If you are trying to activate software on your machine and receive an error that the program is unable to connect to the Fender server, please take a look at the list below...
- 3rd-party antivirus software is the largest reason for this to happen. Please contact the manufacturer of your antivirus software for information on allowing Fender Studio Pro access through it. Another solution would be to do an offline activation. Below is a link. https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/41993165386637-Software-Activation-Offline-Computer
- Fender software will not connect to our server over a VPN connection or proxy server.
- It is sometimes necessary to reboot your modem and router to clear cache that might be conflicting.
- If you are receiving a 403 error message, it is possible that your IP address is being blocked. You can find your IP address by going to the following link. https://whatismyipaddress.com/ Once you have your IP address, you can check if it is being banned from the following link. https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx?AG=GBL&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3rKQBhCNARIsACUEW_aqqAtT5s3sP4T25-ikS3O3SfpHKdf08FN92krdbApn32m8lilzgzwaAgYVEALw_wcB If you are being banned, you will need to contact your ISP for a new IP address.
Please make sure that you have a healthy Hosts file without PreSonus entries in it. Below you will see images of how the Hosts files should appear on a healthy system.
Below you can see the text that should be in the Hosts file. You do not want to see 127.0.0.1 directed to any PreSonus url addresses.
# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
Below are instructions for resolving this issue on Mac and Windows respectively. (The text above is from a Windows machine.)
macOS:
1. Go into your Utilities folder and open the Terminal
2. From the Terminal command prompt, type in:
sudo nano /private/etc/hostsand press enter.
3. Type in your Mac admin password and press enter.
4. Remove all PreSonus entries from the Hosts file on your screen. You will have to use the arrow keys on your computer keyboard to move the cursor into the desired location. You can then use the Backspace key to delete text.
5. Press CMD + O to save your changes.
6. Press CMD + X to exit the Hosts file.
7. Enter the following command in the terminal:
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder and press enter. This will clear your DNS cache and resolve your issue.
Windows:
1. Go into Cortana and type in "Notepad" to view the Notepad app.
2. Right-click the Notepad app and choose to Run as administrator. If you do not do this, you will not be able to save any changes to the Hosts file.
3. In Notepad, go to File>Open and navigate to c:\Windows\System 32\Drivers\etc and open the Hosts file. You will need to choose "All Files" when the File>Open window appears as it is set to .txt files by default. Otherwise, you will not see the Hosts file.
4. Remove all PreSonus or Fender entries from the Hosts file.
5. Go to File>Save to save the file.
6. You can now close Notepad and Fender Studio Pro or Studio One will connect.