Here is a "cheat sheet" that I use most of the time. 9 times out of 10, this fixes almost any freezing/crashing issue with Dictate. Some things may be redundant, but I am copying a pasting the most commonly used.
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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).
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Please make sure that your microphone is working in System Preferences.
1) Make sure the microphone is plugged in via USB . If your microphone uses a USB adapter, make sure the analog wires or 'pins' are plugged in to the correct corresponding ports. The pin with the red/pink color coding is for the microphone and by default, the other will be used for the headphones. Also make sure that the pins are pushed completely into the adapter. Sometimes it takes a good push to "snap" them into place.
2) Go to the Apple menu at the top left of your screen
3) Click on System Preferences
4) Click on Sound
5) Click on the Input tab
6) Click on your USB microphone/headset
7) Test the microphone by speaking into it and observing the Input Level ladder for activity. If you are not showing activity, make sure that the microphone isn't muted through the small volume/mute box in the headset line (if this is available on your headset). Also make sure that the Input Volume slider in the Sound preferences is set to at least halfway. If you are only receiving a few bars even if you yell, try switching the wires that go into the USB adapter (if your headset uses a USB adapter). Also, try replacing the batteries if your headset uses batteries (most commonly found in the VXi Parrot P41R and VXi TalkPro model headsets).
8) Once your microphone is working in System Preferences: Sound: Input, launch Dictate
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Please make sure you have generate e-mail commands turned off in your Dictate preferences:
- Go to the Dictate menu
- Go to Preferences
- Click on the Commands tab
- Disable the option to Generate E-mail Commands
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Also, go to the Dictation tab, and disable the auto-caching for Word and TextEdit. Then close and re-open any open documents (you will only have to do this the one time) and see if the issue persists.
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First, make sure you are in a quiet area and that your headset is a supported MacSpeech-certified headset. If these are true:
First, go into the Apple Menu, then System Preferences, then Sound. Try switching the audio to something else, closing the Sound preferences window, re-opening it, and then setting it back to your microphone. If the issue continues:
Try creating a new profile. When you first open the program, you should have an option to create a new profile. If this does not work, please uninstall and reinstall Dictate.
* When creating the new profile, make sure the microphone is properly selected to the USB microphone. Sometimes the microphone is set to Built-In microphone by default.*
Uninstall Dictate
1. Open Macintosh
2. Click on the house icon
3. Go to Library
4. Go to Preferences
5. Remove Com.macspeech.dictate.plist
6. Go to Library folder
7. Go to application support
8. Go to MacSpeech folder
9. Remove all folders
10. Go to Applications folder and remove the Dictate application.
To reinstall Dictate, you will need to obtain your license key file. This can be downloaded from the MacSpeech web site. Just log in with your account at http://www.macspeech.com/account.php and click on "View my license keys".
Reinstall Dictate
1. Insert Disk Labeled Application disk
2. Once mounted it will open a window
3. Drag the Dictate icon from that window to your Application folder.(this is the icon in that window with a green arrow pointing to it. Do NOT drag the CD icon to the Application folder, that will simply create an alias, and do NOT double-click that icon with the green arrow, DRAG it to the applications folder).
4. A status bar will come up.
5. When it is done it should request the data disk be inserted. (If it does not just eject the Application Disk and insert the data disk)
6. Once the data Disk is complete eject the Data Disk.
7. Launch the Dictate Application.
8. Register the software. When registering make sure that you enter the activation code correctly as it is case and punctuation sensitive.
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There are certain settings in the Macintosh OS that must be configured properly for Dictate to function.
1. In System Preferences, Sound, Input, the input device should be set for the Headset/Microphone you are using.
2. In System Preferences, Speech, under Speech Recognition, "Speakable Items" needs to be disabled.
3. In System Preferences, Speech, under Text to Speech, make sure all text boxes are unchecked.
4. In System Preferences, Speech, under Speech Recognition / Settings Microphone needs to be set for the Headset/Microphone you are using with Dictate.
5. In System Preferences, Universal Access, "Enable access for Assistive Devices" needs to be enabled and VoiceOver needs to be set to Off.
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Commands not being recognized, but typed out instead
Please make sure that you are putting long enough of a pause between what you are dictating and the phrase that you are commanding. If you dictate something and then immediately say a command, Dictate will type the command because it thinks the command is actually dictation.
If this does not apply to you, please try the following:
1) Back up your commands by going to Dictate's "File" menu and using the "Command Export" option (follow this step only if you have created your own commands).
2) Close Dictate
3) Go to the Macintosh HD/Users/<home>/Library/Application Support/MacSpeech folder and drag the Commands folder into the trash.
4) Relaunch Dictate
5) Load your profile and try the command(s) that are problematic
6) If you backed up your commands, re-load them by going to Dictate's "File" menu and using the "Command Import" option. (follow this step only if you followed step 1 above)
If the issue persists, please create a new profile:
To create a new profile in Dictate:
1. Launch Dictate
2. On the launch screen that appears, click Create New Profile.
If you are already in Dictate:
1. Go to the Tools menu, and choose Profiles
2. In the Profiles window, click the plus sign "+" in the lower left corner.
3. Put in a name for the new profile, then click Create.
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Dictate is transposing (reversing) the last two letters of every iteration.
Due to the nature of the following applications, they are incompatible with Dictate and will cause the last two letters of every iteration to be transposed (reversed):
QuicKeys
Typinator
TextExpander
TypeIt4Me
Please disable the application(s) when using Dictate to avoid the incompatibility.
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