heh, we have a temporary fix for this problem. In /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/speakup/speakup.c On or around line 440 in the reset function look for a line that says: synth_write (synth->config[FLUSH] Then just below that line put: synth_write ("\x20", 1); Then do the make bzImage process again and reinstall the new kernel and this should fix the problem. Tommy