Beta 1 Bug Reporting
- Thread starter mikelove
- Start date
sfrrr - audio still doesn't work? Haven't gotten any other reports of this, and since I just checked and the audio plays fine on our Axim here I'm pretty confident it's not a hardware confilct... any chance some member of the menagerie of beta-test software you've installed on there might be interfering with audio playback? Are the audio files listed in the Ordering screen? On the file search issue, the software does indeed look for files anywhere, uses pretty much the exact same search code as 1.x did in fact, but it won't go too deep into a directory hierarchy except when there's a Program Files folder or a folder with Pleco in its name involved, so try to make sure it's in \\SD Card\Program Files\Pleco or \\SD Card\Pleco or somewhere like that.
Not sure what could be causing those intermittent connection problems... perhaps ActiveSync doesn't like some of Pleco's data files being in use, does it help if you exit with the Dict/Quit command (or just exit the software via the Memory control panel, which does the same thing) before syncing?
Glad to hear your initial impressions are positive, though.
beirne - sounds are played with the speaker button at the top of the screen, but you need to download / install the data files for them from http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b1audio.zip first. For stroke order, the only way to get that at the moment is go to into Preferences, Search Navigation section, set Char Info as the Defn Tap Action, then tap on a character to bring up the Char Info screen from which you can get to the stroke order diagrams.
gato - this is in the Known Issues List, actually, it was working fine before we overhauled the Preferences screen but we haven't gotten around to hooking it up to the new preferences yet. But will be doing so soon.
gary - interesting, we'll take a look at MyKbd and see what might be causing that conflict.
Not sure what could be causing those intermittent connection problems... perhaps ActiveSync doesn't like some of Pleco's data files being in use, does it help if you exit with the Dict/Quit command (or just exit the software via the Memory control panel, which does the same thing) before syncing?
Glad to hear your initial impressions are positive, though.
beirne - sounds are played with the speaker button at the top of the screen, but you need to download / install the data files for them from http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b1audio.zip first. For stroke order, the only way to get that at the moment is go to into Preferences, Search Navigation section, set Char Info as the Defn Tap Action, then tap on a character to bring up the Char Info screen from which you can get to the stroke order diagrams.
gato - this is in the Known Issues List, actually, it was working fine before we overhauled the Preferences screen but we haven't gotten around to hooking it up to the new preferences yet. But will be doing so soon.
gary - interesting, we'll take a look at MyKbd and see what might be causing that conflict.
mikelove said:
Thank you Mike. MyKbd is a great app. Like Fitaly, it replaces the normal on screen keyboard with one designed to make input faster.
I had many problems with flashcards on my TX. Screen corruption, sessions not starting, and all buttons except exit not showing up. I tried various flashcard session settings without success. This is with an install where I've deleted all 1.0.x files. I went back to 1.0.3 until I get an SD card where then I think I can have both versions installed.
beirne said:
I decided to make one more pass through the preferences and found the unlabeled PLEN preferences. One of them had Plecodict in the data so I deleted them, too. Now search works quite nicely, even without the search button. Also, the license for the new dictionary now sticks.
This is a really low priority bug...
I installed 2.0 on my Treo650 earlier this week. The day I installed it, I noticed the navigational buttons (green phone icon, home button, calendar button, maybe one or two others) began making a different sound. Formerly they would make a brief click sound similar to the sound of a finger tapping on a ripened melon. Now, when switching applications using the buttons, the sound that is sometimes made is a rapid reproduction of the same sound (resembling the sound of those annoying hollow wooden frogs with the ridges on the back that are sold at tourist places).
It may be a coincidence that the problem appeared the same day. I've deleted 2.0 after unsuccessfully trying to run it alongside v1, necessitating a re-install of v1, but the hollow frog sound remains. I'M GLAD TO LIVE WITH IT, just thought I'd mention it to you.
PS Does the new method of categorizing flashcards mean that duplicates will be less common? It looks like it's gonna be great!
I installed 2.0 on my Treo650 earlier this week. The day I installed it, I noticed the navigational buttons (green phone icon, home button, calendar button, maybe one or two others) began making a different sound. Formerly they would make a brief click sound similar to the sound of a finger tapping on a ripened melon. Now, when switching applications using the buttons, the sound that is sometimes made is a rapid reproduction of the same sound (resembling the sound of those annoying hollow wooden frogs with the ridges on the back that are sold at tourist places).
