Speech Recognition 1.5.4: Error with Power Macintosh/Performa 5xxx/6xxx

I have a lab of Power Macintosh 5200/75 and 5300/100 LC computers. We have verified that all of our computers are capable of 16-Bit audio Sound Out by checking the Sound Control Panel that is preinstalled in the Apple Extras folder under Mac OS 8.6. We recently upgraded all computers to Mac OS 8.6. As part of the full installer of Mac OS 8.6, we installed English Speech Recognition 1.5.4. When we turn Speakable Items on in the Speech control panel, we get the following error message:

"Speakable items could not run because an unexpected error occurred. Restarting you computer or reinstalling the speech recognition software may correct this problem."

Is Apple aware of this issue? Which computers are affected by this issue? How do we get English Speech Recognition 1.5.x to work on these computers under Mac OS 8.6?
Apple is aware of this issue and is currently investigating the root cause. This issue can occur on any of the following 16-bit audio capable computers under Mac OS 8.6 using English Speech Recognition 1.5.4:



Until a final solution to this issue is available, users should be able to work around this issue by installing an older version of English Speech Recognition than version 1.5.4. Although this has not been fully tested or qualified by Apple under Mac OS 8.6, English Speech Recognition 1.5 (available for free from Apple Software Updates) and English Speech Recognition 1.5.3 (included with Mac OS 8.5) appear to work fine on these computers under Mac OS 8.6 when installed as follows:

Removing English Speech Recognition 1.5.4

If you have already installed English Speech Recognition 1.5.4, you must remove this installation using either the Mac OS 8.6 Full Installer or the English Speech Recognition 1.5.4 Installer.

Steps to remove English Speech Recognition 1.5.4 using the Mac OS 8.6 Full Install CD:
Steps to remove English Speech Recognition 1.5.4 using the English Speech Recognition 1.5.4 Installer disk image:
Installing English Speech Recognition 1.5 or 1.5.3

You can install either English Speech Recognition 1.5 or English Speech Recognition 1.5.3 depending on which version you have available.

You may download English Speech Recognition 1.5 from Apple Software Updates. Or, you may install English Speech Recognition 1.5.3 from any Mac OS 8.5 System Software CD. The software installer can be found on the Mac OS 8.5 CD as follows:

Mac OS 8.5:
After Installing English Speech Recognition 1.5 or 1.5.3 and restarting your computer, you should be able to turn on Speakable Items in the Speech control panel without any error messages.

These articles can help you locate the software update mentioned here:
Published Date: Feb 18, 2012