Page History

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.

...

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

...