It may be a coincidence that the problem appeared the same day. I've deleted 2.0 after unsuccessfully trying to run it alongside v1, necessitating a re-install of v1, but the hollow frog sound remains. I'M GLAD TO LIVE WITH IT, just thought I'd mention it to you.
PS Does the new method of categorizing flashcards mean that duplicates will be less common? It looks like it's gonna be great!
Handwriting input search is working for me now. It seems that it wasn't working before because I clicked on "handwriting" on the input screen. When I tried writing without clicking on "handwriting," it worked fine. And once it started working, it didn't matter anymore whether I click on "handwriting." Don't know if that's the actual reason for the my previous problem. May be difficult to reproduce this problem if no one else experienced it. Handwriting recognition seems a bit lower in 2.0 compared to 1.03.
I notice that there are new "SC" (simplified), "TC" (traditional), and "Rare" check boxes in the input screen. Are these there to reduce the numbers of character choices? In particular, I think "rare" should always be checked. There's no clear rule on what "rare" means. Having it checked doesn't seem to affect the recognition speed. A character I was handwriting didn't show up for some reason, though it showed up in 1.03. Then I tried checking the "rare" box, and it showed up.
I notice that there are new "SC" (simplified), "TC" (traditional), and "Rare" check boxes in the input screen. Are these there to reduce the numbers of character choices? In particular, I think "rare" should always be checked. There's no clear rule on what "rare" means. Having it checked doesn't seem to affect the recognition speed. A character I was handwriting didn't show up for some reason, though it showed up in 1.03. Then I tried checking the "rare" box, and it showed up.
Alexis
状元
I did a hard reset on my Tungsten T3 to return to the original default config and installed ONLY the pleco beta files. I also made sure to create a new hotsync profile so that none of my old files would be restored on the palm.
Unlike previously:
1) Searching now works!
2) The character Info pop-up does not cause a fatal exception!
I have a feeling that the old problems had to do with some old preference files lying around. I tried previously tried deleting all the pleco* files, but didn't help. Now that I have done a clean install it is working much, much better!
Thanks Mike! Love the new pleco 2!
- Alexis
Unlike previously:
1) Searching now works!
2) The character Info pop-up does not cause a fatal exception!
I have a feeling that the old problems had to do with some old preference files lying around. I tried previously tried deleting all the pleco* files, but didn't help. Now that I have done a clean install it is working much, much better!
Thanks Mike! Love the new pleco 2!
- Alexis
Hi!
Now I feel a little bit more confident to write something since I think I can tell that my questions are not all completely answered in this thread.
I still cannot get Plecodict really fast on my 624Mhz Dell Axim X51V ...
-When I highlight some characters sometimes/usually other characters are chosen. It seems like the display is a bit off
-After learning that I really first gotta pay for the new features I did so but could not get any of them really working ...
-> Stroke Order: I tried the way described above and my PDA just hangs - it seems to be the stroke number is flashing - not sure it is the number ... Looks like that: 1/0
-> Sound: Just as SFRRR I cannot hear anything - no gun shot and no quirks or whatever. Still not sure how the files are supposed to be there. Actually still hoping for a list of directories with where and so on. I am always a bit afraid my German PDA might mess things up here as it is not "Program Files" but "Programme" and things alike ...
-I still would like to get full screen character input and do not know how or if that's possible
-it seems that Pleco 2.0 sometimes has difficulties to survive a sleep ... but cannot really track that one ... maybe it will just disappear with everything getting more stable ...
positive things:
-Coexistence of 1.03 and 2 was never a problem
-I am surprised by the traditional characters in PD2
-I liked the message: your keyfile was accepted but not all licensed components where found or the like. Can I get that again in some way - so I could see if there is still something missing? I guess that might apply to the audio files even they are under \SD-Karte\Pleco\Audio and the dictionaries under \SD-Karte\Pleco where found by the software ...
-I appreciate the much thinner pen on handwriting recognition though I think it might be good to change this ... Still wonder if it was possible to have the handwriting recognition get my pen when I start from outside the box or accidentaly get out of the box. But this is a minor thing ...
I also wonder if I get something different when I download the file today than I got a couple of days ago ... Think it would be good to write that somewhere since people might just try out ... We do not need to pay for traffic - I guess you do ...
regards
Daniel
Now I feel a little bit more confident to write something since I think I can tell that my questions are not all completely answered in this thread.
