Mountain Lion Dictation not working when 1PW is running

dreinmund

After upgrading to ML, the new Dictation function wouldn't work. Neither on my iMac, nor on my MBP.



Finally, after fiddling around, I found that the moment I quit 1Password (3.8.20, latest version), Dictation would start to work. When I restart 1Password, Dictation immediately stops working in about 50% of the times, and in the other 50% of the times, within a few minutes after starting 1Password.



What gives ?

khad

Sorry to hear that you are having some trouble with Dictation in Mountain Lion. I'm not sure how having 1Password running could possibly have an effect on Dictation. I'm not saying it is impossible, but there really isn't anything tying the two together. I'm not able to reproduce the problem in my testing, and we've heard of no similar reports.



I actually dictated this sentence with 1Password 3.8.20 running.



If the correlation is only about 50% you may want to keep looking for another cause, especially considering that you said the trouble does not begin immediately when running 1Password but a few minutes after you have started it. It sounds like something else is happening on your system, but please let me know what you uncover.



I have been using Dictation and 1Password 3.8.20 in Mountain Lion together for quite some time. If you have steps I can take to reproduce the problem, please let me know. I'd love to get this resolved if there is a problem in 1Password.

dreinmund

Well, there is correlation - the moment I quit 1PW, Dictation starts working again ASAP, 100% of the times. On two different Macs.

khad

I understand, but you said the issue does not [i]begin[/i] when you [i]start[/i] 1Password. If we have no similar reports of this and are unable to reproduce it, it can be next to impossible to fix. Could you please describe in as much detail as possible the steps you are taking and what you are [not] seeing happen?



Does the Dictation keyboard shortcut not respond?



Does the prompt appear but not transmit your dictation?



As mentioned in [url="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4137078?start=90&tstart=0"]the Apple Support thread where you also reported this[/url], are you behind a proxy server or firewall?



With some additional information from you we may be able to provide some more help. Thanks in advance!

dreinmund

[quote name='khad' timestamp='1343781583' post='61097']Does the Dictation keyboard shortcut not respond?

[/quote]



It only beeps once with a medium-low pitched tone. No microphone appears.



[quote name='khad' timestamp='1343781583' post='61097']Does the prompt appear but not transmit your dictation?

[/quote]



No.



[quote name='khad' timestamp='1343781583' post='61097']As mentioned in [url="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4137078?start=90&tstart=0"]the Apple Support thread where you also reported this[/url], are you behind a proxy server or firewall?

[/quote]



No, I'm not on a proxy or behind a firewall.

Like I said, Dictation does start to work the very second as I quit 1PW.

There is one higher pitched beep, Microphone symbol appears, then information is transmitted to server, and text inserted at the microphone symbol.



-t

natevancouver

[font=Helvetica][size=3]I am having the same problem. With 1Password running, Dictation sometimes does not work. Once I quit 1Password, it works fine.[/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Description of problem:[/b][/size][/font][list=1]

[*]Enable Dictation.

[*]Start TextEdit. Double-tap Fn (or other hotkey).

[/list]

[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Expected Result:[/b][/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3]Dictation microphone should appear.[/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Actual result:[/b][/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3]Dictation “cancel beep” sounds and no microphone appears.[/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Next steps:[/b][/size][/font][list=1]

[*]Quit 1Password.

[*]Go back to TextEdit. Double-tap Fn (or other hotkey).

[/list]



[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Result:[/b][/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3]Dictation microphone appears as normal and works correctly.[/size][/font]



[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Other things I tried:[/b][/size][/font][list]

[*]I restarted. The problem still occurs.

[*]I turned Dictation off and back on. The problem still occurs.

[*]I quit all apps in the menu bar and Dock that I could, other than 1Password and TextEdit. The problem still occurs.

[/list]

[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]Other notes:[/b][/size][/font][list]

[*]The problem is intermittent. Sometimes Dictation does work, even when 1Password is running.

[*]I am not behind a proxy server or firewall. This does not appear to be a network problem, as Dictation works reliably as soon as I quit 1Password.

[*]When this problem is occurring, if I press the dictation keyboard shortcut, I hear a “cancel dictation” beep and no microphone prompt ever appears.

[/list]

[font=Helvetica][size=3][b]System info:[/b][/size][/font][list]

[*]1Password Version 3.9.6 (39600.038) from the Mac App Store

[*]Mac OS X 10.8 on MacBookPro6,2

[/list]

[font=Helvetica][size=3]I can provide more information on request but because the problem is intermittent, I can’t reproduce it at will.[/size][/font]

MikeT

Hi guys,



Are you hiding 1Password at all? If yes, try minimizing instead of hiding and see if that'll helps at all.



Let me know how it turns out.

dreinmund

Mike, spot on.



When 1PW is hidden, Dictation doesn't work.

When it's open or minimized, Dictation does work.



Does this mean it's a bug in 1PW ?

khad

Thanks for confirming!



[b]There is an issue with 1Password in Mountain Lion where hiding[/b] [b]the main application will enable Secure Input.[/b] The problem is related to Dictation insofar as Dictation is not available when Secure Input is enabled. Our friends at Smile (makers of TextExpander) have [url="http://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/secureinput.html"]a great explanation of Secure Input[/url]:



[quote]Any application can enable Secure Input. With Secure Input enabled, all typing is passed directly to the active application — no other applications can observe your typing. Secure Input is used for entering passwords and other sensitive information. This means that if malicious key-logging software or “spy-ware” somehow gets on your system, it cannot record your passwords. Secure Input is generally enabled when you type into a password field. Some applications also enable Secure Input at other times.[/quote]



Since Dictation will not work when Secure Input is enabled (e.g. in a password field) you will find that you will be unable to use it when hiding 1Password due to the current issue.



We're investigating a fix for this, but the workarounds for now are:[list]

[*][b]Restore or "unhide" the main 1Password app[/b] if you have hidden it to "release" Secure Input.

[*][b]Refrain from hiding 1Password[/b]. (Minimizing 1Password does not cause Secure Input to be enabled, so that will still work.)

[*][b]Switch to another application rather than hiding 1Password[/b] and optionally use [b]"Hide Others" ⌥⌘H[/b] which will hide 1Password as well as all other applications not currently in focus. This does not enable Secure Input.

[*]Obviously [b]quitting 1Password[/b] will also release Secure Input.

[/list]

I hope that helps for now until we can get this resolved. It appears to have just started in Mountain Lion, so we are still determining what exactly is causing it.



If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. We are always here to help!

dreinmund

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't even know about Secure Input. That's an awesome feature of OS X.



Thanks for looking into a fix.

khad

Secure Input really is a great feature. Hopefully we can make sure that it isn't inadvertently enabled when hiding 1Password. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Jensen Gelfond

I stumbled onto this issue when I could not use dictation (I keep 1Password open all the time and usually hidden) and ran into quite a bit of frustration until I finally found out the cause. I really hope there is a way to fix this because none of the suggested solutions are particularly convenient to my workflow, and would really like to be able to use the stock features of Mountain Lion without worrying about this.

khad

Welcome to the forums, Jensen! Thanks for letting us know your workflow is affected by this. I'll pass your feedback along to the developers. In the meantime, you can use one of the [url="http://forum.agilebits.com/index.php?/topic/10669-mountain-lion-dictation-not-working-when-1pw-is-running/page__view__findpost__p__61179"]many workarounds above[/url]. Just in case you were not aware, the main 1Password application does not need to be running in order to use the 1Password extension in your browser(s). That may or may not be a factor for your particular workflow, but I thought I'd mention it.