Beta 1 Feedback Thread

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Just to create an official one - bug reports can go under the Bug Reporting thread, this is just for first impressions / praise / criticism / ideas for improvements / etc.
 

sfrrr

状元
Beta 1 Download Info

You're wonderful, Mike. PD is getting wonderful. Right now, I'm having installation problems. Either Windows Vista or WM5 on My Axim x50V won't let me transfer the files into the proper folders in Main Memory or CF Card. I get the usual files cannot be moved notification on the desktop. However, I have barely begun (heh heh :twisted: ) and I'm sure all the work will be worth it.

Edit note: Could you please move this post over to the Feedback forum. That's where I should have posted to in the first place. Thanks.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Re: Beta 1 Download Info

Thanks!

Don't move them directly from the .zip archive; Windows is rather finicky about that. Extract (right-click) the .zip to a separate folder, or just move each file to to the desktop before you then move it to your Pocket PC.
 

sfrrr

状元
Re: Beta 1 Download Info

I'm about to go back and try it again. I'll keep in mind the zip stuff. Thanks.

Sorry, I did it again. please move this post and I promise to observe the topic niceties a bit better. :oops:
 

sfrrr

状元
Installed fine the second time. You were right, it was due to dragging directly from archive--One of the things that annoy me about Vista. Already upgraded, registered, activated, and about to be fully downloaded.

Looking pretty good, but haven't used it seriously yet.
 

gandq

探花
Hi Mike.

Would like to join the merry beta-testing group, but I've got one big problem, which is that it seems I can only install the working, wonderful Plecodict that I use everyday OR the new buggy beta that I would love to test and give feedback about.

Any way I can have both installed at the same time?

Cheers,


jo.
 
Sorry I don't get it. How do I buy this beta product and how do I pay for it? I am an old Oxford/Plecodict 1.0 customer so I am perhabs entitled to some kind of discount, although that doesn't really matter so much to me.

I have downloaded the program files to my pocket pc (main software and audio files) according to the instruction in the installing readme file.

What do I do next? When I log into my old My orders page there is nothing about Pleco 2.0.
When I log in through the link provided in the Beta 1 Download Info thread I am asked for Machine ID. It says I can find it in Pleco 2.0 ordering screen. Where is this ordering screen?

Sorry about these questions. Just want to buy and try this new beta version as soon as possible.
 

gato

状元
When I log in through the link provided in the Beta 1 Download Info thread I am asked for Machine ID. It says I can find it in Pleco 2.0 ordering screen. Where is this ordering screen?
The "Ordering Screen" mentioned is under the Help Menu of PlecoDict 2.0 Demo. That screen will tell you what your Machine ID is. You have to install the program to get to it.
 
gato said:
The "Ordering Screen" mentioned is under the Help Menu of PlecoDict 2.0 Demo. That screen will tell you what your Machine ID is. You have to install the program to get to it

Thanks for that! With your help I have now managed to activate the software.

I have also purchased all new dictionaries and audio files and copied the new keyfile to My Documents. My old dictionaries (ABC, Oxford, Business dictionary etc.) seem to load just fine and I am currently trying them out. The new ones (Standard dictionary, 21 Century) and the audio files don't seem to load yet for some reason although I put them on the same folder (Pleco folder on my SD card) as the old dictionaries.
 

caesartg

榜眼
Well done Mike!

The new dictionaries are excellent - I now know how to write my hometown (population 30000) in Chinese. And the new Chinese only dictionary is getting my brain working. First glance at the reader, it looks very good! I like how you can select the number of characters you want in the top window over-riding the default dictionary lookup. Once this is all polished up, it'll be the Chinese study and reference killer app for sure.
 

Jamie

秀才
Hi Mike,

Despite several tries, PlecoDict 2 isn't loading in my Sony Clie TH-55, which has 20.8M of free space on the Handheld and 897.9M on the device. I followed your instructions and loaded PlecoDict.prc, the two handwriting recognizer files (palmhwr folder), and the keyfile onto the device and all the rest on to the memory card. I even downloaded your updated files. Each time I click the icon I get the following error: Bitmap68K.c,Line:2573, UnknownHighDensityDispatchrequest:21. I then have to reset. Thanks, Jamie
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
TaiwanSwedey - are you sure your new keyfile was installed? Did you get any message from the software telling you it had been activated?

