Handwriting Recognition Files Disappearing

[mihobu]

There was a thread on this back in 2005, but I couldn't find anything more recent on this topic, so I apologize if I'm covering well-worn territory here...

I've run into a problem where the handwriting recognition software goes AWOL. The error message is "Cannot locate the handwriting recognition files. Please make sure you've installed all the necessary files and that you've installed them to RAM and NOT to a flash memory card."

I normally keep all the database and font files on a SD card because my device (Palm Treo 680) does not have very much extra space left over if I put all that stuff on the phone's RAM. I have tried putting all the files on RAM, however, and the outcome is the same. When I power the device completely off by removing the battery, the handwriting recognition goes bye-bye.

So far, it appears that I can simply reinstall PlecoDict HWR Database.pdb and PlecoDict HWR Library.prc and everything is fine. Quite annoying, but not catastrophic. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Many thanks,
Michael Burkhardt

 

[mikelove]

This is caused by a Palm OS glitch that we haven't yet figured out a way to work around (though we've got a couple of ideas); basically, if a file is in use when the device is reset or powered off, the flag indicating that the file is in use can sometimes stay active; since there's no program actually using the file, that flag never gets cleared, and consequently when our software tries to open it again it comes up as being in use and unavailable even when it's actually not.

Reinstalling the databases will usually fix it, as will moving them to a memory card and then moving them back (the data is still intact and the flag doesn't persist when the files are copied).

 

[kevinsmith]

Handwriting Recognition Files Disappeared after Manual Reset

I just had this problem too after a manual reset. Fortunately, I was able to resolve it by reinstalling the handwriting files, as mikelove mentions.