Installing Emacspeak HOWTO
jobst@us.ibm.com
jrv@vanzandt.mv.com
December 4, 2001
Revision HistoryRevision 1.0December 4, 2001Revised by: JEJFirst releaseRevision 1.0 DRAFTNovember 9, 2001Revised by: JEJDRAFTRevision Emacspeak HOWTO1996-2001Revised by: JVZPreviously, this document was known as the Emacspeak HOWTO, and was written and maintained by Mr. James Van Zandt.
This document contains the installation
instructions for the Emacspeak audio desktop application for Linux.
----; Table of Contents; 1. Legal Notice; 2. Introduction; 3. Documentation Conventions; 4. Requirements: ; 4.1. Linux Distributions; 4.2. Emacs; 4.3. Background applications; 4.4. Speech Synthesizers; 5. Installing Emacspeak; 6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs); 7. Additional resources; 8. Appendix A: Installing Linux from a DOS machine: ; 8.1. Requirments; 8.2. Connecting the computers; 8.3. Installation; 9. Appendix B: Installing !ViaVoice? TTS: ; 9.1. Downloading !ViaVoice?; 9.2. Installing !ViaVoice? RTK; 9.3. Installing !ViaVoice? SDK; 9.4. Testing the installation; 10. Acknowledgments----
This document is Copyright © 2001 IBM. Permission is
granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under
the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no
Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the
license can be found at 
http://www.gnu.org/license/fdl.txt.
Emacspeak is a Linux application that allows users to get synthesized speech output inside the Emacs desktop environment. Because Emacspeak is actually integrated into the Emacs environment (instead of just running "on top" of an environment like most screen readers), Emacspeak provides much more context-specific information than its commercial screen reader counterparts. In this sense, Emacspeak is not a "screen reader," but rather a subsystem of Emacs that produces speech output.
Although Emacspeak only works inside Emacs, there are a
large number of both built-in and add-on applications for Emacs that do everything from keeping track of your appointments to playing CDs to coding HTML. In addition, Emacs has a special command shell mode that can be used to run any command-line application.
This HOWTO focuses on installing Emacspeak on your
Linux system. It does not discuss how to actually use Emacs or
Emacspeak - for information on usage, refer to the
Emacspeak User's Guide, available at http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net.
As per the LDP Author Guide, this HOWTO uses the following
documentation conventions:
File Names:file.extensionCommands to be typed:commandCommand prompt:b (unless otherwise specified)
There are a number of things you must have before you install
Emacspeak, including Linux, a Linux-compatible sound card, Emacs, and a hardware or software speech synthesizer. You should read this section carefully before installing Emacspeak, because Emacspeak will not function correctly if any of the requirements are missing.
This HOWTO assumes that you have already installed Linux on
your system. If not, you may wish to refer to the "Linux
Information Sheet" by Michael K. Johnson at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/INFO-SHEET.html.
It provides an introduction to Linux,
discusses some hardware requirements, and also has a section on
how to obtain Linux.
There are a number of different Linux
distributions (distros) that you can choose from. All of the
distros are based upon
the same basic Linux code, or kernel, but each distro has a different
installation process,
features, and support options. Martin Wheeler's "Distributions
HOWTO," at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Distributions-HOWTO/index.html,
discusses the pros and cons of a number of Linux distros.
You can also find information about each distribution on
their respective web sites. Those distros known to support
Emacspeak are listed below with their URLs:
*
Debian Linux -
* *
Mandrake Linux -
* *
Red Hat Linux -
* *
Slackware Linux -
* *
SuSE Linux -
* *
TurboLinux? -
*
All of the distributions listed above can be downloaded free of charge
from their respective web sites. However, the downloads are quite large,
so you'll need a fast Internet connection. You will also need
access to a CD burner, to burn your own CDs
from the images you download. Depending on the distribution,
you may also have to download and make a boot floppy. Once you
have burned the CDs and created the boot floppy, you can
install Linux. Alternatively, you can purchase the
disks at your local computer store for between $30 and $80
US. Both of these options are discussed at length in the Linux
Installation HOWTO at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO/overview.html,
so you may want to refer there before making a decision as to
which route to take.