There might be an issue with your old keyfile getting in the way, try this: go to http://www.nosleep.net/ and download and install FileZ (if you haven't already), run it, tap on the button to edit your Preferences, scroll down and delete any entries with "PLEN" as the creator code. Then, install another copy of your keyfile and try unlocking again.

caesartg - thanks! That reader system is going to be really nice once it's integrated with the 5-way navigator pad, each direction will be mapped to one of those four highlight adjustment buttons and the center button will toggle between that and just moving the highlight cursor between lines / characters so it should be possible to navigate a document without ever using a stylus at all.

Jamie - try the just-updated application posted in the Bug Reporting Thread; we'd accidentally put in a system call that most pre-2006 Palms didn't support, ironically enough in the thoroughly-trivial function responsible for drawing the little letters in the dictionary switch icon, but we've now checked for / taken it out on those models so the software should start smoothly.
 

roddy

秀才
Haven't had much of a chance to play with this, but it's looking very very impressive. Excellent stuff, and now I'm going to see if I can make this new audio feature say rude words . . .
 

frchux

Member
Hi mike,

I've tried to install PlecoDict on my HTC Touch running WM6, but when I lauched the apps the first time, no dict was selected.
So I quited, and when i re-lanched PlecoDict, i get a error message : "Sorry, no dictionary data files where found. Please check you've installed them correctly".
I put the data under many directories to try :
- SDCard/Program Files/PlecoDict/dictionaries
- SDCard/Program Files/Pleco/dictionaries
- SDCard/PlecoDict/dictionaries
- SDCard/Pleco/dictionaries...

Edit : Sorry, it's me, I put the dictionary under the root folder of Pleco and it worked...
Frchux
 

gandq

探花
Hi Mike,

once more: is there a way I can install the beta without loosing Plecodict 1.0.3 ?

I need my flashcards!
Will ranks and flags be carried over to 2.0 or will I lose them all in the process?

Anyway, it seems that I can't install the beta without deleting 1.0.3.

Thanks for a short reply,


jo. - gandq
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Yes, you should be able to have both installed at the same time if you use the latest version of the Pleco application (posted in the Bug Reports thread and in the latest pd20b1a.zip download file), which won't replace / conflict with the old one. However, given the instability of the beta it's probably not a good idea to install it on a system that you're relying on every day to learn Chinese with; there's the very real potential that it could cause a hard reset / wipe your Palm's memory in which case you'd lose your flashcards and not be able to use our software at all until you reinstalled.

Ranks and flags will move over to 2.0 once we release a converter utility, but we aren't planning to do that until the finished version is released.
 

ipsi

状元
EDIT: Bah, should've checked page 2... :p

Check the bug reporting thread for a fix. Though you will lose the ABC, NWP, and C&T (and Unihan) dictionaries if you've been using those, as they have the same name in 2.0 as they did in 1.3...
 

gandq

探花
Hi Mike,

thanks a lot for the info.
I know that I won't be able to completely switch to the beta immediately. Just want to check out the new features, i. e. the reader and the new flashcard features etc.
But deleting my working Plecodict with all my user entries - that seemed to high a price.

I'll install the beta now.

Thanks again,

Cheers


jo.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
OK. Do make sure to back up your flashcards etc, though (if you haven't already) - HotSync your Palm and then copy the PlecoDict Flashcards and PlecoDict User DB files out of the Backup folder in your Palm Desktop user folder (generally C, Program Files, Palm or palmOne or Palm Desktop, (your username), Backup)
 
mikelove said:
TaiwanSwedey - are you sure your new keyfile was installed? Did you get any message from the software telling you it had been activated?

There might be an issue with your old keyfile getting in the way, try this: go to http://www.nosleep.net/ and download and install FileZ (if you haven't already), run it, tap on the button to edit your Preferences, scroll down and delete any entries with "PLEN" as the creator code. Then, install another copy of your keyfile and try unlocking again.


I reinstalled the Plecodict files with the new download links you provided today and the new dictionaries and the audio function both work now. I also reinstalled the keyfile.

I can find the Chinese names of a lot of countries and cities. This is great , thanks.

However FYI I still got the same error message as yesterday after the keyfile was installed. "Your keyfile has been accepted, but some of the dictionaries or other components you purchased were not found. Please double check that you've installed everything correctly". It doesn't seem to affect functionality though since I can use the new dictionaries now.

Unfortunately I am using Windows mobile 6 so I don't think I can use the FileZ software you mentioned.
 
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