I still cannot get Plecodict really fast on my 624Mhz Dell Axim X51V ...
-When I highlight some characters sometimes/usually other characters are chosen. It seems like the display is a bit off
-After learning that I really first gotta pay for the new features I did so but could not get any of them really working ...
-> Stroke Order: I tried the way described above and my PDA just hangs - it seems to be the stroke number is flashing - not sure it is the number ... Looks like that: 1/0
-> Sound: Just as SFRRR I cannot hear anything - no gun shot and no quirks or whatever. Still not sure how the files are supposed to be there. Actually still hoping for a list of directories with where and so on. I am always a bit afraid my German PDA might mess things up here as it is not "Program Files" but "Programme" and things alike ...
-I still would like to get full screen character input and do not know how or if that's possible
-it seems that Pleco 2.0 sometimes has difficulties to survive a sleep ... but cannot really track that one ... maybe it will just disappear with everything getting more stable ...
positive things:
-Coexistence of 1.03 and 2 was never a problem
-I am surprised by the traditional characters in PD2
-I liked the message: your keyfile was accepted but not all licensed components where found or the like. Can I get that again in some way - so I could see if there is still something missing? I guess that might apply to the audio files even they are under \SD-Karte\Pleco\Audio and the dictionaries under \SD-Karte\Pleco where found by the software ...
-I appreciate the much thinner pen on handwriting recognition though I think it might be good to change this ... Still wonder if it was possible to have the handwriting recognition get my pen when I start from outside the box or accidentaly get out of the box. But this is a minor thing ...
I also wonder if I get something different when I download the file today than I got a couple of days ago ... Think it would be good to write that somewhere since people might just try out ... We do not need to pay for traffic - I guess you do ...
regards
Daniel
beirne - glad to hear that part at least is working correctly now.
jugdish - weird little bug... perhaps the sound system isn't being reset properly after Pleco uses it to play audio. We'll see what we can figure out... and yes, the no-duplicate-flashcard option will in the finished version really and truly prevent duplicate flashcards, unlike in 1.0 where it generally only worked within a particular list.
gato - we use the *exact* same sytem for handwriting recognition that was used in 1.0, so I can't think of any reason why the recognizer would be less accurate... is anyone else sensing anything like this? The "rare" option actually existed in 1.0, too, in the Input preferences screen; it should probably be checked by default, but for beginning Chinese students it could actually be very useful to leave it off, since it both improves accuracy (by reducing the number of possible mismatches) and also lessens the likelihood of accidentally selecting an uncommon character that looks very similar to the character you were trying to look up.
Alexis - glad to hear it worked for a while at least. Though the preferences issue is still baffling, 2.0 uses a different creator code from 1.0 and so should not be privy to any of 1.0's preferences settings. The new search issue probably has something to do with a file being corrupted / left open / otherwise not handled correctly after that crash; if you delete and reinstall everything it should hopefully start working again.
stuckinsh - daniu's suggestion about moving the files around should help matters considerably, see other threads/posts for more on that.
daniu - this is still kind of surprising, actually, since Pleco 2.0 is plenty fast on our own X51v... is it really much slower than the old version?
The highlighting issue is related to the same bug that causes the weird little spaces between characters and is a known problem. The 1/0 in stroke order and lack of audio are probably the result of either missing data files or the wrong keyfile; make sure plecostroke.pdb and the audio files (man-x/b/s, woman-x/b/s) are all installed in the same directory as your other Pleco data files, a separate Audio folder might cause problems so they should go in just \Pleco. The audio files are in a separate install file, and plecostroke was omitted from the very first beta archive so you might want to download it again if it's missing. Full-screen character input is indeed missing at the moment, and the sleep problem is something we haven't done much testing on but are expecting to have to do something about since Windows CE has such hideously unstable storage card drivers.
Glad that the two versions coexisted well on Pocket PC at least. There's no way to get that message back, but you can check in the Ordering screen to make sure everything you've installed is there - I suppose it might help to put a little notice on that screen saying there are components missing. The thinner pen actually wasn't intentional, just a matter of us not getting around to making it bigger because we added VGA support about two days before we released the beta. We've got oodles and oodles of bandwidth, so as long as the peaks aren't too huge (they weren't for the initial release) we're fine on that; the file you downloaded today is the same as what you downloaded a few days ago, though, we never change the file without changing the filename along with it (and generally the beta version number too).