Most methods of installation require sighted assistance.
However, if you prefer to install Linux yourself, there are
two options. The first is to install Linux from a DOS machine
running JAWS. This option requires two machines, a null modem
cable, JAWS for DOS, and a hardware speech
synthesizer. More information on this option can be found
in Section 8, Appendix A. The
second option is installing one of the distributions that
includes a Speakup kernel patch. This option requires a Speakup-enabled
distro and a hardware synthesizer. Speakup is a screen reader
that is patched into the kernel, so it starts talking
at boot and will speak during the entire installation. Currently,
Speakup is supported on Debian, Red Hat 7.1, and Slackware.
The Speakup option also requires you to download the CD images and make your own CDs.
Refer to the Speakup home page at http://www.linux-speakup.org for
instructions for this option.
For assistance with installing Linux, Eric Raymond's Linux
Installation HOWTO, at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO,
is highly recommended reading.
In the HOWTO, Eric discusses hardware requirements, choosing a
distro, and installing your distro of choice. If Eric's HOWTO
does not provide enough installation-specific information,
you can refer to the documentation specific to your
distribution, available at the URLs given in the distro list.
Because Emacspeak is an Emacs subsystem, you must have Emacs
installed for Emacspeak to work. Most distributions include Emacs by default, so it should be installed on your system when you install Linux.
If you do not have Emacs on your system or you want to check on the latest version of Emacs, refer to
the Emacs homepage at http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html.
If you install Emacs on your own or choose to upgrade, be sure
to install all of Emacs, including both the X and non-X
versions (even if you do not plan to use X). Some Emacs
applications depend on packages included in the X version,
even if you use those applications in the non-X version of Emacs.
If you would like to learn more about Emacs and how to use it,
an excellent place to start is the Emacs Beginner's HOWTO, by
Jeremy D. Zawondy. It's available at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Emacs-Beginner-HOWTO.html.
There is also an online manual available at http://www.gnu.org/manual/emacs/index.html.
Alternatively, you can try the built-in Emacs tutorial. To
start the tutorial, type C-h t.
Emacspeak depends on a number of applications. Because each Linux
distribution comes with different applications, you may find that your distro does not quite have everything that Emacspeak needs to run properly. Therefore, before you install anything else, it is important to make sure you have all the necessary applications, as listed below.
*
Tk, Tcl, and Tclx: Check
to make sure you have these applications. If
not, download and install the following
rpms from http://www.rpmfind.net:
tcl-8.3.2-7mdk,
tk-8.3.2-7mdk, and
tclx-8.3.2-7mdk.
* *
Lesstif: If you want to
run the Graphical User Interface (GUI) versions of the !ViaVoice? sample programs, you'll need these packages. For Emacspeak, the Lesstif packages are only useful if you're running Xwindows, or if you want to use the GUI tools.
Lesstif can be downloaded from
either the Lesstif home page http://www.lesstif.org or Sourceforge
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lesstif.
Currently, the latest release of Lesstif is
version 0.93.14; however, Marty Moore
recommends using the 0.92.32 version. You can
either download the gzipped tarball that
contains all the necessary files or download the
three individual packages (lesstif-mwm-0.92.32-1.i386.rpm,
lesstif-clients-0.92.32-1.i386.rpm,
and
lesstif-devel-0.92.32-1.i386.rpm).
If you choose to use the three individual
files, be sure to
use the --nodeps option when you unpack the
RPMs to avoid dependancy errors.
* *
sndconfig: You will need to
run this application from the command line to configure your sound card. At the command prompt, type sndconfig and follow the instructions.
If your sound card is not
recognized by sndconfig, refer to Section 6, Troubleshooting, for more information.
* *
stdiom: This package is
only necessary if you are using !ViaVoice? as your synthesizer, or if you want to use auditory icons, and your sound card is not a multi-channel card.
For information on auditory icons, refer to
the Emacspeak User's Guide.
To produce speech output, you need two things: something to parse the
information on the screen (Emacspeak), and something to produce the sounds you hear as output (a speech synthesizer). Emacspeak can use either a hardware or software synthesizer to produce sound output. Software synthesizers have the benefit of being either free or very inexpensive. Hardware synthesizers can run from $150 to $1600 or more, but they are typically easier to install than software synthesizers.
