MacSpeech Forums and Discussion » Dictate » Troubleshooting

1. jfdelara
   Member

   I just installed today Macspeech dictate. It is the latest version. For some odd reason after going through the tutorial and creating a profile it decided not to respond and it freezes.
   I just open the application and activate my profile when it then decides not to respond. I am not sure what to do. I would appreciate your help on these.
   Thanks
   Jose

   Posted 6 months ago #

2. abledoc
   Member

   There is no easy answer. We need a bit more information to help.

   I know about one application conflict on my system (MacOS 10.6.2; MBPro 15 processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 667 MHz MSD 1.5.8) : Skype

   Is MSD operational (icon up, note pad accessible, commands, etc) but no audio input?

   If no audio input, can you verify audio input with your mic in the system preferences?

   If mic okay, close all other applications and restart MSD. Is MSD working now?

   If not, you may need to reset MSD.
   Here is one method:
   1) Go to your Macintosh HD
   2) Go to your user folder (marked with an icon of a house)
   3) Go to the Library folder
   4) Go to Application Support
   5) Go to MacSpeech
   6) Go to Dictate
   7) Drag the license key file from the Dictate folder to your Desktop
   8) Go back to the Library folder (from Step 3)
   9) Go to the Preferences folder
   10) Find the file named com.macspeech.dictate.plist and drag it to the trash
   11) Launch Dictate

   I experienced many of these problems early on but now MSD operates at 98% accuracy with minimal maintenance, so stick with it.

   Posted 5 months ago #

3. dazroach9
   Member

   I just installed MSD and it is not responding with each start up. I've turned off skype and other apps and still no success. I've done some of the other suggestions abledoc suggested. What do I do?

   Posted 5 months ago #

4. ronski
   Member

   I have the same problem. I installed the new software yesterday and did the mic setup and training. I played with some of the commands like "go to sleep" and everything seemed to be working. Today, MSD will not respond. I can access mic setup and I did additional training and this works fine. A note pad pulls up when I open the program and I can type in note pad. The program will not respond to an voice commands or dictation. The volume indicator moves in the green, but no response

   Posted 5 months ago #

5. abledoc
   Member

   I would call technical service for assistance. A report back to us with solution would be helpful.

   Posted 5 months ago #

6. broadbentco
   Member

   It sounds like I am having the same problem. I have been through the enrollment process a number of times with different microphones ( Plantronics CS60USB, Jabra GN5035 & Plantronic from my old iListen plugged directly into Mic input).

   The enrollment went great on every time.

   After enrollment however I go to use the program and it will not dictate (notepad or Word).

   The Macspeech window shows the audio metering no problem. I can continue vocabulary training and it show I am progressing well - but it will do no more than that.

   Any ideas anyone?

   Posted 5 months ago #

7. abledoc
   Member

   What systems and versions are you all using?

   MSD 1.5.8;MacOS 10.6.2; MBPro 15 processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 667 MHz; FilemakerProAdv11

   Posted 5 months ago #

8. Brian
   Member

   I'm having the same problem

   bc

   Posted 3 months ago #

9. Richard Tate
   Moderator

   If, after loading the profile, you go to the Tools menu and choose Microphone Setup, and then complete the volume adjustment, does it play back a portion of what you said?

   Posted 2 months ago #

10. Husky86
    Member

    Yup, same problem. I can't get MacSpeech to respond about 60-70% of the time.

    OS 10.6.4.
    MacSpeech 1.5.9

    Posted 1 month ago #

11. Husky86
    Member

    This problem only continues to get worse.

    I would say that a good 70% of the time, I'm losing the ability for voice input with MacSpeech.

    Sometimes restarting helps; other times it doesn't make any difference. (But I would say that the majority of the time, restarting solves the problem.)

    However, because I also have Fusion installed (for use with NaturallySpeaking), I have discovered that it affects the use of Fusion as well. So obviously it must be an underlying system problem.

