Hunaidi

Q: Dictation not working on Mountain Lion?

I enabled dictation on my mac through the System Preferences. First I tried going to notes and pressed the fn key twice, the Siri like mic appeared and I began to say simple words such us "hello" "how are you" and pressed done. The thre dots appeared for a few seconds then the 'three dots' went left to right and nothing appeared. I've tried this on notes, microsoft word, and also while typing this discussion. Any ideas?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 25, 2012 3:27 PM

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Q: Dictation not working on Mountain Lion?

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  • by loyking,

    loyking loyking Aug 4, 2012 9:04 PM in response to robdrums69
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 4, 2012 9:04 PM in response to robdrums69

    Taking the summary from Raju K earlier on... Dictation does not work for a variety of reasons:

     

    1) Using applications that uses secure keyboard input such as 1Password: Disabling the app restores dictation function to ML

     

    2) Wrong audio device selected / inappropriate volume settings: setting the input source to internal microphone and adjusting the volume restores dictation function.

     

    3) DNS settings issues: I am not sure whether if this is an Apple problem or DNS propagation issues but changing the DNS settings, either to Google DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) or 208.67.220.220 / 208.67.222.222 seems to restore function. Switching back to your ISP's DNS settings disables dictation.

     

    4) Connection issues with Apple's dictation servers / ? for users located outside the USA. Connecting to the internet via a VPN connection to a server in the USA/UK/Canada restores function. Turning off VPN disables dictation again.

     

    I belong to category 4... Have yet to get a satisfactory solution without VPN. I have emailed AppleCare but haven't received any response yet. I hope to get a solution from them soon.


  • by David3141,

    David3141 David3141 Aug 5, 2012 4:45 AM in response to loyking
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 4:45 AM in response to loyking

    Using the Google DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) worked for me - kept my previous DNS settings, just put Google's above them. I'm outside USA.

     

    My Mac experience is becoming more and more like a Windows experience - too many fiddly little irritations that make me focus on the machine rather than what I'm trying to do with it.

  • by anon2001,

    anon2001 anon2001 Aug 5, 2012 5:14 AM in response to loyking
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 5:14 AM in response to loyking

    @loyking best answer++

  • by Parallex33,

    Parallex33 Parallex33 Aug 5, 2012 5:17 AM in response to David3141
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 5:17 AM in response to David3141

    My Mac experience is becoming more and more like a Windows experience

     

    Having to self resolve DNS on an first release of a new OS doesn't really make it like Windows.

  • by ml314hk,

    ml314hk ml314hk Aug 5, 2012 9:00 AM in response to loyking
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 9:00 AM in response to loyking

    VPN does temporally solved the problem

    From Hong Kong

  • by danbasson,

    danbasson danbasson Aug 5, 2012 9:03 AM in response to ml314hk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 9:03 AM in response to ml314hk

    Which server did you choose? Im also in Hong Kong

  • by Lou224,

    Lou224 Lou224 Aug 5, 2012 5:54 PM in response to Hunaidi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 5:54 PM in response to Hunaidi

    I was having the same problem, and then I took it to the Apple Store. I had a technician look at it, and he found that the internal microphone was not connected. They plugged it back in and now everything works fine. Prior to that I tried every possible suggestion on the web and nothing. If you've tried everything, then make an appointment with the genius bar and they will fix it. The technician said that this is somewhat of a common problem.

  • by ml314hk,

    ml314hk ml314hk Aug 5, 2012 6:25 PM in response to danbasson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2012 6:25 PM in response to danbasson

    Try greenvpn, it's free

  • by abdulla119,

    abdulla119 abdulla119 Aug 6, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Hunaidi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Hunaidi

    hi

     

    i have saim proplom in my i mac ... rely i do everythink put it not work .

     

    i need some help from apple or freind .

  • by robdrums69,

    robdrums69 robdrums69 Aug 6, 2012 2:58 PM in response to nicwalmsley
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 2:58 PM in response to nicwalmsley

    FIXED

    Look under the ICON GUYS!!! that little icon to left - it's tricky LOL

     

    This also worked for me as well. I see my defaulted to the AUDIO CONTROLLER I have installed on my machine. Thanks for the tip buddy!

    Working mint now

    Rob

  • by Eagledup,

    Eagledup Eagledup Aug 6, 2012 5:21 PM in response to cloudquinot
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 5:21 PM in response to cloudquinot

    well , first you need to go to speech and turn it on , that would be a start

  • by abdulla119,

    abdulla119 abdulla119 Aug 6, 2012 5:28 PM in response to Eagledup
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 5:28 PM in response to Eagledup

    i do saim put stii not working

  • by Eagledup,

    Eagledup Eagledup Aug 6, 2012 5:31 PM in response to robdrums69
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 5:31 PM in response to robdrums69

    hey guys , can anyone tell me why my dictation is turned off and won't allow me to turn it back on ( i had it on before for awhile and it just stopped working ) ?

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Screen Shot 2012-08-06 at 7.25.19 PM.png

  • by mofodojo,

    mofodojo mofodojo Aug 7, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Hunaidi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 7, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Hunaidi

     

    2011 27" imac, am used to the built-in dictation on my iPhone 4s. It works beautifully over wi-fi, unlike the version that came with Mountain Lion. I can say 10 words, and it might show 2, 1 may be right if i'm lucky. Otherwise, the sequential dots will shake no. Have tried: changing mike selection to internal from automatic, having a face time call to confirm the mike works OK, (other person hears me fine), unplugging ethernet cable & using over wifi (airport extreme network, same one my 4S uses & works perfectly on), rebooting, and yes, dictation is enabled. Now I know I have been right, until now, to wait several months to upgrade after a new release. What's amazing is, this is tried and true technology! Any suggestions? By the way, I have FIOS-

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Aug 7, 2012 9:27 AM in response to mofodojo
    Level 9 (54,744 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 7, 2012 9:27 AM in response to mofodojo

    Try the headset that came with your 4s and see if that improves the situation any.

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