Emacspeak supports the following hardware synthesizers:
*
Accent
* *
Apollo
* *
Braille Lite
* *
Braille n' Speak
* *
DECtalk Express (the original Emacspeak synthesizer) or !MultiVoice?
* *
* *
Internal DECtalk PC and DECtalk PC2
* *
* *
Type n' Speak
*
Support for the DECtalk Express and !MultiVoice? synthesizers is built into
Emacspeak. If you have a synthesizer other than a DECtalk Express, you may require additional drivers or "speech servers" to get Emacspeak to work with your synthesizer.
The Internal DECtalk PC and DECtalk PC2 require a kernel
driver available from 
ftp://leb.net/pub/blinux/dectalk_pc-0.95.tgz. Installation
instructions are at ftp://leb.net/pub/blinux/dectalk_pc-0.95.README.
The !DoubleTalk? PC and AT, Braille n' Speak, Type n' Speak,
Braille Lite, Apollo, and Accent synthesizers all require an additional speech server that can be
downloaded from ftp://leb.net/pub/blinux/emacspeak/blinux.emacspeak-ss-1.7.tar.gz.
A README file with installation instructions can be found at
ftp://leb.net/pub/blinux/emacspeak/blinux/emacspeak-ss.README.
If you choose to use a software synthesizer, you must
make sure your sound card is Linux compatible. In addition, if you want to perform any tasks that require a multi-channel sound card, such as playing auditory cues when you open or close an Emacs buffer, you must make sure that your sound card is multi-channel capable.
There is a complete list of Linux-compatible sound cards
available at http://www.alsa-project.org. In addition, you can
usually find information on your distribution's web site about which
sound cards are supported with each distro.
Once you have ensured that your sound card is Linux compatible,
you can install a software synthesizer. Currently the only one that works with Emacspeak is IBM's !ViaVoice? Text-to-Speech (TTS), formerly called !ViaVoice? Outloud. Many Emacspeak users use this software synthesizer, because it is free of charge. Instructions for installing !ViaVoice? can be found in Section 9, Appendix B.
Assuming that you have all the items listed in Section 4, Requirements, you are ready to install
Emacspeak. The following steps provide the instructions to do so.
#
Go to the Emacspeak site at
and, from the Support and Documentation section, select an Emacspeak file to download. If you select the binary file, emacspeak.tar.gz, you will need to configure and make Emacspeak. If you have some experience with Linux, or if you're using a distribution that does not support RPMs, you should download this option. If your distro supports RPMs, you can download the ready-to-install version of Emacspeak (emacspeak-14.0-1.noarch.rpm).
# #
Download the file and place it in
your home directory.
# #
Type su root and provide
the root password if you are not already logged onto your machine as root. You'll need root permissions to install Emacspeak.
# #
If you downloaded the rpm version of
Emacspeak, unpack it using the command rpm -i emacspeak-14.0-1.noarch.rpm. If you downloaded the binary version, unzip and untar the file, then follow the installation directions in the README file in the resulting emacspeak-14.0 directory.
Once you have installed the rpm, you'll see a
message saying that Emacspeak installed successfully, as well as some additional instructions.
# #
If you are using Emacspeak v.14 or earlier and
also using !ViaVoice? TTS as your synthesizer, change directories to the /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/emacspeak/servers/linux-outloud directory and type the command make. This command compiles the
later, you do not need to complete this step.
# #
Using the cd command, change directories to the
/etc directory and open your profile file with your favorite text editor (you must be root to edit the profile). Scroll to the
export DTK_PROGRAM
DTK_PROGRAM=name of your speech server
The value of DTK_PROGRAM must be the name of your
speech server. A list of standard Emacspeak-supported speech synthesizers and the names of their respective speech servers is below.
Several additional synthesizers are supported,
but they require add-on speech servers. Refer to the documentation for each specific speech server for more information.
# #
Save your profile file
and close it.
