscacheutil -flushcache i typed this in and it prompted me to put my password so i did and nothing appeared on the command and pressed enter….
so i closed the terminal and typed this thing again now nothing happens… help anyone?
zack, February 23, 2010:

I had dreamweaver working but a few days ago i tried to get photoshop working the same way but now they both dont work. They both say license has expired. Now since ive done this process before there is no cache.db file to delete in the Adobe PCD folder. I think this is where it is going wrong. I only have dreamweaver, no the master collection. Please help, any adivce or tips at all?? i’m running 10.6.2
f-dude, February 23, 2010:

guys.
it’s not working. pleeeeaseee… help me. everyday i must inform a new serial. i already restart the computer, delete cache.db and try keep cache.db. after change the hosts i “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache” and restart the computer and the next day again.
details: snow leopard, master collection
host:
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 services.eyetv.com
127.0.0.1 updates.elgato.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com:443
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost
JawZ, February 24, 2010:

Thanks, my version is finaly working!!
elgati, February 24, 2010:

This is how it worked for me:

What you will be doing:

1. Install Adobe CS4 using a serial generated form the keygen.
2. Blocking all access to Adobe servers for your computer.
3. Flushing the Memory cache of your computer.
4. Erasing the cache database for Adobe.
5. Restarting and voilá.

OK here are the steps. Keep in mind the 5 points given above it is the only way to troubleshoot this hack if something goes wrong!

STEP ONE
——–

Install the Adobe CS4 suite using regular installation package and when prompted for a serial provide one from the keygen.

STEP TWO
——–

1. open up the terminal.
2. type “sudo -s” (without quotes)
3. enter your password and press enter
4. now you should see something like this: bash-3.2#
5. type “nano /etc/hosts” (without quotes)
6. Copy/Paste the following entries to the hosts file, making sure all the copied entries are pasted in between the ebtries 255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
and ::1 localhost

127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

7-After this your hosts file will read like this:
=============================================================
…some other code…
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
127.0.0.1 adobe.activate.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
::1 localhost
…some other code…
==============================================================

8. Save changes.
NOTE: If you cannot save changes then enable your root account login as a root user and go directly to the file and do the changes described above.
then logout, disable root user and continue with the steps below. YOU ONLY DO THIS ROOT USER BUSINESS IF YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO SAVE YOUR CHANGES TO the hosts FILE!!!

9. If you know what you just did and know that the servers were successfully blocked go to STEP THREE.
Otherwise, install the Hosts widget provided above and check that all those entries you just did appear on the widget.

STEP THREE
———-
1. Open a Terminal window (/Applications/Utilities) and type:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (for Leopard)

or

sudo lookupd flushcache (for Tiger)

2. Enter your admin password when prompted.

STEP FOUR
———
1. Delete /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
2. Empty Trash.

STEP FIVE
———
1. Restart computer.
Seri, February 24, 2010:

Hi,

I’m a newbie Mac user and not exactly familiar with the Mac OS, but I tried to follow the instructions of Elgati, I’m still getting the “License has expired”. I will run down briefly the steps:

Using new MBP OSx 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard?)

1) Installed Photoshop CS4 from TPB
2) Got the host widget, typed up all the entries (couldn’t save via terminal), and the widget has saved them.
3) Went to terminal and typed “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache” (without quote marks), enter, admin password, enter. (I noted that I didn’t see any confirmation in the terminal, is that normal?)
4) Deleted the Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db
5) Emptied trash.
6) Restarted.

7) Went back to photoshop and was prompted for a serial number, which I typed in from b410’s comment at http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4256817/Photoshop_CS4_MAC_OSX (page 7 of comments), when I clicked ok it said something about activation, and I clicked ok again (assuming hosts widget is working fine), only to be told yet again “License has expired”!

