Voice Attack opens, and immediately crashes.

[Bannor]

Hello. Haven't used VA for about 12 months (was working perfectly then), recently saw there were some updates so I made sure VA updated itself. Now when I actually want to use it, it opens, starts its self-tests, and usually crashes with the Windows error message of something like, "Voice Attack has stopped working. Click here to close the program"
Sometimes it manages to complete all the self-tests, and it crashes while waiting for me to start Elite Dangerous (even before I have the chance to start ED).

The file 'VoiceAttackFault' shows the following:

14 July 2021 22:36:56***************************************************************************************
System.InvalidOperationException: A task could not complete because the Speech Recognizer engine had timed out.
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.MarshaledInvoke(Control caller, Delegate method, Object[] args, Boolean synchronous)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.Invoke(Delegate method, Object[] args)
at VoiceAttack.frmMain.()
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()
***VoiceAttack v1.8.9 - Windows 6.1.7601.65536
Plugin assemblies:
bindED Plugin v1.0 [bindEDplugin.dll] (enabled) - Last call: 14 Jul 2021 10:06:46:66 VA_Init1
EDDI 3.7.3 [EddiVoiceAttackResponder.dll] (disabled)
HCS Plugin v3.6.9 - (c) 2016-2021 HCS VoicePacks Ltd [HCSPlugin.dll] (enabled) - Last call: 14 Jul 2021 10:27:38:42 VA_Invoke1

AFAIK nothing about my version of Windows has changed since then. I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 - and Windows ended support for W7 a year ago now (?) - so there should be no weird Windows updates causing the problem.

Some help will be appreciated. I'm trying to get back into ED after not having played it for *MONTHS*, and VA will help a lot with this. Running the VA executable as Admin does not help.

Secondary question: I'm sure it cannot be related (because the crashes happen before I can even start ED, but I have now bought Odyssey for ED - do I need to download something specific for VA to work in ED:O?
Tertiary question: I have 2 ED accounts, 1 with Odyssey, and 1 without. I will be playing on both ED accounts at times. How will this work as far as VA is concerned? Maybe in the future I will buy Odyssey for my 2nd ED account, but not now.

Philip

[gmagenheimer]

Hi, Philip

The error message you've provided indicates that the speech engine is timing out for some reason. The first thing we'll need to do is to try to isolate where the problem is coming from (the speech engine, plugin or possible file corruption). You should be able to hold down CTRL + Shift when you launch VA from its installation folder (usually in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VoiceAttack) to get the, 'Load Options' screen. From there, you'll be able to select the option, 'Disable Plugin Support'. After checking that option, click 'OK' and see if VA starts up. Let me know how that goes and we'll go from there.

[Bannor]

Thanks for the response!

I did as instructed, and VA did not crash or otherwise close itself, even after several minutes.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2835856090

What's the next step?

Philip

[Pfeil]

You'll want to make sure any and all third-party plugins are up-to-date and the appropriate version for your configuration.


I believe HCS Voice Packs has a separate profile for "Odyssey", and their plugin likely has been updated specifically to support changes in that game version.

I'd assume they have a documented update procedure, but for more information you'd want to contact them directly via their forum[forum.hcsvoicepacks.com], or their Discord[discord.gg]

[Bannor]

Thanks!

How do I even try to find out which (if any) 3rd-party plugins are installed? Unless you're referring to HCS voice packs, of which I have 3. But I've gone through the process of updating them. Twice.

Sorry, I simply don't have enough experience to deal with this issue, and even the little I have is from over a year ago when I last used any of these apps.

[Pfeil]

Click the wrench icon on the main window, then "Plugin Manager"; that'll show you a list of installed plugins

You can also disable individual plugins from there, to try and narrow it down.

[Bannor]

Wow, amazingly quick response!!

OK. In order to run VA, I must use the Crtl-Shift trick - which disables all plugins. But the 'Plugin Manager' button is now greyed out and I cannot click on it.
Checking the 'Enable Plugin Support' check-box warns me, but does not enable the 'Plugin Manager' button. It says "Plugin support will be enabled the next time VA starts".
I'm stuck. What now?

[Pfeil]

In that case you'll need to manually move the plugins out of the "Apps" folder in VoiceAttack's installation directory.

Each plugin should be in its own subfolder of the "Apps" folder, so you can move those out of there, then move then back in one by one, starting VoiceAttack each time.


