Author Topic: Voice Attack Stopped Working (Read 5207 times)

Borattata · « **on:** March 24, 2019, 10:07:30 AM »

Hello,

Voice Attack stopped working this morning, so I assume it is related to the 1.7.4 update. I'll try to provide as much info as I can and any help getting this resolved is appreciated.

Issue:
When I start Voice Attack the application window never opens. If I look in the task manager I can see that the program is running and consuming about 25% of the CPU and about 100 MB of RAM. Whatever it is doing, it never finishes it.

It may be worth noting that I am using a particular profile for Arma 3 called Speakeasy: https://forums.bohemia.net/forums/topic/211074-speakeasy-voiceattack-profile/

What I've tried:
1. Running Voice Attack in administrator mode. No change.
2. In %AppData%\VoiceAttack, ensuring that all files and folders have correct permissions. No change.
3. In %AppData%\VoiceAttack, using backup versions of VoiceAttack.dat. I've tried several several versions going back to 2019-03-22, when everything was working fine. No change.
4a. Deleting all files in %AppData%\VoiceAttack. At this point, Voice Attack starts up fine, but my profile is gone, which is not ideal.
4b. After deleting all files in %AppData%\VoiceAttack and starting Voice Attack successfully, I re-imported the Speakeasy profile linked above. It hangs indefinitely on the import.
4c. After letting the import hang for some time, I killed the process. I have observed that a new VoiceAttack.dat file has been created. Upon trying to start VoiceAttack again, the application window never opens but a process runs, as it did before.
5. Restarting my computer. None of the above is affected by this.

I think that covers everything I've done, and I'm happy to provide further info. Thanks in advance for the help!

Gary · « **Reply #1 on:** March 24, 2019, 11:03:36 AM »

Hi, Borattata.

Are you running any plugins by chance? If so, you may want to try disabling your plugins by going into Options > General and unchecking the box labeled, 'Enabled Plugin Support'. Restart VA and see if that changes anything.

If not, read on -
This version of VA did not go through any structural changes that would make it behave as you are describing, so, is it possible that the installation got borked? You may want to try reinstalling VA.

If VA crashes, you'll want to look in the installation folder and see if there is a VoiceAttackFault.txt file that contains anything recent. If you find that file, would you mind uploading and sharing it here?

Borattata · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2019, 11:12:14 AM »

Hi Gary,

I am not running any plugins, 'Enable Plugin Support' is not checked and I've never checked it.

I just tried uninstalling and reinstalling VA, but the issue is still happening as described.

I don't think VA ever crashes, it's more like the program is hanging indefinitely. It shows up in the task manager but no UI window is ever displayed. I went to the installation folder and looked for a VoiceAttackFault.txt file but I don't see one.

Gary · « **Reply #3 on:** March 24, 2019, 11:29:33 AM »

Doh. I am very, very sorry. I started reading, 'I deleted ... ' and glazed over the rest of it, assuming that you were deleting files - which is usually never the solution with VA hangs. I need to slow the heck down

Very sorry (again). This looks like the profile that you have for Arma (Speakeasy) is giving fits. What you'll want to do is put back your .dat files the way they were. Then, you'll want to do the following:

Launch VA while holding down CTRL + Shift to bring up the, 'Load Options' screen. From there, select the first four checkboxes and click, 'OK' (this keeps stuff from startup up with VA). VA *should* load if everything you've described in your fabulously detailed post. You'll want to go into your options and make sure that the Arma profile is not set to load on startup and then switch your profile to something else so that VA is not launching with the Arma profile selected.

Next, you'll want to get with AlphaKilo and Woofer to see what's up with Speakeasy. It's probably something simple that they'll be able to identify quickly.

Borattata · « **Reply #4 on:** March 24, 2019, 11:47:17 AM »

Ok, I put the .dat files back to exactly how they were.

If I hold CTRL + Shift while starting VA nothing changes, I just get the same dialogue box that I get every time I start it now. However this box says "VoiceAttack Improper Shutdown", which lets me click "yes" to open an options menu that mentions pressing "CTRL + SHIFT", so I assume that is the same menu. If I click the first 4 boxes in that menu still nothing changes. VA is listed in the task manager but no UI ever appears.

I can contact AlphaKilo and Woofer, but I don't think it's a problem with Speakeasy. It was working 24 hours ago, and the only thing that has changed since then is VA updated to 1.7.4. I haven't updated Speakeasy or otherwise modified my profile in any way.