And yes, ipsi is correct that we haven't released a lot of the audio files yet. 512 MB card is the minimum we're currently giving out, though 1.0 GB is still a good idea particularly if any of the new dictionary licenses we're currently discussing go through...
jugdish - weird little bug... perhaps the sound system isn't being reset properly after Pleco uses it to play audio. We'll see what we can figure out... and yes, the no-duplicate-flashcard option will in the finished version really and truly prevent duplicate flashcards, unlike in 1.0 where it generally only worked within a particular list.
gato - we use the *exact* same sytem for handwriting recognition that was used in 1.0, so I can't think of any reason why the recognizer would be less accurate... is anyone else sensing anything like this? The "rare" option actually existed in 1.0, too, in the Input preferences screen; it should probably be checked by default, but for beginning Chinese students it could actually be very useful to leave it off, since it both improves accuracy (by reducing the number of possible mismatches) and also lessens the likelihood of accidentally selecting an uncommon character that looks very similar to the character you were trying to look up.
Alexis - glad to hear it worked for a while at least. Though the preferences issue is still baffling, 2.0 uses a different creator code from 1.0 and so should not be privy to any of 1.0's preferences settings. The new search issue probably has something to do with a file being corrupted / left open / otherwise not handled correctly after that crash; if you delete and reinstall everything it should hopefully start working again.
stuckinsh - daniu's suggestion about moving the files around should help matters considerably, see other threads/posts for more on that.
daniu - this is still kind of surprising, actually, since Pleco 2.0 is plenty fast on our own X51v... is it really much slower than the old version?
The highlighting issue is related to the same bug that causes the weird little spaces between characters and is a known problem. The 1/0 in stroke order and lack of audio are probably the result of either missing data files or the wrong keyfile; make sure plecostroke.pdb and the audio files (man-x/b/s, woman-x/b/s) are all installed in the same directory as your other Pleco data files, a separate Audio folder might cause problems so they should go in just \Pleco. The audio files are in a separate install file, and plecostroke was omitted from the very first beta archive so you might want to download it again if it's missing. Full-screen character input is indeed missing at the moment, and the sleep problem is something we haven't done much testing on but are expecting to have to do something about since Windows CE has such hideously unstable storage card drivers.
Glad that the two versions coexisted well on Pocket PC at least. There's no way to get that message back, but you can check in the Ordering screen to make sure everything you've installed is there - I suppose it might help to put a little notice on that screen saying there are components missing. The thinner pen actually wasn't intentional, just a matter of us not getting around to making it bigger because we added VGA support about two days before we released the beta. We've got oodles and oodles of bandwidth, so as long as the peaks aren't too huge (they weren't for the initial release) we're fine on that; the file you downloaded today is the same as what you downloaded a few days ago, though, we never change the file without changing the filename along with it (and generally the beta version number too).
And yes, ipsi is correct that we haven't released a lot of the audio files yet. 512 MB card is the minimum we're currently giving out, though 1.0 GB is still a good idea particularly if any of the new dictionary licenses we're currently discussing go through...
mikelove said:
OK, I moved the PD2 files out of SD CARD/Programs to one layer closer to the root. It now resides on SD Card/PD2. Now my audio files work. Also, I checked and the PD2 orders page has me listed for everything. Now, I need to figure out why I can't even begin to get stroke order. Oh, and I don't get popup definitions. I still don't know what the ActiveSync problem is--maybe it's just that PD2 has somehow slowed down AS so much that the 30 minutes I've waited to let the sync finish isn't a long enough period. I'll work on AS later today. But I would love to see the stroke order--although I'll probably never use it in real life.
And I always quit using the official Exit command in PD1 and PD2.
Haiyou, I can't find a place to change the font.
Oh, it's not that the handwriting recognition is less effective, but that I didn't know what the "Rare" checkbox was for. Since "Rare" is unchecked by default in 2.0 (unlike in 1.03), I couldn't get a character recognized until I checked it. I was suggesting that since it's unclear what's rare and what's not, having it unchecked by default may cause confusion when people can't find a character. Even beginning students may sometimes look up a "rare" character, for example, if they are looking up words in a menu or a sign. Beginning students may not even know what's traditional and what's simplified, and having "TC" unchecked by default could cause a similar confusion. But that I think is probably a lesser problem.