Am I using a bad license number? Can someone please tell me where I went wrong please? Thanks.
Seri, February 25, 2010:

Oh, I tried Marco’s serials also, no go…. so I’m not sure that is the problem.
billz, February 25, 2010:

i have osx 10.5 and i followed everything you said meticulously. worked like a champ THANKS
aysha, February 27, 2010:

Hey

I used the Adobe InDesign Middle East version as a trial on my mac 10.5.8, and once it expired i have no access. If there any way I can do something to be able to get the trial version on my machine again as it is not allowing this. Or anyway I can get a serial number/crack code? I would be so grateful for any help to resolve this

Many thanks
aysha, February 27, 2010:

It seems impossible to get hold of InDesign CS4 ME version and I can only find the trial, therefore if anyone can help I would be really grateful.
indesignuser, February 27, 2010:

I have osx 10.6 and for step 16 I typed in sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
Hit enter, prompted for password, typed password and enter
opened indesign trial I downloaded from adobe and entered key 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432
works! yay! thanks everyone
Mohammed Anis, March 1, 2010:

Hi Everybody,,,,,,! Hope u all enjoying these cracks provided by this MACHACKS..;-D
Each and every steps is clear and works with me until im stuckwith typing the password in terminal after inserting this command, sudo dscacheutil -flushcache.. I tried many times, but, it hangs on when i type password. If anyone could help me out then will be so great…

Thanks in Advance.
Cheers….!!
Mohammed Anis, March 1, 2010:

and yea,, any problem, if i accept the the Licence Agreement, with this Crack”.
Let me know…!
Have a Great day….;-D)
Aphex 99, March 1, 2010:

I’ve tried tried tried and it wasnt working using comment 496 steps.
But I tried this and it worked!!!!!!!!

Mine is a LEOPARD 10.5.8
Go under folder
and type in /private
then go to your ETC folder
then look at the info ownership and change everything esp your own to read &write
RESTART the computer

then go back to that /private under go folder
then look for the HOST file under the ETC folder
in that host folder paste in everything between the lines down under.
————————————-
# Block Adobe Activation
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com
——————————————-

And then SAVE after you have swapped out the above codes with the existing ones.
RESTART AGAIN

You gotta Delete /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db and then EMPTY TRASH
RESTART AGAIN

open up any of the programs put in below serial key if it asks but not the first time……
The first time just say you want to do TRIAL.
Open again and then enter the serial key.
Serial Key 1325-0959-4455-7483-2536-2567

VOILA! It should work!!!! YEAY! it did for me
bluesky, March 2, 2010:

Hello all!!!
I wanna do the same, but i´m absolutely stupid in using Linux. Yesterday i was trying to type the text you recommended into the “terminal”. First i had something like “on console” but later “on tys000″ …what is the difference and how may i see that everything worked fine? Mustn´t there be any document or something so i may check what i actually did???
bluesky, March 2, 2010:

P.S: I tried then the same like #505…so typing all manually in the hosts file. But i did not let me save it even though i was in the read and write modus…any idea??? Thanks a lot in advance!
bluesky, March 2, 2010:

to describe it more detailled: i put in the sudo/nano code > enter > ask for password > put in password > type in text > text appears > enter to do the command but nothing happend. My original hosts file in /etc is unchanged and like always without the code. Instead of this i do have now several docs called hosts.save1. Is it that? And the other questestion i do have ..do i have to put the “flush” code into the same terminal window? Or do i have to open a new window and type it in???
weston, March 2, 2010:

ive done everything on the list?! but now none of these are working for me?!

1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1325-0465-4684-3792-9574-8287
1118-0011-0841-2246-4404-1353

what do i do?! help?!
jmcc, March 3, 2010:

Try deleting Flexnet Publisher folder. /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher Then delete the cache file again.
koray, March 5, 2010:

hi i made everything but when i enter the code to terminal it says “sodu cannot open the file: permission denied” its not asking any password. what should i do ? help please
koray, March 5, 2010:

i solve the permissions i think but new command problem is /private/etc/sudoers is mode 0666, should be 0440
estoyloko, March 6, 2010:

I downloaded Master Collection for CS4 for mac, everything works fine except Photoshop, every other app opens up nicely and is fully functional, but Photoshop still gives me the License expired message when I try to open it. I tried doing the trial version, but is not letting me open it either. Any other way around this. Like I mentioned before every other app works great. Thanks
Skyler, March 8, 2010:

Hi All,

I recognized that sometimes under Snow Leopard the Adobe Updater doesn’t find any update. I tought that it’s maybe because of this process above – maybe it’s use by update one of the blocked IP address. But the problem is something other, but I post here – maybe you think the same and you loose also lot of time trying to block-reblock the activation IPs…

“I found the reason for the failure (by reading log files and by comparing the installations on different machines): At least on my system the folder “/Library/Application Support/Adobe” had insufficient access rights. The “admin” group only had read rights but it needs write rights as well. After I changed that, the Adobe Updater was able to create a new folder in that directory and worked well since then.”

