Installing Emacspeak HOWTO
Jennifer Jobst
James Van Zandt
<jrv@vanzandt.mv.com>
Revision History
Revision 1.1 July 23, 2002 SDS
Updated the maintainer of this document to Sharon Snider, corrected links,
and converted to XML.
Revision 1.0 December 4, 2001 JEJ
First release
Revision 1.0 DRAFT November 9, 2001 JEJ
DRAFT
Revision Emacspeak HOWTO 1996-2001 JVZ
Previously, this document was known as the Emacspeak HOWTO, and was written
and maintained by Mr. James Van Zandt.
Abstract
This document contains the installation instructions for the Emacspeak audio
desktop application for Linux.
Please send any comments, or contributions via e-mail to Sharon_Snider. This
document will be updated regularly with new contributions and suggestions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
1. 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 http://www.gnu.org/
license/fdl.txt.
2. 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 http://www.tldp.org/
guides.html#espk.
3. Documentation Conventions
As per the LDP Author Guide, this HOWTO uses the following documentation
conventions:
File Names: file.extension
Commands to be typed: command
Command prompt: > (unless otherwise specified)
4. 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.
4.1. 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 a 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 - http://www.debian.org
* Mandrake Linux - http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/
* Red Hat Linux - http://www.redhat.com
* Slackware Linux - http://www.slackware.com
* SuSE Linux - http://www.suse.com
* TurboLinux - http://www.turbolinux.com
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, 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.
4.2. 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 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.
4.3. 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 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, 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.
4.4. 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.
4.4.1. 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
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 http://leb.net/pub/blinux/emacspeak/blinux/emacspeak-ss-
1.7-1.i386.rpm. A README file with installation instructions can be found at
ftp://leb.net/pub/blinux/emacspeak/blinux/emacspeak-ss.README.
4.4.2. 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 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, Appendix_B.
5. 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.
1. Go to the Emacspeak site at http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net 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).
2. Download the file and place it in your home directory.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 TTS Outloud
DecTalk Xpress dtk-exp
DecTalk MultiVoice dtk-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.
7. 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.
6. 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 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 - 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 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 +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 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 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.
1. First, make sure you are in the /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/
emacspeak/servers directory.
2. 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 tclname 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:
1. Go to your /etc directory, then use you favorite text editor to open
the file namedprofile.
2. 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 synthesizer 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:
1. Open your profile file located in the /etc directory.
2. Look for the variable DTK_PORT. If this variable does not exist,
scroll to the bottom of the profile 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.
3. 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 grouptty. 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.
7. 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, 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.
8. 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 Windowsâ„¢ or DOSâ„¢ 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.
8.1. 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 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.
8.2. 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
applicationLapLink 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
8.3. 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 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.
9. Appendix B: Installing ViaVoice TTS
This section steps through the installation of ViaVoice TTS, which can be used
as a software synthesizer with Emacspeak.
9.1. Downloading ViaVoice
First, you must download the ViaVoice Software Development Kit (SDK) and the
Run Time Kit (RTK), as described in the following steps.
1. Go to IBM's ViaVoice TTS website a http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/
dev/ttssdk_linux.html.
2. 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.
3. Download the following files:
o ViaVoice TTS SDK for Linux V5.1. The filename is viavoice_tts_sdk_5.tar.
o ViaVoice TTS Run Time Kit for Linux V5.1. The filename is
viavoice_tts_rtk_5.tar.
9.2. 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.
1. Type the su root command and provide the root password to log on to your
system as root.
2. Type the cd command to change to the directory that contains the files you
just downloaded.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Type the command source /etc/profile to finish installing the RTK.
9.3. Installing ViaVoice SDK
Now that you have installed the RTK, you can install the SDK as well using the
following steps:
1. Change directories to the directory that contains the SDK file you
downloaded.
2. 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.
3. 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.
9.4. 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:
1. Type the cd command to change to the /usr/lib/ViaVoiceTTS/samples/
cmdlinespeak/ directory.
2. 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.
10. 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!