The path to the "Apps" folder is shown on the "General" tab of the VoiceAttack options window. You can click it to open the relevant folder.

[Bannor]

Playing around a bit, I browsed VA's data folder. In the HCS sub-folder is a text file called HCSPlugin which appears to be an error log. The last few errors are below:

02/06/2022 00:44:18 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.2 Journal Log - 15/06/2022 08:24:58
-------------------------------------------------------
15/06/2022 08:24:58 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.2 Journal Log - 15/06/2022 08:24:58
-------------------------------------------------------
15/06/2022 08:24:58 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.3 Journal Log - 15/06/2022 08:35:05
-------------------------------------------------------
15/06/2022 08:35:05 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.3 Journal Log - 15/06/2022 08:35:05
-------------------------------------------------------
15/06/2022 08:35:06 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.3 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:52:09
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:52:09 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.3 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:52:10
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:52:10 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:54:32
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:54:32 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:54:33
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:54:33 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:56:39
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:56:39 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 11/07/2022 10:56:39
-------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2022 10:56:39 : ERROR: Backpack
Could not find file 'C:\Users\Philip\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Backpack.json'.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 14/07/2022 18:25:07
-------------------------------------------------------
14/07/2022 18:25:07 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 14/07/2022 18:34:16
-------------------------------------------------------
14/07/2022 18:34:16 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

HCS VoicePacks v3.8.4 Journal Log - 14/07/2022 18:45:21
-------------------------------------------------------
14/07/2022 18:45:21 : ERROR Journal.json event: LoadGame
The path is not of a legal form.

The entries from June are from when I updated the voice packs - and VA still appeared to function then.

I hope there's something in there that might help.

[Pfeil]

If moving the HCS Voice Packs plugin folder stops the crashing, you'll want to contact them about that via their forum[forum.hcsvoicepacks.com], or their Discord[discord.gg]

[Bannor]

Ok, it looks like the EDDI plugin was responsible. Reinstalling it (latest version) seems to have solved the crashing.

Thanks for all the help!

EDIT: The problem is NOT solved. Before, I was running the ED profile in VA (because at that time I did not have Odyssey). Now I got it working again, it said I *MUST* use the ED Odyssey profile (because I now have Odyssey) - and when I change the VA profile to this, VA crashes - just like it did before.

This time it wrote nothing to VoiceAttackFault.

This is starting to annoy me! I buy games and apps to have fun with them. This is not fun.

Philip

[Pfeil]

Does the crash still occur after you disable the HCS Voice Packs plugin through the plugin manager (and restart VoiceAttack)?


If you cannot currently start VoiceAttack because the profile that apparently causes the crash (likely because it utilizes the plugin), disable plugin support through the load options window, start, switch to a profile that does not cause a crash, re-enable plugin support, restart, disable the plugin, then restart again and try switching to the intended profile.

[Bannor]

I used the Crtl-Shift trick to disable all plugins. I set the default profile back to vanilla ED (this is Horizons, of course).
Relaunched VA. Even though the loaded profile is back to what it was, it still crashes.
I manually removed the HCS profile folder from Apps.
VA launches successfully:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2836497483

I have 2 other plugins (that are active when VA launches successfully):

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2836497778

This leads me to believe that these other 2 plugins are not the cause of the crashing. And, by proccess of elimination, I conclude that it is the HCS profile that is causing this. If VA works with 2 out of three plugins but not with the third, probably it is the third plugin that is causing the problem - in this case, the HCS plugin.

So what's next?

[Bannor]

Update: After running for several minutes, doing nothing, VA has spontaneously crashed again. Still nothing in VoiceAttackFault. So the other 2 plugins are back on the list of suspects.

[Bannor]

Wow. Now even after using the Crtl-Shift trick and disabling all plugins, VA **STILL** crashes. This just keeps getting better.... :(

[Bannor]

Update: I manually downloaded my 3 HCS voicepacks, and manually installed them (after having removed the HCS plugin folder from Apps).
VA then successfully launched, even if I switched to the EDO profile. I left it like that for a couple of hours - no crashes.
Then I switched on my bluetooth headphones to actually start playing the game - and VA immediately crashed. Could not get it to relaunch properly while my headphones were active. **STILL** nothing new in VoiceAttackFault - what's the point of having an error log that collects no errors?
I'm done with this for the day. I'm pissed off at having to waste an entire day messing around with buggy software!