HLDJ not working in Windows Vista?

[JayBirdSupreme]

I've had a similar problem with HLSS, I want to use HLDJ for Sven Co-op, but when I press F1 (the key I have binded to play), I get a message in the console that says "Unknown command: -hook". I'm thinking this might be because of the fact that I have Vista, although I could be wrong. Also, when I try to load a file, it says "Loading File", but it never says anything like "File loaded successfully" or anything like that.

Please help.

[Renegade]

"Loading File" is pretty much the success message (it doesn't mention "successfully" because there is no feasible way to check for this other then attempting to play it).
The "-hook" sounds fishy, either like someone has changed your config to hook your keys (i.e. intercept key strokes) or just some fragment code from an old script. If you want to explicitly start playing a file, enter the "playaudio" command into the console.
I'm not sure about any specific issues with Vista; some users have reported it works fine, some report weird problems, I'm sure with the advent of Vista SP1/2 some issues may be resolved.

[JayBirdSupreme]

I tried typing in "playaudio", but to no success. I'm still getting the same "Unknown command: -hook". Hook is a plugin for a server I frequent that lets players use a grappling hook system of some sorts, but to bind it, you type "+hook", not "-hook". What "-hook" is and why it's conflicting with HLDJ is beyond me.

[Renegade]

Any +command is automatically followed by a -command in the engine (i.e +attack1, -attack1) so no problem there. I'm not sure if it's necessarily conflicting with HLDJ given playaudio is not successful either.
What you want to do is make sure the .wav file is making its way over to the correct location:
1. Start the game
2. Load a file
3. Open up your game directory and look for "voice_input.wav".

If it's there and plays as you expect it to, everything should be fine, if not, it could be a problem with Vista copying files.

[JayBirdSupreme]

Well, I don't see any "voice_input.wav", so I guess there's a problem. What should I do?

Edit: Okay, I tried running HLDJ with another game, Team Fortress 2, but I'm still not getting anywhere. I'm not getting an error message of any sorts in the console when I press the play button, and I am converting the sound files right, I made sure.

[Renegade]

You can test the play command is fine by manually copying over voice_input.wav.
1. Launch TF2, start a game, alt+tab out
2. Copy one of your sound files to your game audio directory (should be "team fortress 2")
4. rename it to "voice_input.wav".
5. alt+tab back into the game, and start the playaudio command
This should start playing the file copied.
Some other things to check is that, after loading a file, do a search in the Steam directory (or near vicinity of the game) for "voice_input.wav" to see if HLDJ has misplaced it elsewhere.
You may way also want to try temporarily placing your audio files in a short simple path (i.e. "C:\Audio") to eliminate any errors with path naming.

[JayBirdSupreme]

I tried everything except the "searching for voice_input.wav in steam directory" one, and I'm still not getting results. When you say "do a search in the Steam directory", do you mean through the HLDJ browser or through Windows Explorer? Because once I get to the C: drive through the HLDJ browser, instead of going to the "Program Files" folder, it goes to the "C:\Audio" folder for the other suggestion you had.

Also, back on the Sven Co-op front, I tried binding a key to "Use voice communication" (even though I don't have a microphone, I just wanted to see what happened), and I got the same "Unknown command: -hook". Which brings me to this question: Do you need a microphone in order to get HLDJ to work? Because you never say anything in the manual about needing a microphone, yet I'm getting the same problems. I'm not trying to use voice chat without a microphone, that would just be foolish, I'm just wondering.

[Renegade]

Nope, you don't need a microphone, the -hook is just probably some oddity left over from a script you may have used.
Use Windows search (through the steam folder or your entire drive to be certain) to find the voice_input.wav, just to be certain that it isn't getting misplaced.
Also, are HLDJ, your music, and Steam on the same drive (i.e. C)?

[Trigger-happy]

HLDJ works fine for me and I have windows vista home basic, the problem what normally happens is that no music plays until a plug a microphone into my computer, this could be that I have to enable the microphone in my sound card and then it worked, I told some of my mates to enable microphone and they are really happy I hope this could work for you too!

[JayBirdSupreme]

I tried what Trigger-happy said, and it works! The only problem is that when I play the music, it sounds really messed up. I know for a fact that I'm converting it all right, but I still don't get why it sounds so badly. Does it have to do with the type of mic I have?

[Trigger-happy]

well I have a really crap microphone but it works fine when I play music, the first time I done it came out really crap then I kept on playing it and the quality became better and better(I know it sounds stupid but it works for me), make sure that you have a good sound card (I have embedded sound card but it works fine), make sure that your audio it converted properly and is good quality!

[JayBirdSupreme]

At this point I've bought two microphones and a headset just for the purpose of trying to get HLDJ to sound better (to no success), and I have no idea what I should do now. Suggestions?

[Renegade]

Neither are required, at this point it looks to be a problem with your system config, either the game's or OS. I can't provide much help with Vista at the moment, I recommend upgrading to XP if you have a copy.

[Trigger-happy]

did you try to enable the microphone in the command console??

[JayBirdSupreme]

The one thing I didn't try up until now was playing on a server, AND IT WORKED! The sound is legible. I'm good now.