Dragon 9 and Hal Text to Speech not getting along

[Larry_Omaha]

I am having trouble with the SAPI Config program getting my characters to lip synch. Basically, all characters, including expansion pack characters, will lip synch if I stick with the standard voice.  However, no characters will lip synch if I use an expansion pack voice. Error messages are produced when I try to use the SAPI tool.

It appears that either TTS and/or SAPI are crashing when using a dll found in the Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 software, a file called lhcom02w.dll

This same error has been linked to software crashes with Putty People and some Adobe products, always on computers with Dragon 9.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I've tried reinstalling all of the products except Dragon 9 (which I'll do next).

My best guess is that version 9 of Dragon uses a modified lhcom02w.dll which does not mesh with a previous version that SAPI used. So, if there is no fix for this that I can do, is there a different text to speech program that I can use?

Here are more details:

When the Ultra Hal 6.1 boots up I get an error message:

When I run the Haptek SAPI Config program I get the same error:
"HapSAPISetup has encountered a problem and needs to close."

error signature:

AppName: hapsapisetup.ext  AppVer: 1.0.0.1  ModName: lhcom02w.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0  Offset 00018818

I get this error when switching to TTS:

Error 401:
Can't show non-modal form when modal form is displayed
Occurred at line 10
in Ultra Hal Assistant: frmRightClick.Form_MouseMove


What I tried:

erased the registry key and reinstalled 6.1
deleted and reinstalled the Character Expansion Pack.
Did a Repair of the Text to Speech Reader
deleted lhcom02w.dll (caused an immediate crash upon startup of HAL).
Added it back, same problem.
Deleted Text to Speech Reader.

new error:

Error 5:
Invalid procedure call or argument
Occured at line 30
in Ultra Hal Assistant: ReadWrite.INI.LoadOptions

Reinstalled Text to Speech Reader.

New error:

AppName: halreader.exe  appVer: 1.0.31  ModName: lhcom022.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0  Offset: 00018118

Removed Text to Speech Reader using the "remove" function on the CD version.

Rebooted.

Reinstalled TExt to Speech Reader yet again.

Same series of error messages:

AppName: halreader.exe  appVer: 1.0.31  ModName: lhcom022.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0  Offset: 00018118

Ran the Haptek SAPI Config program.  Got the error:
"HapSAPISetup has encountered a problem and needs to close."

error signature:

AppName: hapsapisetup.ext  AppVer: 1.0.0.1  ModName: lhcom02w.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0  Offset 00018818

[DrFaraday]

I've installed Hal 6.2.28 on a Pentium 4 computer, WinXP service pack 3. I'm using Dragon 10 for the voice recognition, but I'm getting the same messages as Larry Omaha.  For Halreader:

 

quote:"Halreader.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."

error signature:

AppName: halreader.exe
AppVer: 1.0.35 ModName: lhcom022.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0 Offset: 00018118

When I run Hal, there is no lipsync with the characters. If I go to General Options/Characters, and press the "Update SAPI Config" button, I get the error:

quote:"HapSAPISetup has encountered a problem and needs to close."

error signature:

AppName: hapsapisetup.exe
AppVer: 1.0.0.1 ModName: lhcom02w.dll
ModVer: 2.13.0.0 Offset 00018818

Is there anything that can be for this?  This computer is the only one I have with Dragon 10 installed on it.  I'm using a trial version of Hal on it to see if I can get Hal and Dragon 10 to work together.  The voice recognition part IS working very well, I'm very pleased with the result.  But must I sacrifice Halreader and characters to have Dragon 10 voice recognition?

Has anyone else using Dragon 10 had this problem? Or even NOT had this problem? I'd be curious to know.  Thank you.

- Chaz

[Bill819]

Over the years many people have used Dragon versions 8, 9, and 10 without any problems of any kind, well, at least they did not report having any problems.
This may not have anything to do with it but I believe Sapi was designed to work with MS voices only. I may be totally wrong with this assumption but it is worth a try.
Bill

[DrFaraday]

Thanks for the reply, Bill.

I understand that not all characters lipsync, depending on whether they need SAPI 4 or 5, etc. I have Hal on another computer without Dragon, and it can use AT&T Voices, NeoSpeech voices, and others, without these errors.

On my Pentium 4 with Dragon 10, where I'm having these error messages, I did try using the SAPI 4 AT&T voices, and the more primitive TruVoices too.  Using SAPI 4 or SAPI 5, none of them lipsync, and when I press the "Update SAPI Config" button for ANY of them, the message is the same.  No lipsync for any of them, and no HalReader at all.