Gary · « **Reply #5 on:** March 24, 2019, 11:55:02 AM »

VA did in fact update, but, the problem is within the profile itself. There is a command in there that is probably stuck in some type of loop or is depending on an inline function that may have different requirements. I'm not sure what is going on with the profile, as I did not write it. Again, it may be something simple that AK or Woofer will need to update to keep up with VA when it itself is updated.

Borattata · « **Reply #6 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:04:34 PM »

Ok, I'll go ask them.

In the meantime is there a way for me to download VA 1.7.3 to see if that solves it?

Gary · « **Reply #7 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:08:10 PM »

Previous versions are in here:

https://forum.voiceattack.com/smf/index.php?topic=2585.0

I'll also update the previous version list in this thread with the latest stuff.

Borattata · « **Reply #8 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:09:46 PM »

Ah I figured out that if I just download http://www.voiceattack.com/filesend.aspx?id=voiceattackinstaller_173.exe then I get 1.7.3.

Now everything is back to working like a charm, apart from the fact that it's showing as a trial version. Anyway, hopefully the trial lasts me until the bug gets fixed.

Thanks for the help!

Gary · « **Reply #9 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:11:42 PM »

The trial only allows for 20 commands - you'll want to enter your key again.

Are you running the Steam version or the standalone version?

Borattata · « **Reply #10 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:12:52 PM »

Normally I'm using the Steam version, but after I ran that installer I think I'm running the standalone version.

Gary · « **Reply #11 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:14:07 PM »

Make sure to download the Steam version (it's in those links). Unzip right into your Steam folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\VoiceAttack

Gary · « **Reply #12 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:14:43 PM »

I'll download their profile and see if it hangs on me.

Alpha-Kilo · « **Reply #13 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:20:13 PM »

I will discuss with woofer but for now I can confirm that the Speakeasy profile works as intended with Voice Attack 1.7.3 but it does not work after updating to VA 1.7.4.

As soon as we know we will report back.

Gary · « **Reply #14 on:** March 24, 2019, 12:43:44 PM »

I think I've found the issue, AK - Speakeasy uses a LOT of composite commands (prefix/suffix). There were updates to provide command segment info for composite commands. This is slowing Speakeasy down (much more to process). I will make this an option, as it's a feature that not many are going to use, but it looks like it could drag down profiles that use a BUNCH of composite commands.

So - hold off for the moment.

Edit - Let me rephrase - Heavy use of composite commands AND dynamic command segments

Good stuff, just gets hung on this new processing.

Borattata · « **Reply #15 on:** March 24, 2019, 01:06:34 PM »

Quote from: Gary on March 24, 2019, 12:14:07 PM

Make sure to download the Steam version (it's in those links). Unzip right into your Steam folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\VoiceAttack

The Steam version works with no problem. Thanks again!

Alpha-Kilo · « **Reply #16 on:** March 24, 2019, 01:14:39 PM »

Thanks for reporting this issue, Borattata and thanks for looking into it, Gary!

Gary · « **Reply #17 on:** March 24, 2019, 02:03:56 PM »

What would happen is that VA would eventually load - that load time would be a lot more than somebody would expect (it appears that VA has crashed or is running without a UI). So, I released a new version (v1.7.5) Steam and standalone with an option to bypass the additional processing that is going on that was introduced. I didn't regression test the change against a large set, as it seemed like it was a simple process - and I haven't dug into the depths of Speakeasy yet, so I don't know whether or not this can all be sped up.

On a side note, the reason that the CTRL + Shift wasn't working for Borattata is because VA was still running and since there can only be one running instance, it wouldn't show up. This happened to me, too

Alpha-Kilo · « **Reply #18 on:** March 24, 2019, 03:46:14 PM »

Thanks for publishing 1.7.5 so quickly, Gary!

I have just made a quick test and I could run both the standalone and the Steam version with the Speakeasy profile. I'll test more thoroughly tomorrow but it seems that you fixed it.

By the way, I left the option 'Allow command segment info for composite commands' in the System/Advanced screen unchecked as it was by default.

Alpha-Kilo · « **Reply #19 on:** March 28, 2019, 02:42:08 AM »

After several tests I'd just like to confirm that VA 1.7.5. works well with the Speakeasy profile. I heard from woofer that went directly to 1.7.5 and it also works for him. Thanks again for the quick action, Gary!