Thanks for Quittenkae!
guy, March 8, 2010:

sooooooooo i have the suite and it works… i never did the blocking thing.. i just turn off the internet when i use it….. is this one going to fuck up one day??? is this page just for people that cant get it to work first time around…. do i need to do this even though i have working cs4?
gematipa, March 8, 2010:

using comment 505 everything went ok for me!!!
great!!! thanks!!!
Brando, March 9, 2010:

I have 10.5.8 so far so good, followed original steps 1 -15 in changing host file from root account.
Although I have had this version of MSC4 for about a year using various keygens and whatnot, relevant or not

thanks for helping a starving artist continue to create…
the dude, March 9, 2010:

Adobe is asking to update. Can I update without a problem? A quick info would be much appreciated!!! It worked for me so thank you so much!!
pixelantics, March 9, 2010:

Hey anyone managed to get this to work with Snow Leopard yet? Had no trouble with Tiger but now its not working after my upgrade…

cheers
pixelantics, March 10, 2010:

seem to have fixed it. copied my old hosts file over from 10.4 which doesn’t have the ‘fe80::1%lo0 localhost’ line at the end. good luck all
audrey, March 10, 2010:

anyone know how to do this on vista? thanks email me audreyreenders@gmail.com
mark, March 11, 2010:

Thanks for the info, I have used this method flawlessly on over 5 machines. props.
xargy, March 11, 2010:

TO ANYONE WHO MANAGED TO GET CS4 TO WORK, BUT THEN RECEIVED THE “EXCUSE THE INTERRUPTION” MESSAGE…

Don’t mess around trying to re-enter a product key – If you are using time machine then this should sort everything out:

1. Navigate into the folder called adobe PCD (macintoshHD/library/application support/adobe/adobe PCD) – you should see a folder named ‘cache’ and a file called ‘PCD.db’.

2. Now open time machine so that it shows you the backups for ‘adobe PCD’.

3. Select a backup date which was before you received the licensing error message.

4. Select all the contents of the ‘adobe PCD’ folder and click ‘restore’.

You should now be able to open your CS4 applications without any problems now.
Jodsta, March 13, 2010:

I have followed instructions as above but am getting the following message when I try to save the Host file:

“This document can no longer be saved using its original Western (Mac OS Roman) encoding.
Please choose another encoding (such as UTF-8).”

What do I do now?? I am using OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.2 if that helps.
Thanking you advance to anyone who can help.
Kev Craven, March 13, 2010:

Hey guys, I have followed the instructions from 249 as instructed, but I only downloaded the trials last night, so they haven’t expired yet. Is there any way of knowing that it has worked? I am still prompted with the serial number request, but I still have 30 days left until the trial expires so I just select that. Will I need to try it out with a serial number? I’ve just typed one into Ps CS4 and the next screen was saying “the software may attempt to contact adobe servers over the internet in order to complete licence activation….” I am scared to press OK just incase this hasn’t worked and I get busted. Thanks!
Dog_Snob, March 16, 2010:

Same for me. I have done everything on the list. And I mean everything. Nothing is working for me. One thing I have noticed is that it says, license for this product has expired, and that is even with the internet disconnected.

Please help, I love this program on the PC and would love to use it on the mac. Don’t want to have to keep going back to the PC to make a PNG file.
Serge, March 17, 2010:

Hi there, I have done exactly as mentioned in the comment #61. everything was fine until the textEdit opened the page as planned, then, I copy-paste the infos in beetween as explained, and, when I do SAVE, a small window appears and say that I cannot save because I have to change the encryption to unicode (UTF-8). then, after several time of puting Unicode UTF-8 with no succes, I open a NEW document in textEdit, copied everything from the first document and Saved. after that, I followed the rest of the instructions.

My question: Because I had to make a new document and copy-paste the infos from the first document, did I screwed up? Is there gonna be some dire consequenses to my iMac, Am I going to a whole world O hurts? If so, is all this correctable?!?

I would appreciate advices and confirmations, please!

