Installing Emacspeak HOWTOJenniferJobstjobst@us.ibm.comJamesVan Zandtjrv@vanzandt.mv.com
This document contains the installation
instructions for the Emacspeak audio desktop
application for Linux.
December 4, 20011.0December 4, 2001JEJFirst release1.0 DRAFTNovember 9, 2001JEJDRAFTEmacspeak HOWTO1996-2001JVZPreviously, this document was
known as the Emacspeak HOWTO, and was
written and maintained by Mr. James
Van Zandt.Legal Notice
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 .
Introduction
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 .
Documentation Conventions
As per the LDP Author Guide, this HOWTO uses the following
documentation conventions:
File Names:file.extensionCommands to be typed:commandCommand prompt:> (unless otherwise specified)Requirements
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.
Linux Distributions
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 .
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 ,
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 ,
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 , 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 for
instructions for this option.
For assistance with installing Linux, Eric Raymond's Linux
Installation HOWTO, at ,
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.
Emacs
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 .
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 .
There is also an online manual available at .
Alternatively, you can try the built-in Emacs tutorial. To
start the tutorial, type C-h t.
Background applications
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 :
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 or Sourceforge
.
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 , 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.
Speech Synthesizers
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.
Hardware synthesizers
Emacspeak supports the following hardware synthesizers:
Accent
Apollo
Braille Lite
Braille n' Speak
DECtalk Express (the original Emacspeak synthesizer) or MultiVoice
DoubleTalk PC and AT
Internal DECtalk PC and DECtalk PC2
LiteTalk
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 . Installation
instructions are at .
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 .
A README file with installation instructions can be found at
.
Software synthesizers
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 . 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
, Appendix B.
Installing Emacspeak
Assuming that you have all the items listed in , 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
ViaVoice TTS server. If you are not using
ViaVoice, or if you have Emacspeak v.15 or
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
bottom of the file, then add the following two lines:
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.
ViaVoice TTSoutloudDecTalk Xpressdtk-expDecTalk MultiVoicedtk-mv
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.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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 .
You can find the answers to many additional questions there.
The volume on my system is very low -
how can I increase it?
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
.
The latest version is 2.7.
To use
aumix
to increase your system's
volume, type the command
aumix -v
+100 or
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
-h at the command prompt.
sndconfig doesn't recognize my
soundcard. What should I do?
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 ,
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 .
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
ViaVoice and ALSA
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 error "libXm.so.1 is missing." What's wrong?
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
ViaVoice RTK rpm using the option
--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
ViaVoice Text-to-speech (TTS).
This solution may not work
if you use any of the
ViaVoice voice recognition
software.
When I compile the ViaVoice TTS server for Emacspeak, I get an
error "tcleci.cpp:43:17: eci.h: No such file
or directory." Where is eci.h?
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."
What's wrong?
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
ViaVoice. This is Emacspeak"
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
the file:
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
ViaVoice TTS as your
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
line:
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.
Additional resources
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, .
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 .
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
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 . 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.
Appendix A: Installing Linux from a DOS machine
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™ or DOS™
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 ),
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.
Requirments
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 ). 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.
Connecting the computers
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
LapLink will work fine. The
LapLink cable is particularly handy
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
Installation
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 .
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.
Appendix B: Installing ViaVoice TTS
This section steps through the installation of ViaVoice TTS,
which can be used as a software synthesizer with Emacspeak.
Downloading ViaVoice
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.
Installing ViaVoice RTK
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
-xvf viavoice_tts_rtk_5.tar. You
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
-i
ViaVoice_TTS_rtk_5.1-1.2.i386.rpm. You will be given a
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.
Installing ViaVoice SDK
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
ViaVoice_TTS_sdk-5.1-1.2.i386.rpm.
Unpack the rpm using the command rpm
-i --nodeps ViaVoice_TTS_sdk-5.1-1.2.i386.rpm. You will be given a license agreement to read. You can press the spacebar to scroll through the agreement. When you've read the document, you'll be returned to the command prompt.
Testing the installation
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 , 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.
Acknowledgments
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!