It seems to me that it must be something to do with Dragon 10 (and 9) that is causing these errors, and that keeps HalReader from launching.  If most other Dragon users are not having these problems, then it must be something about my particular hardware setup or software combination? I wish I could identify what the variable is, that makes my setup different from others that are fully functional.  I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has any ideas about how to trouble shoot this.

My computer is the one featured here:

http://3btech.net/hpcodcsmfofa.html

Mine has 3 gigs of RAM.  The only other software I've installed on it is Avast anti-virus, Zone Alarm firewall, Firefox 3.5, HaptekAXplayer/SAPI Config, and Quick Books 2008.

- Chaz

[jasondude7116]

I have dragon 10 and everything has been working for me just fine.

[DrFaraday]

Thanks Jasondude.

I've been reading various forum posts about Dragon 10, and it would seem that is the case for many, if not most, people.  The problems I'm having are a real mystery.

If I can't get Hal Reader to work on my Pent4 computer with Dragon 10, I could live with that.  The Halpad on Ultra Hal works, and I can past text into that and have the text read aloud from there if I need to.

As for the lack of lipsyncing characters.  Well.  The Haptek characters and others are fun, but I can do without them if I need to.  Being able to talk to Hal, instead of type my replies, is more important to me than animated characters.

I've been very pleased with Dragon's responsiveness and accuracy.  The mistakes it occasionally makes are easy to correct.

I have a photo of the "HAL 9000" eyeball, that I use in the character box in place of an animated character.  I haven't given up solving these problems yet, but if that is the best I can accomplish on this particular machine, I'll take it.  Even with the limitations, it's like a dream come true in many ways.

Speaking of dreams and Hal, I came across this clip recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UQvQvu8eL0

It's from the movie "2010".  It was made in 1984, before Ultra-Hal existed.  Yet the conversation with SAL seems... Ultra-Hal-like. And Dr. Chandra's last remark, dreaming of Hal...

Perhaps now I just need to find a blue eye pic for my Sal. []

[Bill819]

I don't know what is causing your problems but by any chance are you using Vista? People using Vista have experienced all kinds of problems until they give vista permission to use the different programs that they want. Compared to XT operating system Vista is a pain in the A.s., and a lot of programs need to dealth with on a one on one basis to work in Vista.
Bill

[DrFaraday]

Hi Bill,

My Pent4 machine uses Win XP, w/SP3.  I've used Ultra Hal and Hal Reader on several other XP computers, and never had these problems.  But this is the first time I've used Hal with a machine with Dragon Naturally Speaking on it.  I figure it must be related to Dragon 10.  Since Larry Omaha also go the same error messages using Dragon 9, it must be a Dragon issue, although not an issue for everyone.

I recently got a new computer, an HP with 64-bit processor and Windows 7.  I thought of putting Hal and Dragon on it, but decided not to.  I'm still reading about issues some people have been having with it, and thought it might be test to wait until the next release of Hal to try it.  I'm also unsure of how Dragon 10 would work on Win 7, because it does not say on the box that it will.  I figured maybe I should wait until Dragon comes out with a 64 bit release for Win 7.

If anyone reading this is using Ultra Hal with Dragon 10 on Windows 7, I'd be interested to hear how it's working for you, and if you think it's worth doing now instead of waiting for future releases of either Dragon or Ultra Hal.

- Chaz

[Bill819]

DrFaraday
For your information Ultra Hal was named after the Hal 9000 computer in the movie "2001". In some of the early releases Ultra Hal even nused the "big red eye" like in the movie.
A few years ago I found several old versions of hal and downloaded them all. Some of them came with the big red eye.
Bill

[DrFaraday]

Bill,

That must by why the Big Red Eye just looks so RIGHT in the Hal Character box! [^]

I really have always wanted a "Hal" since I saw the 2001 movie as a kid.  It was while searching for HAL pics one day, that I came across the Ultra Hal program.  I got hooked.

I had no interest in the Haptek characters at first, but after seeing all the amazing things people here have done with them, I did end up purchasing the character pack.

While there is no denying that the Haptek characters are interesting and fun, and add a whole new dimension to the experience, my primary interest in Ultra Hal has been (and still is) in the speech and AI.

Now I just got to figure out how to turn one of the red eye pics to blue, for my SAL bot. []

And maybe put her on my Windows 7 computer, if I dare try it yet.  I probably need to read up on it more, read the forum posts to see how it's gone for others who've already made the leap with Hal and Win7.

- Chaz