Re: [orca-list] orca command-line configuration question

[Didier Spaier <didier slint fr>]

Hello,

Some information and corrections.

spd-say is part of speech-dispatcher, so if speech-dispatcher is not
installed, neither is spd-say, or if it is "standalone", it won't work.
This has nothing to do with espeakup grabbing alsa.

espeakup being a bridge between speakup, and espeak or espeak-ng,
has nothing to do with alsa anyway, at least directly.

If alsa is properly set, there is no reason that espeak or espeak-ng
grabs alsa. It doesn't here

Sorry, AFAIK there is no other available option currently than
speech-dispatcher for Orca (Joanie, please correct me if that's wrong).

I am not optimistic about the use of Peter's patch, as it is against
an old Ora version but again. Peter, is it right?

Last libao can use a lot of audio backends, but you can set the default
driver in /etc/libao.conf. Here I set: default_driver=alsa

But esd, pulse and oss are also available as they are installed when I
configure libao.

So, I think that in case speech-dispatcher relies on libao, the audio
card used depends on the backend of libao rather than libao itself.

Best,

Didier

On 26/04/2019 11:45, Willem van der Walt wrote:
> Thanks both to Zahari and Janina.
> Yes, I am running espeakup/speakup.
> Yes, spd-say does not work, likely because espeakup grabs alsa.
> Yes, I am using alsa, not pulseaudio.
> I do not really want to run speechd_up, but I suppose that might be another option.
> No, I do not have the luxury of a second sound device, so that one cannot work here.
> I might look at Peter's patch.
> Kind regards, Willem
>
>
> On Fri, 26 Apr 2019, Janina Sajka wrote:
>
> > Hi, Willem:
> >
> > You need to get speech-dispatcher working. In that effort spd-say is
> > your friend from the cli. If you can pass it a string and hear speech,
> > you should be good to go with Orca.
> > You don't say, but I presume you're also running Speakup on this same
> > machine? If so, espeakup could be blocking speech-dispatcher. At least,
> > that's how things work on my machines and it's the reason I use a second
> > audio card for speech-dispatcher. If using alsa in such a configuration
> > you'll want to identify the appropriate device in
> > /etc/speech-dispatcher/speechd.conf. Here's the relevant line from my
> > file:
> >
> > #AudioALSADevice "plughw:1"
> >
> > Note this line is commented because I'm using libao, not alsa, which is
> > slected higher up in that file. libao simply chooses the first available
> > audio card when launched. In my case that turns out to be hw:1.
> >
> > People using pulseaudio will have a different approach. I can't speak to
> > that, it's never worked for me.
> >
> > hth
> >
> > Janina
> >
> > Willem van der Walt writes:
> > > Good day,
> > > I have revived my x-windows system, but still need to get orca running.
> > > Actually, it seem to be running, but it is not talking as my
> > > speech-dispatcher is not working.
> > > I kind of remember that one had a choice to either directly use espeak or
> > > use it through speech-dispatcher.
> > > OK, so I am trying to run orca from a console, to set it up to use espeak
> > > directly, but it wants to connect to the x server.
> > > How can I make this change from the command line?
> > > I am happy to edit configuration files if I know which one and where to look
> > > for it.
> > > I am running ubuntu 18.04, reached through an upgrade.
> > > The orca version is 3.28.0
> > > TIA, Willem
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > orca-list mailing list
> > > orca-list gnome org
> > > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > > Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> > > Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> > > GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> > > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
> >
> > -- 
> >
> > Janina Sajka
> >
> > Linux Foundation Fellow
> > Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:    http://a11y.org
> >
> > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> > Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures    http://www.w3.org/wai/apa
> _______________________________________________
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> GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org