writing spk howto (?) (again)

[David Bruzos]

I am sending this message again, because the mailing list returned it to me 
the first time saying that my message was too large...  Sorry, I did not 
know there was a 5 KB limit!
**************************************


> Hello:
> Yes, I am using FC2.  So, here are the details:
>
> 1. My kernel:
> I downloaded a copy of the 2.6.8.1 kernel.org kernel source, applied some 
> performance patches from http://members.optusnet.com.au/ckolivas/kernel/ 
> and used the "checkout" script to patch speakup into it.  I am not sure 
> the performance patches do anything for speakup, but they might help with 
> the software synth and the audio subsystem (just a guest).  Then, of 
> course, I configured and compiled the kernel with the sftsyn module.
> Important:
> you have to create the device /dev/softsynth to use software speech...  Do 
> this by typing:
>
> # mknod /dev/softsynth c 10 26
>
> Make sure /dev/softsynth is created properly.  I do something like:
>
> # file /dev/softsynth
>
> This should say something like:
> /dev/softsynth: character special (10/26).
>
>
> 2. Flite:
> At first my problem was getting flite to compile properly.  For some 
> reason I was getting tons of errors and I could not think of anything to 
> help me. So, I checked out the Speakup mailing list and got the address to 
> some flite RPM's and those worked wonderfully.  Just make sure you get the 
> flite rpm and the flite-devel rpm or else speech-dispatcher will not 
> compile.
>
>
> 3. speech-dispatcher:
> This is important!  After you extract the sources for speech-dispatcher: 
> you have to create a symbolic link in the speech-dispatcher source 
> directory pointing to /usr/include.  The link has to be called "flite". 
> If you don't create this link it will not work...
> Then, run ./configure, "make all", and "make install" and you should have 
> speech-dispatcher installed.
> You can test speech-dispatcher by typing these commands:
>
> # speech-dispatcher  // runs the speech service...
> # pidof speech-dispatcher  // should print the process ID for 
> speech-dispatcher
> # spd-say "hello world"  // tells speech-dispatcher to say hello world.
>
> Flite should speak the words "hello world"!
>
> 4.  speechd_up:
> I had no problems setting this up.  I just extracted the source and ran 
> build.sh, then make and then make install.
>
> 5. running speakup with the new setup:
> I removed my ltlk speakup module from the running kernel.  If you forget 
> to remove the ltlk module and try to load the sftsyn module your system 
> might crash... At least that is what my system did!
> Anyway, make sure speech-dispatcher is running.  Then, type:
>
> # modprobe speakup_sftsyn // loads the speakup_sftsyn module
> # speechd_up // The speechd_up thing
>
> By now, your machine should be talking...
>
> 6. Using another synth?
> I paid the $50 and got the DECtalk 5.0 software synth from fonix.  Here is 
> my impression:
> The software is very fast, at least it is much much faster than flite. 
> Honestly, it works more quickly than my hardware double talk lt!  At $50, 
> I don't think it is a bad investment if you are serious about software 
> speech. Just remember that software speech is dependent on your computer's 
> capabilities and if you try it on an i386 it might not be the same as what 
> I experienced.  I have an overclocked Athlon system (2.5 GHZ) with 1 GB of 
> RAM and this might explain DECtalk's speed.  Although, I can still tell 
> that it is much faster than flite...
> Unfortunately, I was not very impressed with the quality of DECtalk's 
> voice. It was not what I had hoped for at all.  It is not as good as it is 
> advertised by Fonix.  Other than that, it was not bad at all...
>
>
> I am sorry if I mist something.  I am in Windows right now and I can check 
> any of this to make sure it is all correct.  I could have forgotten 
> something. however, I don't think I did.
>
> David Bruzos
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <willem at top.health.gov.za>
> To: "David Bruzos" <david at bruzos.org>
> Cc: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 1:22 AM
> Subject: Re: writing spk howto (?)
>
>
>> Hi,
>> Go ahead with the software synth howto.
>> As you say the docs is a little outdated.
>> Do you have speakup running using software speech under fedora c2?
>> If so, I would like to have the details, howto or no howto.
>> Regards, Willem
>>
>