Troubleshooting

I can’t get Wekinator to run. Help!

• You need to have Java 7 or higher to run Wekinator. Go to java.com to install it if you don’t have it.
• If you are on Windows or Mac and you used the installer for your operating system, try the version for “Any operating system” at http://www.wekinator.org/downloads/. (See next point)
• If you are on Linux or using the “Any operating system version,” you’ll get a .zip file that contains 3 things: A file called WekiMini.jar, a directory called lib/, and a README.
  • WekiMini.jar and lib/ will always need to be in the same directory– if you move one of them away, the program won’t run.
  • You may find that double-clicking on WekiMini.jar runs Wekinator. If not, open up a Terminal (command) window and navigate to the directory containing WekiMini.jar and lib/. Type the following command:
    java -jar WekiMini.jar
    (This command is in the README you downloaded)

I can’t get an input or output example to run. Help!

Not every input and output example from http://www.wekinator.org/examples/ will run on every machine, and that’s OK. We’ve provided these examples to try to make it easy for people to start learning to use Wekinator, with the expectation that most users will start with the example code here and adapt it to their own projects. That said, here are some tips:

• If you are trying to run a Windows executable, try running both the 64-bit and 32-bit versions (regardless of your operating system). You may find one of them works.
• In general, it’s a good idea to keep all files in the same example together; don’t move some files around and not others. You can relocate the parent directory of an example (the directory you get when you unzip the example) anywhere you want, but don’t rename, delete, or move any of the files within that directory.
• If you are comfortable running from source code, try that. Many of the introductory examples are written in Processing, and we have a video to help you run Processing code if you’ve never done it before. We highly recommend this if you’re new to programming!
  • If you are running Processing code, ensure also that
• We’ve provided “last resort” executables for Mac and Windows users for the most useful basic examples (at http://www.wekinator.org/examples/ and in the walkthrough) and  These should run on most modern Windows or Mac machines. However, these are huge downloads, since they come bundled with Java built in, so they are really a last resort when nothing else works for you!
• Make sure you’ve read the README file for the example, if it exists. Some of these examples require you to install other software first, or require you to run the example within another specific programming environment or application.

I can’t record examples. Help!

Check that:

1.  Wekinator is listening for OSC messages. If you see this icon on the main screen, it is not listening. Click the icon to start listening.
2. Your input application is sending input data. (Don’t forget to run it!)
3. Wekinator is listening on the correct port (the one being sent to from your input program). Check this by clicking “View” à “Inputs.”
4. There is no other program trying to use the same OSC port. Try switching this port if needed, by clicking “View” à “OSC Receiver Status.”
5. Wekinator is listening for the same message name as the one sent by your input program. Check this by clicking “View” à “Inputs.” Make sure input message names are exactly the same, including the presence of any “/” characters.
6. Wekinator is listening for the same number of inputs as being sent by your input application. Check this by clicking “View” à “Inputs.”
7. Your input application is sending inputs as a single list of floats (not ints or strings).
8. You don’t have a firewall configuration that might be preventing OSC communication.

You may find an OSC monitor program such as OSCulator helpful in debugging OSC connections. Just make sure that OSCulator and Wekinator aren’t trying to listen on the same port at the same time.

My output program is not receiving anything from Wekinator. Help!

Make sure that:

1) Wekinator is sending OSC messages.

• This typically happens when you are changing output values in the GUI by typing in the number boxes or moving sliders, and when Wekinator is in RUN mode.
•  If Wekinator is in RUN mode, it only sends outputs when it receives an input message, so make sure your input application is running and configured correctly (see above).
• You can send a test message by selecting “View”à “Outputs” and clicking on “Send test message.”

2) Your application to receive outputs is running.
3) Wekinator is sending to the correct hostname

• If your output is running on the same computer as Wekinator, the hostname should be localhost.
• Otherwise, you can send to either the IP address or the computer name (e.g., zoey.local) for the computer running the output application.
• If you change networks, note that your IP address is likely to change!

4) Wekinator is sending to the same port as your output application is listening on. Check this by selecting “View”à “Outputs.”
5) Wekinator is sending the same message name as your output application is listening for. Check this by selecting “View” à “Outputs.”
6) Wekinator is sending the same number of outputs as your application is listening for. Check this by selecting “View” à “Outputs.”
7)  Your application is listening for all outputs as a list of floats within a single message.

You may find an OSC monitor program such as OSCulator helpful in debugging OSC connections. Just make sure that OSCulator and your output application aren’t trying to listen on the same port at the same time.

Wekinator doesn’t seem to be learning anything useful. Help!

1. Try looking at your training examples by clicking the magnifying class in the main GUI. Check that your input values and output values for each example look right (e.g., not all zero, not all the same number).If all of your training examples have the same output values, your trained models will only output those values and nothing else.
2. Try a different learning algorithm (click on the “edit” button next to the model you want to change). Play around.
3. Try teaching Wekinator something simpler (fewer classes, fewer examples), and gradually make it more complicated.