    However, every time I go to the System Preferences >Sound settings, I find that the USB microphone I'm using is listed and everything seems to be functioning properly. Yet no input through MacSpeech or NaturallySpeaking.

    If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, please pass them along!

    By the way, I'm using a Sennheiser ME-3 microphone.

    MacSpeech 1.5.9
    MacOS 10.6.4

    Posted 1 month ago #

12. jayg
    Administrator

    Sounds like your audio input. Is that a USB mic? Does the mic that came with Dictate work, just for test purposes? Are you running any audio extensions, like LineIn or SoundFlower?

    Posted 1 month ago #

13. Husky86
    Member

    Unfortunately, I do not have the microphone that came with MacSpeech any longer; only this Sennheiser microphone.

    I'm not running any of the background software/processes you noted.

    I have thought about anything and everything that might be going on in the background with relation to this underlying conflict.

    My setup is pretty simple, as far as software is concerned: I just have Safari, QuicKeys, Microsoft Excel, and Photoshop running in the background (meaning, the vast majority of the time). That's it.

    At present, the microphone seems to be working normally. No noise, no static, no interference. But this could change at any minute… usually does.

    This iMac is fairly new (less than a year old), so I'm thinking it's probably not the iMac itself, i.e. the USB port itself.

    If you have any other thoughts/ideas, please pass them along. I will attempt to hook up another microphone situation as soon as I can in order to rule out the Sennheiser microphone and/or the USB connector.

    (BTW, I plug the Sennheiser microphone into this USB pod/adapter: http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/ProductDesc/USB_Adapter.htm) The representative of the small company that sold me this new USB adapter said he has never seen one of these go bad–never. So he highly doubts it's the USB adapter.

    Thanks for any and all input!

    Posted 1 month ago #

14. Robear
    Member

    I am having the same problem with Macspeech Dictate 1.5.9 o my Mac with a 2.53 Intel Core i5 with 4 GB of Ram running Mac OS X 10.6.4. I'm dictating in MS Word 2008 for Mac. Everything will be working fine then Macspeech will simply stop typing what I dictate. The volume indicator indicates that the software is hearing me but nothing happens on the screen. Sometimes rebooting helps, sometimes it doesn't.

    The other thing that drives me absolutely mad is that when I want to correct a word or words I'll say "select the word(s)" and it invariably selects some random selection of word and always a part of a word but never the words I've told it to select.

    With respect to the latter problem, I receive the following instructions from Tech Support which I followed to the letter and which no good whatsoever:

    Please close Dictate and/or Scribe (which ever application(s) you have) and then try the following:

    1) Go to your Macintosh HD
    2) Go to your user folder (marked with an icon of a house)
    3) Go to the Library folder
    4) Go to the Preferences folder
    5) Find the file named com.macspeech.<application>.plist (where <application> is the application you are using - Scribe or Dictate) and drag it to the trash
    6) Launch Dictate or Scribe (whichever application you were having issues with).

    I just switched from Windows to Mac and used Dragon NaturalySpeaking version 9.x (I can't remember if it was 9.4. or 9.5) but it too had it's problems and I found quickly that the native Windows 7 voice recognition was far superior to the Dragon product.

    I'm trying not to let the fact that Macspeech Dictate is basically a very expensive joke sour me on the transition to Mac entirely.

    Posted 6 days ago #

15. Archer
    Member

    The problem you're seeing with seemingly random selection when using “select the words” is usually caused by violation of the “Golden Rule.” Unlike Dragon, which keeps track of the cursor in supported applications, Dictate is sometimes a bit less smart. I, and many others, would love to see that change. Once you get it working, Dictate isn't all that bad, especially once you start using it a lot. The key is to keep using it, and to constantly refer to the user manual to become more familiar with the voice editing commands, as Dictate really doesn't like to mix keyboard and voice.

    Posted 6 days ago #

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