Thank you in advance!
Kyle, March 18, 2010:

Hello, I’ve done everything and now it works BUT… adobe after effects are not picking up plugins when i place them in the plug-in directory. Anybody had any trouble with this??? I’m using 10.6.2
nat, March 23, 2010:

Hi everyone, I’m a mac person but have to use PC for some work. i have a crack adobe suite CS4 installed in my PC. Just wondering anyone knows how to disable activation in PC. will it work if i follow the same instructions provide in here. please help!!
fls, March 24, 2010:

hi all,

it’s very strange, because we have 2 g5 mac intel (10.5.8) and ppc (10.4.11). On the intel mac it works fine but the ppc doesn’t. I do the same just like the intel mac. After i connected to the internet, adobe said that my license key is not valid. :/ Then i tried a lot of things but no success. But if you download little snitch it will solve the problem.

thanks
Flurin, March 24, 2010:

Hey, soz for asking, I feel like another stupid guy asking you a stupid question.

But when I try to flush my dns:

Flurin-Mac-Book-Pro-2:~ k$ sudo dscachetil -flushcache (10.5)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘
Flurin-Mac-Book-Pro-2:~ k$ sudo lookupd -flushcache (10.4)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘

I just tried to follow your steps. Soz

Here’s a pic to what I transcribed above.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4336/picture1rhm.png
[URL=http://img519.imageshack.us/i/picture1rhm.png/][IMG]http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4336/picture1rhm.th.png[/IMG][/URL]
Flurin, March 24, 2010:

Ok, I’m very sorry for asking that. It just seemed that the (10.5) and (10.4) were to be typed in also. I thought I had to type in also both commands. xD sorry I didn’t realize that they were descriptions to the OS.

Feel free to eliminate my posts.

Flurin
weston, March 25, 2010:

so when i try to flush my cache it says this?! can someone help?!

“sudo: /private/etc/sudoers is mode 0666, should be 0440
weston-nowlings-macbook-pro:~ westonnowling$
“
john649, March 25, 2010:

to Aphex 99:

Your AWESOME! your fix worked for me!!! Thank you a million times!!!!
OJ, March 28, 2010:

Hey
Please can someone assist me. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack out there. I have installed CS4 Master Collection, clicked on ‘Trial’ but as soon as I got to Step 5 about the pop up of the automatic TextEdit, I pasted the following:

127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

Completed Step 6 – Save the file. Do NOT do a “Save As”. Close the file.

After which, I pasted in the ’sudo dscacheutil -flushcache’ in the new terminal window BUT when I pasted in my password I got the message ‘command not found’

I have now repeated this a few times but can go no further with the instructions. I have rebooted my Mac and tried opening ‘Photoshop CS4′. This works and opens but now I am wondering because I have managed to put a SN in CS4 without clicking on ‘Trial’ this far down, can it be tracked via my mac.?.

Not sure I want to open any other programs without finding out from someone. I know some people keep mentioning ‘cache.db but I don’t want to start getting rid of things I do not understand.

Could a wizardry know help prompt me please. Would be very grateful
july, March 30, 2010:

Hi everybody! It succeed with leopard 10.6!!! I tried many times (spent the whole day), but all in vain until i reinstalled MacOs and installed adobe again with serial from keygen, then made all the operations that admin in post 249 wrote and when i launched PS it at first started without asking serial number. But when i deleted file cashe.db, emptied trash and relaunched PS, it asked for the serial. I disconnected from e-net, passed serial 1325-0959-4455-7483-2536-2567 and it sucseed! Then i restarted computer, connected to i-net and launched several adobe applications – no problems! It works for me:)))
Jelek, March 31, 2010:

Bohat Aalaa!!!! it works, thanx a lot… You are great…
warriorcry, March 31, 2010:

great… this one works.. i have been looking for solution and i stumble upon this site.. at first it looked like very complicated, but when you understand the instruction and execute it, its very easy. thanks guys…
biogo, April 3, 2010:

Hello to everyone.
I’m a mac OS 10.5.8 user and I’m new to this forum.
I’ve done everything you’ve suggested and I still get the message “license expired”.

(1) I closed all adobe apps.
(2) I disconnected the Internet.
(3) I opened the terminal.
(4) I successfuly blocked every connection with the adobe server, using the commands you’ve described.
(5) I erased the cache, the both ways you described inhere: (a) deleting the cache.db file; and (b) using the “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache” in the terminal.
(6) I rebooted the computer.
(7) I used the keygen to create a new serial number.
(8) I opened the adobe photoshop (I also tried with the adobe indesign), and I was aked for a new serial.
(9) I inserted the new serial number.