#
Now, you should have installed and configured everything
required to run Emacspeak. To use Emacspeak, log on to your system as someone other than root (you should never run Emacspeak as root), and type emacspeak at the prompt. Emacspeak should start talking immediately.
This sections covers some of the more common problems
encountered when installing Emacspeak. If there is a topic
that is not covered here, you should review the Emacspeak
mailing list archives at http://www.cs.vassar.edu/priestdo/emacspeak/.
You can find the answers to many additional questions there.
; __The volume on my system is very low -
The easiest way to turn up
system volume is with a set of speakers. However, sometimes speakers aren't feasible (for example, with a laptop), or even with speakers, the volume is still not loud enough. In this case, you can use the application aumix to increase your system's volume.
Aumix
comes with many distributions
of Linux, but if your distro
doesn't have
aumix,
you can download it from
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/aumix/aumix-2.7.tar.gz.
The latest version is 2.7.
To use
aumix to increase your system's volume, type the command __aumix -v
aumix -w +100. The numerical value is the percentage volume, so in this case 100 means 100%. You may want to try different settings to find the most comfortable one for you.
For more information on using
aumix, type __aumix
; __sndconfig doesn't recognize my
If sndconfig doesn't recognize
your soundcard, you should see
if you can
download a driver for your
card. The Advanced Linux
Sound Architecture (ALSA) web
site, located at http://www.alsa-project.org,
lists many sound
cards, along with their
drivers (if
available). Another alternative is
the Open Sound System (OSS)
for Linux. OSS is a
commercial implementation of
the Linux kernel drivers, and
a list of supported cards can
be found at http://www.4front-tech.com/osshw.html.
There used to be a free
version, but apparently it is
no longer available (if anyone
knows differently, please let
me know).
Note
Some users have
reported compatibility problems with
drivers. I have been unable to determine the exact problem or solution from various mailing archives, so if anyone can provide more information on this issue, please let me know.
; __When I try to install the !ViaVoice? RTK rpm file, I get
The file
libXm.so.1 is part of the lesstif distribution, and it is also a shared library. This error message indicates that either lesstif is not installed, or that the system is unable to locate the file. Often shared libraries are referenced by a symbolic link to the real shared library file, which may be named something like libXm.so.1.0.17. When the name of the symbolic link to the shared library and the name of the real shared library file differ, the system may not be able to find the shared library, even if it exists. If another program depends on a shared library that cannot be found, an error message like the one above results. In the case of libXm.so.1, lesstif is only needed for graphical demonstration programs. Thus, if you do not plan to use the graphical mode, it is safe to install the
--nodeps, which tells !ViaVoice? to ignore any missing dependencies.
Note
Note that this is only a
workaround, not a "fix," and that it only works for
This solution may not work if you use any of the
software.
; __When I compile the !ViaVoice? TTS server for Emacspeak, I get an error "tcleci.cpp:43:17: eci.h: No such file
This error message appears
when you install the !ViaVoice? RTK and SDK in the wrong order, or if the SDK is not installed.
The file
eci.h should be in the /usr/include directory. If it is not there, re-install !ViaVoice? TTS RTK, then install !ViaVoice? TTS SDK. Check to make sure eci.h is in the /usr/include directory, then change directories to /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/emacspeak/servers/linux-outloud, and type make at the command prompt. The !ViaVoice? TTS should now make successfully.
; __When I start Emacspeak, I keep getting the error "process speaker not running."
If you are getting this error
message, there are several possible causes. This section steps though finding and correcting this problem.
The first step is to
make sure that you have tcl correctly installed, as explained in the following instructions.
#
First, make
sure you are in the /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/emacspeak/servers directory.
# #
At the command
prompt, type tcl name of speech server, The most common speech servers are dtk-exp and outloud.
#
If you get an error such as
bash: tcl:: command not found, it means that tcl/tclx is not correctly installed on your system. You must get the latest version of either tcl or tclx and install it before Emacspeak will work.
If everything is installed
correctly, you should hear a voice saying "IBM
or something similar. A % command prompt should also appear. At the prompt, type q "this is a test." Then press Return and type d. This command runs the speech, so you should hear "this is a test" spoken. If you hear this, the server script is running properly. You can type exit to quit tcl.
