Troubleshooting and FAQ

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Recording

The audio test says "silent"

Microphone was silent

• Speak during the four seconds of the test, not before.
• Check that Windows can hear you: Windows Settings → System → Sound → Input, speak and watch the bar.
• Windows may be blocking microphone access: Windows Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, turn on Microphone access and Let desktop apps access your microphone.
• Pick the right microphone in Sabhalekh → Settings → Audio devices.

System audio was silent

• Something has to play during the test. Start a YouTube video or music, then click Start test.
• Under Settings → Audio devices → System audio, choose the speakers or headset you actually listen on.

Other people's voices are missing

Sabhalekh records what your PC plays on the selected output device. If the call plays somewhere else, it isn't heard.

1. In your meeting app's audio settings, check which speaker device it uses.
2. In Sabhalekh, Settings → Audio devices → System audio, choose the same device (or Windows default output if the meeting app also uses the default).
3. Bluetooth headsets often switch to a separate Hands-Free device during calls. Choose that one.

While recording, the Others (system audio) meter should move whenever someone else talks.

My voice appears twice, or as another speaker

Without headphones your microphone also hears your speakers. Sabhalekh removes most of that echo, but some can slip through. Headphones or earbuds fix it completely.

The app crashed while I was recording

Open Sabhalekh again. It offers to Recover the unfinished recording. At most the last couple of seconds are lost.

The recording hotkey doesn't work

Another program is using the same keys. Choose a different combination in Settings → Shortcuts & startup.

Transcripts

Hindi comes out as English words (or the other way round)

Set Settings → Transcription → Language to Hindi only (or English only), then ⋯ → Re-process… the meeting.

English words appear in Devanagari

That's how the speech model writes Hinglish: "स्पीड डिटेक्शन" for "speed detection". Choose Roman under Hindi / Hinglish script if you prefer Latin letters. See Languages and Hindi.

Two people were merged into one speaker, or one person was split into two

• Re-process with Minimum speakers or Maximum speakers set (in ⋯ → Re-process…). Minimum speakers helps when a quiet person is missed; it can't separate voices that sound very alike.
• Fix individual lines by clicking the speaker name. See Working with transcripts.
• Up to 8 speakers are supported. With more, some voices get merged.

Some words are wrong

Speech recognition is never perfect, especially with background noise, people talking over each other, or very fast speech. Edit the line (hover → ✏️). Better microphones and headphones make the biggest difference.

Processing

Processing is slow

Look at the badge at the bottom left. CPU Mode is about half as fast as a graphics card. If you have a graphics card but see CPU Mode, update its driver, then Settings → Hardware → Re-detect. See Hardware and speed.

"GPU found but neither Vulkan nor CUDA could use it"

Your graphics driver is too old or broken. Install the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. Until then Sabhalekh uses the built-in graphics or the CPU, so everything still works, just slower.

A meeting failed to process

Open the processing queue (the list icon at the bottom left). The failed job shows the reason in plain words, for example a full disk. Fix it and click Retry.

"The processing engine stopped"

Click Restart engine. Your recordings and transcripts are safe. If it keeps happening, open Settings → Storage → Open logs folder, and attach the end of backend.log to a bug report.

Installation and start-up

Windows says "Windows protected your PC"

The installer isn't code-signed yet. Click More info → Run anyway. You can check the download against SHA256SUMS.txt, see Installation.

The window is blank on Windows 10

Install the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. See Installation.

I want Sabhalekh to start with Windows

Settings → Shortcuts & startup → Start with Windows. It opens minimised in the tray, ready for the hotkey.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free? Yes. It's open source under the MIT License: no ads, no paid tier, no account.

Does it work without internet? Yes, completely. It never connects to the internet at all.

Can it join my meeting as a bot? No, and it doesn't need to. It records what your own PC plays and hears, so nobody sees an extra participant. Please tell people you're recording.

Does it work on Mac or Linux? Not at the moment. Recording relies on Windows audio features.

Can it summarise the meeting? Not yet. Export the transcript and use whatever tool you like.

Which languages are supported? English, Hindi and Hinglish. See Languages and Hindi.

Where are my files? In %APPDATA%\Sabhalekh. See Privacy.