But in the end I still got the message “license expired”…

Any ideas?
Please help!
Thanks in advance.
biogo
biogo, April 3, 2010:

Ok!
Got it!
First I had to enter the application as a trial, open the application, close it, reopen it and just then put the serial number.
It worked perfectly!
viray, April 5, 2010:

For everybody who have problems after the instruction
just follow remarks 249 and try to use the serial numbers in remark 23 and it workssssssssssssssssssssssss
danny_amaya, April 6, 2010:

when i try to put in:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (10.5)
sudo lookupd –flushcache (10.4)

into terminal it says:

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘

so im never prompted to enter my password or anything nothing happens.
could i please get some help with this anyone?
thanks!
cybermermaid, April 7, 2010:

Is there a way to keep adobe cs4 from calling the mother ship in CA antivirus program? I have windows and seems like most of the directions are for MAC any help for windows?
sam, April 8, 2010:

i can’t save the hosts
ardiamonds, April 8, 2010:

Hey, would like to thank you very much for the info, made PS working, but now when i want to install Indesign, all goes well but it refuses all my serial numbers Anyone know where to find numbers for Indesign?? PLEASE Regards
Rich V, April 8, 2010:

I am attempting to use the method in comment #249, but when the “hosts” file is supposed to open, it tells me that “no such file exists”. Any ideas?
snow go, April 12, 2010:

any solutions to solving this problem on snow leopard?
i have done all the inputs on terminal and text edit and flushcache etc but still have a problem with it asking for serial numbers.
thanks
macbeast, April 13, 2010:

So, with the release of cs5 (it looks amaaaaazing), has any one figured out a method to hack it yet? =D
NeoZion, April 18, 2010:

Comment Num.# 249 worked for Me! THANKS!
audrey, April 19, 2010:

for VISTA:

1) Browse to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories
2) Right click “Notepad” and select “Run as administrator” (DONT SKIP THIS!! if you dont run it as admin, you cant save the changes)
3) Click “Continue” on the UAC prompt
4) Click File -> Open
5) Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”
6) Change the file filter drop down box from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to “All Files (*.*)”
7) Select “hosts” and click “Open”
Make the needed changes and close Notepad. (add the list of hosts to from above)
9) Save when prompted.

that should do it for you.
julies, April 20, 2010:

I have 10.6 and wanted to know if there’s a difference to the instructions.
elchino, April 23, 2010:

Dude thank u so much
rocks!
Maya, April 25, 2010:

Does anyone know how deleting the Adobe cache database affects Adobe Lightroom, which is separate from the CS4 Master Collection? I have a cracked copy of the latest version and I’m wondering if I’ll need to remove it before going through this process and/or reinstall it afterwards. Any advice?
Hardfi, April 26, 2010:

I did all of *249 several times with no joy having to install, uninstall, install, clean the preferences, nothing worked.
Whenever I tried the install and opened the application I got the Error Message 150:30. explaining that there was a problem with the license and that I should restart my computer and try again. if the error persisted I should contact adobe for help. I Left it a couple of days and tried a different tack, did some digging around and found the following fix.
Turns out if you have rebuilt your Hard Drive using carbon copy cloner or time machine (which I have) it mucks up all your cs3/cs4 licenses even if you have a legit copy and serial, this is a known issue with adobe. you can fix this with a download from adobe called “license recovery”. I ran this recovery program then opened cs4 under the 30 day trial – hey Presto it worked.
Then closed cs4 down, unplugged my internet and did all of *249, opened cs4 again inputted a serial from iserials and everything works. hope this helps atleast one person from pulling their hair out… thanks to everybody on here for your posts, this is my first.
Hardfi, April 26, 2010:

ref *535
Forgot to mention I have an Intel Imac 3.06 running Snow Leapord 10.6
Paul, April 26, 2010:

Been looking for this since Jan 2009 – YES, YES, YES!
dave, April 29, 2010:

what steps should I follow if i’m on a new MBP w/ snow leopard v 10.6.3? i’m new to this stuff, so I kinda get lost here. I already installed my CS4 master collection copy in trial mode, so should I uninstall that before attempting any of these steps? Seems like a lot of options out there and I don’t wanna mess up my computer
CS5 question, April 30, 2010:

Hi everyone,

is this working for CS5, too???

