New Slackware images and preliminary README

[Joseph Norton]

Hi all:

I have recently uploaded more files to the speakup ftp site at
ftp.braille.uwo.ca.  I finally got around to putting up working (I
hope) copies of the Slackware 7.0 scsi.s boot disks with Speakup 7.0 built
in.  Since I only have a DoubleTalk PC, I could not actually test the
disks to make sure they work with all the synthesizers, however, I did get
the propper messages from Speakup showing that it is trying to communicate
with the various synthesizers.  If you are thinking of trying Slackware
out, read on.  If not, you can probably skip the remainder of this
message.

Let me mention one thing I like about using this installation as outlined
below.  In many cases, the installation lets you use the kernel from the
boot disk as your default kernel.  This means that you may be able to
install Slackware and have your system boot up talking from the
start.  You don't have to worry about getting the system talking again
after installation.  There may be some exceptions to this as will be
outlined below.

Kirk:

You have my permission to copy this message and use it as a README file
for the above-mentioned files.  I may want to re-write it later, but, it
should do for now.

Just to review:  

The Slackware boot disks in the original distribution are designed for
specific hardware.  The ones I've uploaded and tested (to the best of my
ability) so far are the bare.i and scsi.s disks.

The disks are grouped in similarly named subdirectories on the Speakup ftp
site under /pub/speakup/disks/slackware.  The bare.i disk images are in a
subdirectory called "bare-i".  I retained Joshua Lambert's naming
conventions using the file extention to denote which speech synthesizer is
supported by the disk images.  The extentions are as follows:

.dt: DoubleTalk PC
.lt: Serial LiteTalk
.apc: Accent PC
.asa: Accent SA
.spo: Speakout

So, for example, if you wanted to get the bare.i boot disk image for the
DoubleTalk pc, you'd look in the bare-i directory and get the file called
"bare-i.dt".  The same is true for the scsi.s images.  They're contained
in a directory called "scsi-s".  Again, for example, if you wanted to get
the scsi.s boot disk image for the Accent PC, you'd look in the scsi-s
directory and get the file called "scsi-s.apc".  

Installation is pretty easy, but, there are a few things you need to be
aware of.  Here are the basic steps for installing Slackware 7.0 with
these images:

First, we assume that you have either downloaded the Slackware 7.0
installation files (from ftp.freesoftware.com under
/pub/linux/slackware/slackware-7.0) or that you have a Slackware 7.0
CD-Rom set.

Next, download one of the boot disk images as explained above which
corresponds most with your particular hardware and speech synthesizer
configuration.

Next, if you don't have one of the root disk images from Slackware, you
can download either the "color.gz", "text.gz" or the "umsdos.gz" disk
images from the Speakup FTP site.  Look in
/pub/speakup/disks/slackware.  Note that even though these filenames end
in .gz, you shouldn't uncompress them as the boot disk will take care of
that when it loads the image into a ramdisk later.

After you've downloaded the disk images, you'll need to use Rawrite to
write the disk images onto floppies.  You'll need 2 formatted 1.44-MB
floppies.  Note that if you are already running under Linux, you can use
the dd command to accomplish the same thing.  If you don't have the
program "rawrite.exe", you can get it off the Slackware CD-Rom or from
just about any of the Linux distributions.  Rawrite works best under pure
DOS.  You may be able to run it in a DOS box under Windows 95/98, but, it
may run more slowly.  

Next, make sure you have all the required files mentioned above.  It will
probably be easier if all the needed files are together in one
directory.  Let's use the DoubleTalk pc as an example of the steps
needed.  If you are using another synthesizer, just substitute the
appropriate file name for the boot disk image.  Let's assume you've done
all of this.  Here's where you should be so far.  You should have the
files "bare-i.dt", "color.gz" (or one of the other root disk images) and
"rawrite.exe" in their own directory.  Note that, depending upon which
synthesizer and root disk images you chose, the file names may be slightly
different.  Next, insert a formatted 1.44-Mb floppy in drive A: and, at a
DOS prompt, type:

rawrite bare-i.dt a:

You may need to silence your speech synthesizer during this process for
best results (and to keep it from talking your ears off).  If all goes
well, you should now have a working Slackware boot disk with a Speakup
enabled kernel.  Remove the disk and write-protect it.  

Next, insert the second disk in drive A: and type:

rawrite color.gz a:

After this is done, you should now have a root disk that will take you
through the setup process.  As always, remove this disk and write-protect
it also.

Now, it's time to try booting up.  Place the newly created boot disk in
your A: drive and reboot.  If all goes well, you should hear your drive
working for a couple seconds and the Slackware welcome message should be
displayed on your screen (no speech yet).  You should have a
"Boot:" prompt on your screen.  Here is where you would pass any
parameters on to the kernel or to speakup (to tell it which port your
synthesizer is on).  Since I do not have any of the serial synthesizers
mentioned, I am not sure of the exact parameter you would type, however,
someone on the Speakup mailing list should be able to be of some
assistance.  If you do have any parameters to pass on, type them and press
Enter (Return).  If you do not have any parameters to enter, simply press
Enter.  The screen should show that the kernel is being loaded into the
Ramdisk and you should hear your disk drive working for about half a
minute.  If all goes well, you should hear your synthesizer talking with
various status messages about the kernel and hardware that has been
detected.  At the end of all this information, you should get a prompt
something like:

VFS: Insert root disk to be loaded into Ramdisk and press Enter.

Remove the boot disk you made and insert the root disk.  After you press
Enter, you should hear a message something like:

VFS: Compressed image found at block 0

After your disk works for a while, you should get the Welcome message from
Slackware and a "Slackware Login:" prompt.

Type "root" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

You should get a "#" message like:

Linux 2.2.13

and some other information on how to get started at the bottom of this,
you should have a "#" prompt (although Speakup may not speak the
"#" (Number Sign) symbol.

Next, you can type:

fdisk

or 

cfdisk

to partition your drives (if necessary).

If you've done this, you can just type:

setup

at the "#" prompt and the setup screens will be displayed.  Depending upon
which root disk you're using (color.gz or text.gz) the menus will work a
little differently.  For the first time installation, the "text.gz" root
disk may prove a little easier to work with since it presents numbered
menus instead of menus that are navigated with the arrow keys.  I have
used the "color.gz" disk, but, it is a little tricky to work with some
times.  For my first-time talking Slackware install, I used the
"text.gz" disk image since I wasn't familiar with all the steps needed.

Now, a couple of warnings:

Make sure you skip the step to remap your keyboard.  All the root disk
images should offer this option.  If you do remap your keyboard, the
Speakup keystrokes will no longer work.

During formatting of the hard-drive, you may wish to hit Enter on the
numeric keypad to silence speech until this process is completed.  Again,
if you don't, speakup will talk your ears off and it may take a long time
for things to finish.

After you've finished the section on installing software, you'll be asked
to select a kernel.  By default, Slackware will ask you to use the kernel
from your boot disk.  If you've made it this far with the kernel on the
boot disk, this is probably a good idea.  That way, after you exit
installation and reboot, your system should come up talking from the
get-go.  Again, you may need to pass parameters to the kernel at boot time
if you're using a serial synthesizer.

This is only a basic outline on how to install Slackware with the bare.i
and scsi.s Speakup-enabled images.  More information is available in the
various files accompanying the Slackware distribution.  Also, don't
hesitate to write to the Speakup mailing list and we'll try to give all
the help we can.

Hope this helps, and, have fun!