You may also get an error like
stdiosynth executable not found when you type tcl name of speech server, and then get a command prompt. Testing has shown that this error can appear even when stdiosynth is correctly installed and Emacspeak is working. Even if you get this error message, you should still get the % command prompt, so you should be able to test the script.
If the script test was unsuccessful,
(if tcl was found and you got a % prompt but you did not hear any speech), the next step is to make sure that you have the correct lines in your profile file to let Emacspeak know where to find the speech server. To check this, follow these steps:
#
Go to your
/etc directory, then use you favorite text editor to open the file named profile.
# #
Make sure the
following lines are in
export DTK_PROGRAM
DTK_PROGRAM=name of speech server
The most
common speech servers, are outloud and dtk-exp.
#
If these lines are not in your
profile file, add them and then re-test tcl. If you are using
synthesizer, Emacspeak should work correctly at this point. If you are using a hardware synthesizer and you still do not get any sound, check to make sure that the environment variable DTK_PORT is set correctly in your /etc/profile file.
The variable DTK_PORT
specifies which port your hardware sythesizer is plugged into on your computer. Under Linux, if your synthesizer is plugged into com1, you must set DTK_PORT to /dev/ttyS0, and if it is in com2, then DTK_PORT should be set to /dev/ttyS1. To set this variable, follow these steps:
#
Open your
profile file located in the /etc directory.
# #
Look for the
variable DTK_PORT. If this variable does not exist, scroll to the bottom of the profile file and add the following
export DTK_PORT=/dev/ttySX
In this line,
the "X" should be replaced by the correct port number, as described above.
# #
When you are
finished, save and close the profile file.
#
Finally, retest tcl, and if
it works, restart Emacspeak. Emacspeak should work correctly.
If you have a hardware
synthesizer and are still not getting any speech, you probably do not have the necessary permissions to use the serial port for your synthesizer. There are a number of solutions to this problem, and the best solution depends on your operating environment. For example, if you are in a multi-user environment, controlling the access permissions to the serial device may be a concern. The options are as follows:
*
Change the
ownership of the serail device to the user running Emacspeak. To do this, type chown username /dev/ttyS0 at the command prompt, then type chmode u+rw /dev/ttyS0.
* *
Add the user
to the group associated with the serial device. On Red Hat systems this is usually the group tty. To do this, edit the /etc/group file and find the line starting with tty:. At the end of that line, add ",username" where username is your username.
* *
Give
read/write access to the serial device for all users. This is the least secure solution, but if you are the only user on the system, it will not matter. To give read/write access, make sure you are the root user and at the command prompt type chmod o+rw /dev/ttyS0.
Once Emacspeak has been successfully installed, you should
become familiar with the Emacspeak commands and the many applications you can run with Emacs. Although this HOWTO does not cover this information, there are a number of excellent tutorials that are available for new users of both Emacs and Emacspeak. The following list provides a starting point:
*
"A gentle introduction to Emacspeak," by Gary
Lawrence Murphy, http://emacspeak-guide.sourceforge.net/tutorial.html/.
Gary provides a lighthearted but thorough introduction to
Emacs and Emacspeak, focusing on users who are
not familiar with either application. This
introduction is
recommend as a starting point, even before you
do the Emacs tutorial (see next item).
* *
"The (Official) Emacs Tutorial," by the Free
Software Foundation. I call this the "official" tutorial because it is included with Emacs. To access this tutorial, start Emacspeak, then type C-h t. This tutorial discusses the basic Emacs commands, including navigation, using Emacs as a text editor, and a bit about how Emacs works "under the hood." For new users this tutorial is strongly recommended, and even those users who are familiar with Emacs might find something new.
* *
"Emacspeak Tutorial," by Nita Van Zandt,
available at http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/emacspeak-tutorial-1.0.tar.gz.
This tutorial helps new Emacspeak users get up
and running and includes plenty of examples
and step-by-step instructions. Once you have a grasp of Emacs, this tutorial
is a must.
* *
"The Emacs Beginner's HOWTO," by Jeremy
D. Zawodny. It is available at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Emacs-Beginner-HOWTO.html
and discusses many of the topics discussed in the Emacs
tutorial. However, it also includes overviews of some
of the more popular Emacs packages, including
VM, Gnus, BBDB, and AucTeX.