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Now Shipping, Free Trials Available
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/30/adobe-creative-suite-5-now-shipping-free-trials-available/
Lance, May 2, 2010:

You don’t need Terminal AT ALL to edit the Host file, and surely not root user — a big security hole that you should never open if you can possibly avoid it. Just use “Go > Go to folder”, type /private/etc” and double-click to open Host. Edit it in TextEdit, “Save as” to the desktop by not adding the txt extension, drag the resulting Host file to the etc folder in the “Go to folder” window, click “Authenticate”, click “Replace”, type your password.
Ashley, May 2, 2010:

quick question:
I downloaded the CS4 apps and did the installation with my internet turned off. After it was installed I went into my hosts and did all that stuff… and after it was finished installing it didn’t prompt me for a serial number.. I’m connected to the internet now and when I open Photoshop it doesn’t ask for anything. Is that normal??? I’m on Mac OSX 10.5.8. Thanks!
Dal, May 6, 2010:

It worked on my Snow Leopard 10.6.3, everything done according to the #249
For #524 JODSTA ( encoding issues ), I had the same problem, this is the workaround: copy #294 details text document to Windows machine and paste it in win notepad,rename it and save it as unicode text document ( therefore, as simple text, not any rich text format or word doc or anything like that ), bring that back in your mac ( it will show on yr desktop as *.txt ) and copy/paste in hosts window from that document. Now you’ll be able to save changes in hosts file.
One question, I managed this with InDes CS5, if I want to install PS5 and Illustrator cs5, do I have to run the same #249 procedure with every of this progs, or once done with InDes will do ? Thank you
Tray, May 9, 2010:

Now, If using Leopard, you should use Terminal again to flush your cache:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

im using os x 10.6 – how to flush the domain server cache?
j., May 9, 2010:

This is a shot in the dark, but I can’t find a straight answer so far:

A while ago I tried to install most of, but not all of the CS4 suite applications by downloading the trial from the Adobe website and then installing a script blocker that supposedly prevented the application from communicating with Adobe; however, it didn’t work. After that I used a keygen that I found through a YouTube tutorial. Risky, but several of my friends had vouched for it and it worked smoothly. I deleted the script blocker and uninstalled the trial version since it didn’t seem to serve a purpose and everything seemed fine. This morning however I got an e-mail from Adobe informing me that my CS4 trial was about to expire. However, when I launch, say, Photoshop, the application doesn’t give me the little “This is a trial version of Photoshop, you have X number of days left in your trial” dialog box that you would normally get with a trial.

So, should I be worried that in a few days my seemingly non-trial version CS4 apps will all be blocked? Or is Adobe somehow responding to the initial trial version that I downloaded and thought I uninstalled properly?
Maya, May 11, 2010:

Thanks so much for this!

For those of you unable to save the ‘hosts’ file in TextEdit (getting error message “This document can no longer be saved using its original Western (Mac OS Roman) encoding”), there is a simple fix. Install the freeware program TextWrangler, then open the ‘hosts’ folder through the root user as described in the original post. Instead of opening the file with Text Edit, control-click and select “Open with…” to use TextWrangler. It should work!

I’m running Snow Leopoard, 10.6.3, and this is what worked for me:

1) Quit all Adobe apps and disconnect from all networks (turn off airport).

2) Install a trial version of CS4. (Don’t enter a serial number at this point)

3) Trash this file: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD/cache/cache.db

4) Enable root account. Log out of admin account and into the root account.

5) Open the ‘hosts’ file with TextWranger using directions in original post. Add the following between the existing broadcasthost and ::1localhost entries:
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
 127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com 
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

5) Save (don’t “Save as”) the ‘hosts’ file and quit TextWrangler.

6) Log out of the root account and back into your admin.

7) Open Terminal and enter: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. Then enter your admin password.

Restart.

9) Open Dreamweaver and enter a serial code. 1325-0505-2949-5043-2724-3432 worked for me. I tried activating the serial number through Photoshop and Illustrator first but even though the code was accepted I couldn’t get past the first setup screen. For whatever reason it worked in Dreamweaver.

Hope this helps!
Zach, May 11, 2010:

Newbie question- is this considered a loopback?
Trippy, May 18, 2010:

copied script and then follow to 62. downloaded the patch It’s work! Thank you : )
Norris, May 19, 2010:

I have a working CS4 Master Suite.

I just downloaded the trial of CS5 Master Collection. It will run for 30 days.

Assuming the instructions are the same, we shouldn’t have to do anything but add a few extra lines to the hosts file, correct?

