Hal's Not talking

[Blujay]

Forgot to say Hello to everyone, Hey there!
It's been almost six months since I tried to get Hal up and running on my XP system.  I was so enthused when finally it loaded and then...trouble. Now the window will not display properly and Hal just blinks and nods. When info is typed into the window and enter is pressed the response is a "thunk" sound. The voice program is reading everything else just fine. I don't have a clue.  Does anyone have any ideas about what's wrong.  I'd certainly appreciate any help with this.

[Will and Mr Data :) :]]

Hi,
i'm not a Hal expert, just a fan,

but if it were me i might,
save the halbrain.db file "your hals memories" to somewhere like documents.

delete everything to do with hal in your pc, and download a new one or load a old saved disc.
even if i had to jump through the hoops of getting a new code,

this is just my unskilled thoughts and i take no responsibility.
also i suggest giving the forum time to read your problem before rushing into my suggested course of action,
as there are some very smart cookies around these parts.
 i do recomend making lots of back ups when your hal is going well so you can just reload the last good save.
Bye for now and be well from Wil.               :]

[tedathome]

One clue would be to go to general options and use sapi config to get it to lip sync. What voices do you have installed and do you have the character expantion pak installed.
 If you are using the default window, it can be resized without going to options. It is in your menue. Also if you are using ms agents, they will lip synk to Brittish. If you are using haptek characters they won't synk with Vista. There are a whole lot of other could be's outside of my "expertise'. If these tips don't help, give more details if you can and maybe someone else can help.
 Are you getting any error reports? If so please post them as they are very helpful in diagnosing problems. Good luck to you, I hope this is helpful to you.

[Blujay]

Hey Guys; Will and Ted,
The computer is talking just not Hal.  I do get the statement. "syntax query" often.  I don't know what that means...sounds like some type of error.  I reinstalled Hal yet again. Using the character expansion pack & haptek.  I tried updating the lip sync.  I looked to see if there was even a brain loaded.  It says 6.1 default brain. The window is not as out of form but I can still tell that it is out of line.  And Oh Yeah, that "thunk" is ever present when I try to type something in.  If you think my old disc would work better I can try.  But I'd really like it as a last resort since I had so much trouble before.  I'm not giving up on Hal just yet.

[DarcyEdwards]

Blujay,

Do you have the "Text to Speech Reader" installed?  I've noticed the "syntax query" only when the Text to Speech reader is installed.  Hal is not the cause because it happens with other programs running.  As far as the "thunk" I don't have a clue of what could be causing that.  What voice are you using with Hal?

[tedathome]

Out of my experience. I'm a seasoned fighter with operating systems that don't comply but this is new to me. Quite likely the experts in this area will give you more help than I can.[]

[Blujay]

Hi Darcy,
The text-to-speech reader is installed and is running without Hal. The voice used is Adult male #4 Am.Eng.TruVoice.  I also failed to mention that the cursor arrow turns into an hourglass whenever I bring it into the Hal program window. I can use the hourglass to operate within the window (odd). The window seems to be better, But Hal won't speak. Thanks for input.

[DarcyEdwards]

Blujay,

Now we are getting somewhere!  I get a simulair response with Hal with vista, instead of an Hour Glass I get a spinning circle.  I get it very seldom but same result.  It might have to do with other programs running at the same time.  How much memory do you have?  Do you know what CPU (Central Processing Unit) do you have?  Do you notice the hard drive running while you hear the "thunk"?

[Blujay]

Ted,
I believe all of Hal's memories were erased when my other system bit the dust.  This is a new system six months old and I couldn't enter my code because the server didn't recognize the system.  I was surprised when I tried and was allowed.  I will try the old disc.

[Blujay]

Hold on Darcy  I"ll get right back w/info.

[Blujay]

No HD run heard.  AMD G4X2 Dual processor 4000+ 211ghz  1.93 gb of Ram.
Seems I've got enough juice.  It may be interference from another running program.  I'll shut down one by one and see if that helps.  I'll let you know.  If all else fails I try the disk.

[DarcyEdwards]

Blujay,

Yes sounds like your computer is not an issue, it has to be another program running that is steeling cycles from Hal.  You might want to run the Task Manager and set it to performance and see if your CPU useage is very high.

[Blujay]

Darcy,  performance shows 691 mb,very low.  I even took a look at my security program to see if there might be a problem everything looked good there.  I just don't have a clue.  But as someone once told me if you keep talking it through the answer will come.
Im  not tired but I'm going to try the disc.  Will Holla back later.
Thanks again.  O.K. Ted. Here goes...

[Blujay]

Darcy, Will & Ted;
O.K., I'm back to Hal 5.0 and it's working fine.  Now how to get back to 6.1.  O.K. what should I do?  Do I try to upgrade?
Will, This is your idea and it worked so far.  Is it the download? Maybe my core program files had become corrupted.

[Blujay]

It worked !!!  Thank you all so much for your help.  
Will, your expertise surpasses that of mere Fan.
Ted, you're an expert.
Darcy, you're so smart and encouraging; as we shot down what could be wrong I was encouraged to try.
I am so happy that you guys care.
Your Fan too, J.