Miscellaneous Strange Behavior

This article applies to:

• Kurzweil 1000

Symptoms

Symptoms can include speech starting or stopping at random times, or the position in the text changing inexplicably.

Cause

Certain human interface hardware devices like joysticks, game pad, and keypads can send spurious signals to the computer, which are interpreted by the Kurzweil 1000 as commands to start or stop speaking, or move the cursor. The problem is that the computer thinks that the device is an uncalibrated joystick, so the joystick driver is generating spurious data.

Solution

One solution is simply to unplug the device. Another is to disable Kurzweil 1000's use of joystick devices.

To disable Kurzweil 1000's use of joystick device, first make sure Kurzweil 1000 is not running. Then, go into the folder C:\Program Files\Kurzweil Educational Systems\Common Files. Delete the file "DirectInputManager.ocx" (do not confuse it with DirectoryManager.ocx). Then create a new, empty file with the name DirectInputManager.ocx. One way to do so is by creating a text file, and then renaming it. This is necessary to defeat the installer, which would automatically try a repair if some file named DirectInputManager.ocx didn't exist.

History

Creation Date: December 12, 2005

Last Modified: December 12, 2005