Availability of USB Key (Dongle) for X-Plane 11

Question

Hi folks,

Having to insert disc 1 into a drive to permit the use of X-Plane runs the risk of damage to that disc. I believe in maintaining the integrity of the DVD discs and it was for that reason I purchased the USB dongle for X-Plane 10.  It works very well without any problems.

I am of the opinion that I have previously asked the question on the availability of a dongle for X-Plane 11 and the answer was "....there are no immediate plans to develop the dongle."  or words to that effect

Having now purchased a disc set I would like to see and own a usb key instead of having to rely on the original disc 1  to run X-Plane 11.

As an avid reader of the questions asked in this forum I have come to the conclusion that others would like to see and own a USB key as well.  Without currently knowing about the XP10 availability of the key others could also use the USB key as a solution to their problem of running XP11.

In the most recent posting at http://questions.x-plane.com/12239/1-insert-the-dvd  I am of the opinion that if a USB key was available as a substitute for disc1 the user could use XP11 while on holidays without the need to remember to carry the boxed disc set with the laptop.

I refer to the answer regarding a USB key supplied in the question raised at http://questions.x-plane.com/5480/will-my-x-plane-10-home-use-usb-key-work-for-x-plane-11

Could further consideration be given to creating the USB key for home use?  I would be one of the first to purchase the unit despite the cost, including postage and conversion rates to Australia, being near the cost of a digital download.

Alternatively if the answer remains as "sometime in the future" can disc 1 be copied onto another disc  as the working copy or onto a USB key like the XP10 USB key?

Regards

Glenn 

Answer 1

A workaround could be to copy the disc 1 into ISO and mount that image of the DVD. It would take a lot of disc space, for sure, but I bet it would work.

Edit (just a bit of details about that) :

This is something I managed to do with X-plane 9, but having the digital download product key for X-plane 11, I can't test it now.

The idea would be to create an ISO image from DVD 1 (DVD ISO Maker would do the job, I think). ISO stands for the extension (file format) of the resulting file.

Then, you would need to install "Daemon tools" (might be not required nowadays though) to mount this image on a virtual drive and your computer would think you have DVD 1 inserted in a DVD drive. You don't need any real DVD drive for that step!

Also, I think Daemon tools should now be able to create an ISO image out of a DVD.
The softwares I mentioned work for Windows, I'm sure there are equivalent ones for the other operating systems.