James Newtons Massmind wrote:
> My main client is transitioning from a hardware to a software based system
> (my fault <grin>). He is not at all comfortable with standard software
> licensing (and in this specific case, I can see why) and so wants to include
> a hardware locking key to control the use of the software. His clients won't
> mind since they are used to the current hardware anyway. Other comments
> regarding how evil dongles are should be tagged [OT], please.
>
> The problem is that I can't seem to find any company that offers them in
> medium small quantities ( low hundreds ), for reasonable prices ( e.g. < $20
> each ) and releases source code samples for how to connect to them. I had
> assumed there would be a DLL you include in your installation and you would
> call if from your application, but everything seems to be much more complex
> and secretive. We aren't trying to stop hackers here, just keep the users
> honest.
>
> Has anyone had any good experiences with this? I'd sure appreciate a
> referral.
>
> Thanks!
>
> ---
> James.
>  
>
>   
Why not roll your own? I'd do it with a 3.3V i2c  RAM device, like a 
MC24C00. This can be done in SOT23-6
 so would fit into a VERY tiny potted parallel port. Make most of the 
port pins simply fuel a 3.3V power supply thru
diodes. Rather than keep the data constant, I would constantly change it 
according to the software you write to
read and write to it. In this way, regardless of the actual data 
present, the dongle being present does most of the
protection.

--Bob  
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