Missing brains after saving a conversation

[Patricia777]

Dear All,

Could you please help me on this problem?

After saving a conversation with Hal, I noticed that all his brains are missing. The program does not freeze or stop. Hal is there waiting and smiling but when I try to communicate, I get no response for the very good reason that Hal lost his brains as a result of my saving our conversation.

Click on Hal icon
General Options
Brain
Choose a brain/personality plugin for Hal
there are no brains to choose! The pane is completely empty.

To remedy the above, I have to exit Hal, start it again and all is well.

However, this morning I created a new folder named "Learning" which I placed in Ultra Hal Assistant 5 folder. I had a conversation with Hal, saved it and after checking if Hal had again lost his brains, I was surprised to find no brains but the folder "Learning" I recently created.

Is there a way to retain all Hal's brains after saving a conversation? I must say that I have encountered this problem since I first downloaded Hal program (I'm waiting for the CD to arrive).

Thank you for your kind assistance in this matter.

Patricia

[Padriag]

I've had this problem as well, but haven't been able to figure out what causes it.  Could you tell us a bit about what kind of computer you have?  Especially what version of windows you have.

[Patricia777]

Thank you Padriag.

I'm running Microsoft WindowsXP Home Edition, version 5.1.2500 Service Pack 1 Build 2600. Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4 Intel 1794 Mhz. I must also say that this problem does not only apply to savings/viewing conversations but also to making and keeping appointments.

I hope someone will find an answer to this small problem.

Best regards
Patricia

quote:Originally posted by Padriag

I've had this problem as well, but haven't been able to figure out what causes it.  Could you tell us a bit about what kind of computer you have?  Especially what version of windows you have.

[Padriag]

Interesting, I thought maybe it might have to do with running on an NT platform.  I'm using Windows 2000 Pro, SP4 on a 933Mhz, 256 MB RAM machine.  It does seem that Hal is only about 99% compatible with NT based platforms.  But that doesn't explain it for XP.  Not sure what is causing this.  I wonder if anyone else can duplicate the problem on their system?

[Rich_A]

Hello All,
I too experienced similar problems with saving conversations but I just avoided the problem from happening again by saving the conversations to a new location outside of the Zabaware/Hal Programs Folder. This is not a fix but rather just a different way of doing things to avoid the problem from happening again. The following was what I posted under a similar topic here at the forum. I hope that this helps you all:

I also encountered something similar that might be related to the saving conversations text files problem with 5.0. When I saved conversations with 4.5 they were saved in the "Ultra Hal Assistant 4.5" Folder by default, and I never had a problem. Then when I upgraded to 5.0 I remember some wacky things happening to me, so I moved all my conversation files out of the "Ultra Hal Assistant 5.0" Folder and I put them into a new folder called "Chat Logs" in the "My Documents" Folder of my computer. Then things were OK, but now every once in a while I see a new duplicate user .hla file (Richie.hla) getting created and dumped in the "Chat Log" Folder...strange stuff...go figure...but I just delete the new .hla whenever it appears in my "Chat Log" Folder.

So now my Hal only loses his brain files when I manually wipe them out by accident...ha...ha...!
I keep a copy of all my .brn files from the the "DefBrain" Folder in a backup folder called "BackupBrain" in the "My Documents" Folder on my computer, and then every once in a while I just copy the "DefBrain" to my "BackupBrain" to keep things current.
Good Luck To All,
Rich_A
ricramo@aol.com

[Patricia777]

Dear Rich A.

Thank you again for your very useful comments. However, I have encountered the problem before I placed a new folder with my chats log in Ultra Hal Assistant 5. It doesn't make any difference --in my case-- whether the chats log is in "my document" directory or in Ultra Hal Assistant. Also, the same applies after opening the "view/edit appointments" or "view/edit phone book" options. Hal looses his brains.

Morevoer, I cannot reinstall Hal for the very good that this is the subscribed download version of Hal --paid for-- and I can only wait for the CD to arrive.

No doubt Zabaware will come up with a solution to this problem.

Best regards

Patricia

[Inquisitor2004]

Patricia,
while you train to olypic stadard of thumb twiddling,  while waiting for zabaware to respond to you,  might I suggest that you store your brain files to another location other than C:Program FilesabawareUltra Hal Assistant 5 (the installation directory)

perhaps c:\brain or even on floppy disk would be better.  perhaps ( and this is only a suggestion ) there i a problem writing to the installation directory where hal is running from.   a sharing violation or something..

worth concidering...

[Patricia777]

Thank you so much Inquisitor. I've done what you suggested: moved all my brain files out of Ultra Hal Assistant 5 main folder into a new folder under c and called it "brain". When I started Ultra Hal Assistant, it was trying to reinstall itself again. After clicking on Hal's icon, checking in General Options that all my Hal's brains were there and satisfying myself that nothing was missing, I ran Hal and try to communicate with him to no avail, nothing happened. Hal simply sits there, smiling and waiting. Although my typing shows on the pane window (I am also awaiting my new microphone from ZABAWARE), Hal is acting as though he has no brains (despite the interesting fact that that these are showing under the General Options). So I can only move all my brain files back to their original directory under Ultra Hal Assistant 5. Thank you all the same, it was worth my trying.

Patricia

quote:Originally posted by Inquisitor2004

Patricia,
while you train to olypic stadard of thumb twiddling,  while waiting for zabaware to respond to you,  might I suggest that you store your brain files to another location other than C:Program FilesabawareUltra Hal Assistant 5 (the installation directory)

perhaps c:\brain or even on floppy disk would be better.  perhaps ( and this is only a suggestion ) there i a problem writing to the installation directory where hal is running from.   a sharing violation or something..

worth concidering...

[Inquisitor2004]

hmm ok...

sorry it didnt work

[Patricia777]

Inquisitor, don't worry about it. I've got a brand new Hal who likes me lol!

Patricia

quote:Originally posted by Inquisitor2004

hmm ok...

sorry it didnt work

[Inquisitor2004]

but does it know what year it's in now

mine still thinks it's 2005

[Patricia777]

Hi, Inquisitor, just to say that my Hal too is not back from the future and still think we are 2005! I believe we can only wait for ZABARAWE to issue the patch to remedy this problem.

Patricia

quote:Originally posted by Inquisitor2004

but does it know what year it's in now

mine still thinks it's 2005