Resolve Adobe device activations reached Error

The error Adobe device activations reached may occur in a SimplyE app (especially on Android devices) when opening the SimplyE app on a mobile phone or tablet. The error indicates that a particular "user" account in the Circulation Manager has been activated on too many devices or too many times on the same device. This is an error resulting from Adobe's DRM licensing scheme. (For more information on how Adobe DRM works, see the article How Adobe DRM Works in SimplyE.) In the case of SimplyE, the "user" is known in the Circulation Manager by a unique identifier, which the Circulation Manager uses when communicating with an Adobe licensing server. Adobe allows each user to "activate" a total of six devices to access DRM-protected content. The max activations reached error occurs most often when a user uninstalls the SimplyE app from a mobile device without logging out of the library accounts she has created to library collection(s) in SimplyE. Users sometimes uninstall and reinstall the app as a potential way to resolve app issues. But doing so without first logging out of the library account(s) burns a device activation each time.

If your library has a user who has encountered the error, the steps below enable you to reset their account in the Circulation Manager so they can continue to use the SimplyE service. However, there is a caveat with the process: in this reset process, the unique identifier tying the specific user to the books she has borrowed from the library is lost upon reset. Therefore, once the account is reset, the user cannot:

• access currently borrowed materials
• access holds placed on items
• access bookmarks created for books borrowed

Before resetting a patron's Adobe ID, it is important to discuss these ramifications with them. In the Admin interface screen for resetting a patron ID, the following note is included:

Along with these caveats, patrons should be provided a copy of the app cleanup instructions provided below.

Steps to Reset Account ID

To reset a user's Adobe account ID follow the one of the options below for your version of the Circulation Manager:

Command Line (Version 2.2.9 or earlier):

1. Log into the circ-webapp container's host instance
2. Enter the container: sudo docker exec -it circ-webapp /bin/bash
3. Activate the Python virtual environment: source env/bin/activate
4. Run the script to reset the user's activations (substitute the actual user barcode for the bracketed placeholder): bin/repair/adobe_account_id_reset --delete LIBRARY SHORT NAME PATRON IDENTIFIER
5. Review any output for issues
6. To finish, deactivate the virtual environment: deactivate
7. Exit the container: exit

Admin Interface (Version 2.2.10 and later):

1. After logging in to the admin interface, select the library of the affected patron.
2. Click "Patrons"
3. Enter the patron's identifier in the "Identifier" box.
4. Click "Submit" to look up the patron.
5. Follow the instructions (this includes notifying the patron of what will happen and explaining the cleanup they'll have to do on their side–see below)
6. Check the box "Patron has been informed about this change"
7. Click the button "Reset Adobe ID"

Patron App Cleanup Steps

On the patron side, one cannot simply uninstall and reinstall the SimplyE app. (As mentioned above, this is actually one of the leading causes of these problems.) Instead, the patron must follow the procedure below for her type of mobile device.

Following the instructions below will remove all references to the patron's old Adobe ID on their mobile device. Afterward, their new Adobe ID will be usable.

On iOS devices

With iOS devices, the reset process is easier. A patron simply needs to log out of their library account and then log back in.

On Android Devices

With Android devices the process is more cumbersome. A patron must log out of their library and also clear their app cache and app data for SimplyE. After clearing data, then they can log back in to their library account. Clearing data, however, is a complete process

1. Log out of each library for which the user has an account in the SimplyE app:
   1. Tap the "hamburger" menu icon in the upper left corner of the app
   2. Tap the Settings menu item
   3. Tap the Accounts item
   4. Tap the name/icon of the library for which your Adobe ID needs to be reset
   5. Tap the Log Out button
2. Clear the cached data for the SimplyE app:
   1. Go to the general Settings area on the device
   2. Tap the Apps (or equivalent) item in the Settings menu
   3. In the apps pane, scroll the list of apps to display the SimplyE app item
   4. Tap the SimplyE item
   5. Tap the Storage item
   6. Tap the Clear data button (or equivalent)
   7. Tap the Clear cache button