Python 3 version of Houdini?
Run this python in Houdini, do you get the same error?
from arnold import *
paramValueMap = AiParamValueMap()
#AiADPDialogStrings(paramValueMap, str("in the HtoA menu item Help | Autodesk-Analytics").encode("utf-8"))
AiADPDialogStrings(paramValueMap, str("in the HtoA menu item").encode("utf-8") )
allText = ''
titleText = AtStringStruct(None)
AiParamValueMapGetStr(paramValueMap, 'title', ctypes.byref(titleText))
introText = AtStringStruct(None)
AiParamValueMapGetStr(paramValueMap, 'introduction_intro', ctypes.byref(introText))
allText += str(introText) + "\n\n"
print( str(introText) )The UnicodeDecodeError is a bug, and I'll log it.
It has nothing to do with your other problems.
Please ask a new question for your other problem.
And please include the Houdini details from Help > About Houdini > Show Details, and anything that is logged in the Houdini Console at startup.