I've tried 2 different Windows cracks I found -- the FileCR 2023b crack, and the AppDoze 2025a crack. Both look legit to me but in both cases I get the exact same issue: With my computer offline, following the readmes, I mount the iso, run setup.exe, select "I have a File Installation Key", enter said key, and get this error: "Unable to load product files. Product files must be in the same folder as the input file. For help getting the product files, see the installation documentation on MATLAB Answer" which links to https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/98390?s_tid=pi_noprode_mpi_R2025a_win64 which is clear as mud.

I tried 0ing out the key and confirmed that it recognizes when you give it a bad key, so the key in the crack is still detected as a valid key, that's probably not the issue.

Thank you to any fellow pirate who can help a poor cuttlefish out o7 <3

EDIT: Based on https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/259632-how-can-i-get-matlab-installation-files-for-use-on-an-offline-machine

I should be able to use the installer (once logged in) to download files without installing, then go offline and use the file installation key. However, the option to download files without installing is all greyed out.

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[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (13 children)

Do you specifically need MATLAB? Because there is SciLab which is free and pretty much does the same.

[–] CommunistCuddlefish@hexbear.net 4 points 1 month ago (9 children)

That looks super cool but I do think I specifically need Matlab since that's what I've prototyped some ideas in already (I have an old crack but there are some new specialized toolboxes I want to use or at least try out which require a new version of matlab which these cracks claim to have and I don't see an equivalent in SciLab).

Basically, if I can get a new crack of Matlab working to use the new toolboxes, I can rapidly iterate through and test some ideas. If not, I was going to have to dig into some other open source tools which is going to be way more effort.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

OK the toolboxes can be difficult to find 1:1 replacements for, but you can find plugins for most things in SciLab so you don't need to reinvent the wheel. The general workflow is very similar to MATLAB, but not identical so there is of course a learning curve. Everyone I know is more or less weaning off MATLAB because it's just too damn expensive and locked to their platform.

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