based on what you are describing, it sounds like you need to modify the helperServices section of the config/commonConfig.js file to include the singleLineFieldName, and set placefinding to true. here is an example:
geocode: [{url: location.protocol + "//<yourserver>/arcgis/rest/services/GEOCODE/GeocodeServer",
name: "Test Geocoder",
singleLineFieldName: "SingleLine",
placefinding: true
}]