By the way, the handwriting recognition panel seems a bit slower in 2.0 than it was in 1.03. It seems to take a little longer for the stylus stroke to register on the screen.
sfrrr - so you're very certain that plecostroke.pdb is actually installed? And in a folder that Pleco is successfully seeing other files in? Strange problem...
Popup definitions don't work on Windows Mobile yet, so that's why that's not happening, and as far as font changes there is no place to change the font; there probably will be in the finished version but we're not even 100% committed to that yet since we need to do some testing to make sure our system still works well with other common Chinese-character fonts. Annoying, I agree, but switching to our own font system was the only way to fix many of the font-related problems people have been having with Pleco on Windows Mobile and ultimately I think the software will be much better for it.
gato - thanks for the clarification. Definitely a mistake to leave Rare off by default. As for the handwriting recognition problem, this is happening because we increased the amount of smoothing that it applies to strokes; if you start drawing without checking to see whether the first few pixels are being filled in, the stroke should show up fine in the end.
Popup definitions don't work on Windows Mobile yet, so that's why that's not happening, and as far as font changes there is no place to change the font; there probably will be in the finished version but we're not even 100% committed to that yet since we need to do some testing to make sure our system still works well with other common Chinese-character fonts. Annoying, I agree, but switching to our own font system was the only way to fix many of the font-related problems people have been having with Pleco on Windows Mobile and ultimately I think the software will be much better for it.
gato - thanks for the clarification. Definitely a mistake to leave Rare off by default. As for the handwriting recognition problem, this is happening because we increased the amount of smoothing that it applies to strokes; if you start drawing without checking to see whether the first few pixels are being filled in, the stroke should show up fine in the end.
Hi!
I am absolutely amazed to be able to announce that my Plecodict seems to work probably the best way it can by that time ...
After the registry removale thing (was surprised that this registry editor was actually already on my PDA) I can
-see Stroke order
-hear audio - nobody told me that it is only possible in Chinese dictionaries - why not pick the first chinese character in english ones
-Pd seems to crash less in general and especially after sleeping ...
Actually you can get this key-activated, component missing message by deleting the registry keys, right? There seemed to be nothing missing any more. However Audio is always male - no matter what (I set it up)
Wao
remaining issues:
-Speed - PDA keeps pumping down the entries - I can definitely see the order of page creation and gotta wait til everything is done before doing something ... And - yeah - I got 16MB graphics memory - 4 times as much as my first PC
-the dictionary very often switches to english dict (21st) when I chose a character from handwriting recognition - trying to get a simple ni3 (english: you) for stroke order can become difficult ...
OK - that`s it for now.
I can see what it will become an really get excited!
be blessed
Daniel
PS. have you actually tried this forum with a PDA? Not so easy to use ... in the early morning I do not like to switch on my PC ...
I am absolutely amazed to be able to announce that my Plecodict seems to work probably the best way it can by that time ...
After the registry removale thing (was surprised that this registry editor was actually already on my PDA) I can
-see Stroke order
-hear audio - nobody told me that it is only possible in Chinese dictionaries - why not pick the first chinese character in english ones
-Pd seems to crash less in general and especially after sleeping ...
Actually you can get this key-activated, component missing message by deleting the registry keys, right? There seemed to be nothing missing any more. However Audio is always male - no matter what (I set it up)
Wao
remaining issues:
-Speed - PDA keeps pumping down the entries - I can definitely see the order of page creation and gotta wait til everything is done before doing something ... And - yeah - I got 16MB graphics memory - 4 times as much as my first PC
-the dictionary very often switches to english dict (21st) when I chose a character from handwriting recognition - trying to get a simple ni3 (english: you) for stroke order can become difficult ...
OK - that`s it for now.
I can see what it will become an really get excited!
be blessed
Daniel
PS. have you actually tried this forum with a PDA? Not so easy to use ... in the early morning I do not like to switch on my PC ...
With regard to the pronouciation thing, there are multiple pronounciations for each character, and it would likely take a lot of code (and processing power) to make it work correctly, assuming it could even realistically be done on a handheld device.
While I would like it to be able to speak highlighted words, I'm not sure it can be done.
While I would like it to be able to speak highlighted words, I'm not sure it can be done.
ipsi said:
eh ... I was not talking about english audio! Just about using audio in english dictionaries - meaning PD should speak the chinese character that appears first in the record, or the highlighted one or or or ...
For english pronounciation: it is too easy to learn to do it ... and the cases where you need it are too special for a software to actually cover without recording all words.
regards
Daniel