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Using Ovillo · Troubleshooting

Using Ovillo

Troubleshooting

Find your problem in the list below. Each answer says what Ovillo is doing and what you can do about it. The last section says how to get help.

I forgot the passphrase

It cannot be reset. There is no recovery link and no account, and Ovillo, the company, cannot open a vault either. The locked screen says: "Forgot it? It cannot be reset."

A backup does not get around this. An encrypted backup uses the same passphrase as the vault ("It requires the same passphrase"). The Restore option helps when the vault file on this Mac is damaged or gone and you do remember the passphrase. It does not help when the passphrase itself is lost.

To avoid this next time, store the passphrase somewhere safe as soon as you create the vault. It must be at least 12 characters.

A document is held

A held document is not lost and has not been sent anywhere. The Documents page shows a status and a hint. Find yours here.

What it saysWhat it meansWhat to do
Names someone else: {names}The document is for a different name than this record's patient. Nothing from it has been filed or sent.If it is hers, press Yes, it's {name}'s. If not, press No or remove it. Moving it to another person's record is not possible, so add it to that person's own vault.
The name on this scan reads “{names}”The name looks like a poor scan of the patient's name.Check the document and answer the question. Nothing has been filed or sent.
Birth date {found} does not matchThe document prints a birth date that is not the one you gave.Open it and check. If it is the right person, say so. If not, remove it.
Password-protectedIt needs a password to be read.See A password-protected PDF.
"Could not be read: {error}"The file is damaged, an unsupported type, or too hard to read.Save original and look at it yourself, or remove it. See Documents for the file types Ovillo reads.
"Over 20 MB and its text could not be read on this computer"The assistant cannot review it. It stays in the vault.Add a smaller or text-based version if you need it reviewed.
The assistant could not finish itThe review failed or took more than 3 minutes.See the assistant panel for why. It is tried again the next time you review.

When a document's items are held rather than the document, they are in Review, and each card says why in plain words.

A number looks wrong

Ovillo keeps lab values exactly as printed and never rounds or corrects them, so a value that looks wrong is either wrong on the page or misread from it. Work through these steps.

  1. Open the source. Press the file name button on the entry. The document opens at the cited page. Compare the value, the unit and the date.
  2. Check the unit. A value marked other unit is in a different unit than the rest of its table, and Ovillo does not convert it. A "≈" value beside another is a converted copy of the one printed.
  3. Look for a thousands mark. "245.000" can mean 245 or 245,000, depending on the lab. Ovillo holds such a value for you.
  4. Look for the wrong person or sample. The same page may list a parent, a donor, or a urine or sweat result. Ovillo holds those as "Check this against the original first".
  5. Decide. If it is held in Review, press Reject proposal if it is wrong. If it was Added automatically, press Undo in its mark. If the assistant decided it, press Undo in Review.

Ovillo has no edit box for an entry, and no delete button for one you approved yourself. If a wrong approved value is in your record, do not rely on it: check the original, and tell the clinician when you bring it up. If the page is right and Ovillo misread it, report that as a bug (see How to get help) without sending the document.

A photo or scan was read badly

Ovillo reads photos and scans on this Mac with built-in text recognition for English and Spanish. A page it finds unclear is read again turned sideways, upside down, mirrored, and at two small tilts. It keeps the better reading. This is limited in time per page and per document, so a very poor scan can still come out wrong.

A value taken from a poorly read page is held with the reason "the page was read poorly from a scan and nothing confirmed it". For better results:

Other languages are not read. When it matters, the original is the authority: use Save original on the document.

A password-protected PDF

A locked PDF shows Password-protected on the Documents page and a box at the top of the Overview says how many are waiting.

  1. Type the password in Document password at the top of the Overview.
  2. Tick "Keep this password in the encrypted vault and try it on locked documents added later" if you want that.
  3. Press Unlock. Ovillo reports how many opened ("That password opened 2 of 3"). A different file can have a different password, so try each one.

The password is checked on this computer and never sent anywhere. Your PDF viewer will ask for the password again if you open the original on its own. Older Word files, or Word files with a password, cannot be unlocked this way: open them in Word, save as .docx or PDF without a password, and add that.

The assistant will not connect

Everything except the assistant works without it. If you want it and it will not connect, match the message:

See The assistant and Privacy and security for what is sent when it is connected.

An update does not install

The Mac app checks GitHub for a new version when it opens and every 6 hours while it stays open, so it needs an internet connection. It downloads in the background. When ready, a sheet says "Ovillo X is ready" with Restart now and Later, and the update installs when you close Ovillo. Your record stays as it is.

The app will not open

If none of that works, see below and say what you saw on screen.

How to get help

Write to possible@almostimpossible.agency. Say what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened, and the Ovillo version if you know it. A screenshot helps.

Important. Never send your documents, your record or your passphrase, to us or anyone. We will never need them. Before you send a screenshot, check that it shows no names, results or other personal details, or crop them out.

For a bug, you can also open an issue on GitHub. Describe the problem in general terms, with no medical data and no real names, and an invented example if you need one.

Something unclear or out of date? Tell us on GitHub.