* *
"Using Emacspeak HOWTO," by Jennifer Jobst,
available at http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net. This
HOWTO is a task-based guide on
getting the most out of Emacs and Emacspeak. From browsing
the Internet to coding to playing games, this
HOWTO tells you where to get the best Emacs
applications for each task and how to use them.
In the original Emacspeak HOWTO, James Van Zandt provided
instructions on how to install Linux from a DOS machine using a null-modem cable. As with the other instructions in this HOWTO, I tried, unfortunately without success, to duplicate this procedure. However, I have provided the information gathered during testing in the following section. If you successfully install Linux from a Windows(tm) or DOS(tm) machine over a null-modem cable, please let me know the procedure you followed and I'll include it here.
Please note that the original instructions for
installing Linux over a null modem cable were written for a
DOS machine. I first attempted to reproduce these
instructions with my Windows 2000 machine (from the DOS prompt) and Red Hat
7.1. Although I successfully downloaded and installed
JAWS for DOS (available from Freedom Scientific at http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/morejaws.asp),
I was unable to get a DOS VT100 terminal emulator installed. I
tried using TELIX, which was popular several years ago, but
when I tried to install TELIX version 3.51, I got a runtime
error. Since I was
unable to find any other DOS terminal emulators, I decided to
try using a Windows screenreader and terminal emulator
instead. This section documents the procedure I tried with the
Windows machine.
For this process, you will need a machine with a working
speech synthesizer and a terminal emulator program. For my
test, I used a Windows 2000 machine and tried both Narrarator
(which comes with Windows 2000) and JAWS for Windows
v.3.5. For the terminal emulator, I used tried both
Hyperterminal (which comes with Windows) and CRT (which
can be downloaded from http://www.vandyke.com/products/crt). You will also
need a second machine (on which to install Linux), a null
modem cable, and a copy of your preferred Linux distribution
on either floppy disk or CD-ROM.
To connect the two computers, you need a "null modem"
cable. A "null modem" cable is a serial cable that connects ground to ground and transmits on each end to receive on the other. The cable that comes with the DOS application
because it has both a 9 pin and a 25 pin connector on each end. Alternatively, you may be able to find a null modem cable at your local computer store, or you can have one made. If you choose to have one made, here are the required connections:
*
For two 9 pin connectors, connect pin 2
(receive data) to pin 3, pin 3 (transmit data) to pin 2, and pin 5 (signal ground) to pin 5.
* *
For two 25 pin connectors, connect pin 2
(receive data) to pin 3, pin 3 (transmit data) to pin 2, and pin 7 (signal ground) to pin 7.
* *
For a 9 pin connector (first) to a 25 pin
connector (second), connect pin 2 (receive data) to pin 2 (transmit data), pin 3 (transmit data) to pin 3 (receive data), and pin 5 (signal ground) to pin 7 (signal ground).
*
Once you have your null modem cable, you'll need to connect
the two machines while both of them are off. It's easiest to use COM1 on both machines. Once you've got them connected, you're ready to start them up, as discussed in the next section
Once your machines are connected via the null modem cable, boot the DOS/Windows
machine, then start the terminal emulation program. For my
test, I tried both Hyperterminal (which comes with Windows 2000) and CRT (which
can be downloaded from http://www.vandyke.com/products/crt.
For some reason, the arrow keys did not work in !HyperTerminal?,
making navigation within the !HyperTerminal? window
impossible. However, the arrow keys (as well as Tab and
Return) do work in CRT, so I recommend using CRT as your
terminal emulator.
Set the terminal emulator
for 9600 baud, no parity, eight data bits, 1 stop bit. If "Flow control" is an option, select Hardware. Also be sure to set your terminal emulation mode to VT100. Start the terminal emulator connection (you won't get any data at this point, as your Linux machine should still be off).