Now…how do we go about getting a CS5 key for Mac?
Capedcrusader, May 21, 2010:

Great instructions, worked perfectly, thanks….
Kilgore, May 26, 2010:

I am using MacBook pro, snow leopard. One thing I have never understood on this lil snitch thing..how do you guys set up your rules? For instance this Dreamweaver, cs4 thing. Do you just choose deny access , all servers, and pick the actual app? Or do you set a rulenfor each ip address…ie activate.adobe.com…etc. I also have the expired license thing. Also where is this script everyone is talking about? Is it AppleScript? Great stuff, learning a lot here.Also has anyone lost this website while browsing and been sent to a bogus virus thing called ubervirus some such?
sam, May 26, 2010:

I got CS4 running on Leopard and everything you recommended worked like a charm!!

I tried a couple of serials until they got rejected, ran on the 30-day trial for a while and finally followed #249 to stop communication with the mother ship. Now it all works perfectly.

Thanks! Awesome job!
shey123, May 28, 2010:

Dear Admin,
I have struggled with this for hours and am not sure if this works mac 10.4.11
I followed your instructions, and it just wont work
any advise?
Thank you
shey123, May 28, 2010:

P.S. my query is regarding CS4 thanks’ again
I guess I'm just stupid, June 3, 2010:

My dad lent me his CS3 premium disks, but made me swear not to enter his serial. I installed it all, then had success deleting the cache.db file when it expired. Then that stopped working (no matter how careful I was). Then I deleted the FLEXnet file, which at least allowed me to select the trial option, until the next pae, when it told me an error was encountered. Then I followed the terminal instructions to stop it from phoning home, which seems to have worked, because NOW, when I enter a CS3 serial from the net, it won’t allow me to do anything because it cannot connect in order to register.

I thought that without a connection it would allow me to proceed without verifying the serial.

But it won’t. Now i’m one of these clowns asking for help. I may as well write some inanity like “hi wheir do i get cs4 4 free iwant it bad thanks”

Any tips, cause I’m a moron apparently.

Thanks bros.
slobjones, June 8, 2010:

The Terminal procedure sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

Results in FAILED. And yes, I am running an admin account.

CFMessagePort: bootstrap_register(): failed 1100 (0×44c) ‘Permission denied’, port = 0×4403, name = ‘com.apple.TextEdit.ServiceProvider’
See /usr/include/servers/bootstrap_defs.h for the error codes.
Navidneoh, June 20, 2010:

Hi,v
Did anyone can tell me the step by step how to install Adobe CS5 on my MBP Mac OS X 10.6.04.

thanks very much
James.y, June 27, 2010:

@admin, post #249 – THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

@Marcos, Post 23 – This is EXACTLY what I needed, a big THANK YOU!
sean, June 29, 2010:

dear admin i followed the steps above until it says that i have to save the changes in textedit but for some reason it says that i cant. why is this please reply thank you for your time.
CB, July 2, 2010:

Comment 399 is the key, all working fine for me now, just make sure you block all adobe requests via snitch when running the install
arcel, July 4, 2010:

I did everything, I deleted the Adobe PCD but I still had the same issue that the activation was expired, I need help, what do i do?? It’s for the CS4
muffinpup, July 4, 2010:

I’m on the brand new i5 macbook pro. I downloaded CS5, used the sn that came in the torrent, blocked ADOBE mothership in the host file and it works! coolio! it took less than 5 minutes. that’s because there was nothing in the cash — brand new machine and all

I’m just afraid to update in case everything crashes. has anyone tried updating?
thanks so much for saving me $2000! i was on cs original. it doesn’t qualify to be updated legally, so ha!
Marcos, admin, you guys are really, really helpful and patient!
Uninstall CS3 Mac, July 9, 2010:

It is actually not a big problem to disable Adobe Updater. All you need to do is to execute the Adobe_Updater.exe file that is located in the Program Files Common Files AdobeUpdater6 directory on your hard drive. The application will perform an update check and notifyyou about updates. The updates won’t be installed however until the user clicks on the “Download And Install Updates” button.

A click on Preferences will load the configuration screen. Unchecking the “Automatically check for Adobe updates” box will do the trick. Mac OS X users can basically do the same. The location of the Adobe Updater program on their system is /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Utilities/Adobe Updater5/.
b-dawg, July 14, 2010:

Can some just post a few serials for CS5 Master Collection please?