Once you've set up the terminal emulator on your
DOS/Windows machine, insert the "boot" floppy or CD into your Linux machine and boot the machine. With Red Hat, at the boot: prompt, I typed in the command linux text console=ttyS0. Note that the "s" in "ttyS0" is capitalized, and that's a "zero" at the end of the string, not a capital letter "o." Other distributions may require other strings, so if you know the syntax required for distros other than Red Hat, please let me know and I will include that information here.
Once you've typed in this string at the boot:
prompt and hit Return, you should get output in your terminal emulator program on your DOS/Windows machine. Unfortunately, at this point I discovered that neither JAWS for Windows nor Narrarator produces speech output in either the !HyperTerminal? or CRT terminal windows. This ultimately stymied my attempts to install Linux over a null modem cable.
This section steps through the installation of !ViaVoice? TTS,
which can be used as a software synthesizer with Emacspeak.
First, you must download the !ViaVoice? Software Development Kit
(SDK) and the Run Time Kit (RTK), as described in the following steps.
#
Go to IBM's !ViaVoice? TTS website at
# #
Scroll down to the Downloads section, and
click on the Downloads link. You will be asked to provide a username and password before you download anything.
# #
Download the following files:
*
ViaVoice? TTS SDK for Linux
V5.1. The filename is viavoice_tts_sdk_5.tar.
* *
ViaVoice? TTS Run Time Kit for
Linux V5.1. The filename is viavoice_tts_rtk_5.tar.
Now that you have downloaded the !ViaVoice? files, you can
install them. You must install the RTK first, as it contains libraries required by the SDK.
#
Type the __su
root__ command and provide the root password to log on to your system as root.
# #
Type the cd command to
change to the directory that contains the files you just downloaded.
# #
Untar the RTK using the command __tar
should now have two files in your directory, ttsrt_readme.txt and !ViaVoice?_TTS_rtk_5.1-1.2.i386.rpm.
# #
Unpack the rpm using the command __rpm
license agreement to read. You can press the spacebar to scroll through the document. When you've read the document, you'll be returned to the command prompt.
# #
Type the command __source
/etc/profile__ to finish installing the RTK.
Now that you have installed the RTK, you can install the SDK as well using the following steps:
#
Change directories to the directory that contains the
SDK file you downloaded.
# #
Untar the SDK file using the
command tar -xvf viavoice_tts_sdk_5.tar. You should now have two files in your directory, ttssd.readme.txt and
# #
Unpack the rpm using the command __rpm
Now that you have installed both the !ViaVoice? RTK and SDK,
you must test to make sure that they are working correctly. You can perform two tests using the following steps:
#
Type the cd command to
change to the /usr/lib/ViaVoiceTTS/samples/cmdlinespeak/ directory.
# #
Type the command
./runcmdlinespeak at the prompt. You should hear your computer say "Hello, welcome to !ViaVoice? Outloud for Linux." Normal system volume is often very low, so you may not be able to hear it very well. Refer to Section 6, Troubleshooting, for information on how to increase your system volume.
#
If for some reason your test was not successful, refer to the
installation notes provided with both the RTK (ttsrt.readme.txt) and the SDK (ttssd.readme.txt) for debugging information.
As with any effort for the Linux project, there are a number of
people who contributed to this HOWTO in a roundabout way. Without their help, this document would not exist.
Mr. James Van Zandt, the original author of the Emacspeak
HOWTO. He graciously allowed me maintainership of the original HOWTO, which has been reworked into this document, "The Emacspeak Installation HOWTO."
Dr. T.V. Raman, who always answered my Emacspeak questions, no matter how
odd.
Marty Moore, who provided a list of instructions for
installing Emacspeak and !ViaVoice? under Mandrake. Many of Marty's instructions were used to make this document more complete.
Tim Cross also deserves recognition, as he clarified several
points in Marty's instructions, and some of Tim's comments are also used in this document. Tim also provided excellent explanations for the libXm.so.1 error message, as well as the "process speaker not running" error message.
All the folks on the Emacspeak and blinux mailing lists who
contributed suggestions, answered my questions, and gently showed me the errors in my ways.
Throughout this document, I have tried to give
credit to other authors when referring to their work. If I missed a citation, please let me know and I will be sure to correct it. If you did the work, you certainly deserve the credit!
No other page links to HowToEmacspeakHOWTO yet.
