Hi Ann, great job with the faq. The only comment I would make is that in the list of supported synths, you've got the DecTalk PC listed rather than the DecTalk Express. I've been off the list for a few months now, so I could be wrong here, but I don't believe that the DecTalk PC is supported under speakup as yet. Darcy Burnard On Sun, 17 Jun 2001, Ann Parsons wrote: > Hi all, > > Here is the edited version of the gally proof. Some significant > corrections were made in the past ten minutes. > > > > SPEAKUP FAQ > > The document below is designed to answer the most frequently asked > questions about Speakup, the screen reader/speech access system for > the Linux Operating System, used by people who are blind. This > software is primarily developed and maintained by Kirk Reiser > (kirk at braille.uwo.ca). It was developed initially by Kirk along with Andy > Berdan, with additional coding by John Covici and Brian Borowski. > Speakup was first announced on October 29, 1998 at: 08:55:28 -0500 > Most of the current development work is done by Kirk and Jim > Danley, along with contributions from other speakup users. > > > > q. Why should I use Speakup? > > A. If you are blind and want to use Linux as your operating system, > and if you want to know what is going on with your system from boot-up > to shut-down, then Speakup is for you. Speakup gives you full access > to all console programs in the Linux OS. It works particularly well > with telnet and with FTP. > > > q. Where do I get speakup? > > A. Speakup can be obtained by going to: http://linux-speakup.org > > > q. What kind of computer equipment do I need to run Speakup? > > A. The Linux OS can be placed on any PC from a 386 on up. One will > receive best results from using a 486 or better machine, however. > > > q. What speech synthesizers are supported by Speakup. > > A. At the moment, Speakup supports only hardware synthesizers. Here > is a list of what is currently supported. > > Accent PC: acntpc > Accent SA: acntsa > Apolo: apolo > Audapter: audptr > Braille 'n Speak, and other such Blazie products: bns > DecTalk External (older model): decext > DecTalk PC (newer model): dectlk > DoubleTalk PC (internal): dtlk > LiteTalk/DoubleTalk LT (external): ltlk > Speakout: spkout > Transport: txprt > This list is current as of speakup version 0.10. > > Instructions on installation for each synthesizer can be found at the > URL listed above. > > > q. Will Speakup work on a Windows system? > > A. Although Speakup is a Linux Program and does not work in Windows, > there is a mini version of Linux plus speakup that can be run on a > dos/windows system. It is called Zipspeak. It was designed by > Matthew Campbell and can be obtained by going to: > > http://www.linux-speakup.org/zipspeak.html > > This is an excellent option if you are interested in Linux but do not > wish to devote much disk space, or resources to it. It can be > expanded into a full Linux system should you wish to do so. > > > q. I have heard about Emacspeak. How does Speakup differ and which > is better, or do I need both? > > A. Emacspeak, developed by T.V. Raman and currently in version 14, is > a verbal output system for Emacs, the customizable editor for > Unix/Linux. It is a complete desktop system for the OS, and works > well with any console application that has been linked to it. > However, it has some significant drawbacks. It does not work well > with Telnet or with FTP, and it does not give access to programs with > which it is not linked. > > However, there is a way to install both Speakup and Emacspeak on one's > system. This allows full access to all console programs plus the > desktop environment of Emacs. > > Emacspeak can be downloaded from sourceforge via HTTP or FTP: > > http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net > > ftp://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/pub/emacspeak > > You can visit Emacspeak on the WWW at > > http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/emacspeak (Cornell) --You > can also pick up emacspeak via anonymous ftp from > > ftp://ftp.cs.cornell.edu/pub/raman/emacspeak/. > > > q. What versions of speakup work with what kernels? > > A. The latest version of Speakup, 0.10A will work with kernels 2.2.18 > and above. For further information, ask on the speakup list. > > > q. How do I install Speakup? > > A. The easiest way is to download the appropriate precompiled kernel for your > synthesizer if the kernel is lower than 2.2.18 and install from the > downloaded image. If the distribution's kernel is higher than 2.2.18, it is > likely that there is a generic patched kernel and you have to enter a string > to tell speakup what synthesizer you wish to use. For example: > > speakup_synthesizer=dectlk speakup_serial=0 > > The above string is for the Dectalk Express on Com 1 under DOS or tty0 under > Linux. > > Having obtained the appropriate kernel image that matches your distribution > and synthesizer, you can either create boot up disks with the dd command on > Unix type systems or rawrite under DOS or Windows, or by placing the > necessary files into a directory and using loadlin to start the installation > process. For example: if the image is called bare.i, under Unix type system > you'd use the command string: > > dd . . . .(Sorry don't know the string) > > To use rawrite.exe under DOS or Windows you'd write, providing rawrite.exe > and bare.i are in the same directory as each other, say for example c:\Linux > you'd enter at a command prompt the following command strings: > > cd c:\Linux > [Press return] > rawrite bare.i a: > [Press return] > > Loadlin.exe enables a Linux installation to be started from a DOS prompt, > before going into Windows. You'd need to create a batch file to run > loadlin.exe with the appropriate parameters. > > Rawrite.exe and loadlin.exe can usually be found in a directory called > dosutils on distribution CD's, or something like that depending upon the > distribution. They're often accompanied with detailed documentation. > > > Q. What is the best way to download the appropriate file from the > site. > > A. FTP is the quickest way to do this, although you can use the web > site's download facility. One caveat, MSIE users be sure to type in > the address for the archive with ftp: in stead of http. Some MSIE > users have trouble downloading the files because MSIE puts line-feeds > where they should not go. If you do not have an FTP client, then try > using the Windows FTP client from a DOS box. Be sure to type bin > before starting any transfer. > > > Q. I've just used rawrite to make a boot disk for my system, and it > will not talk, it will not do anything. Why? > > A. Your speech synthesizer probably got in the way. Before typing > the command again, turn off your speech program. > > > q. why doesn't speakup come up talking when I use bla bla bla distros > boot disk? > > A. There are many reasons for this including: a bad rawrite image, > the wrong comm port setting in the command line, an improperly > downloaded file. For more specific information consult the > documentation file or ask on the Speakup list. > > q. what is the status of cursering? > > A. The cursoring problem has been solved in part. It is still in the > process of solution. > > > Q. I hate documentation, and find it difficult to use because I do > not understand it. How can I contact live human beings for help? > > A. The simplest way to contact us is via our mailing list. To > subscribe to this list, send an msg to: > > speakup-request at braille.uwo.ca > > In the body of the message, simply write subscribe. when you have > done this, you will receive information on how to send directly to the > list. Please keep this information for future reference. > > We can also be reached via Internet telephony by using the speakfreely > program. this program can be downloaded at: > > http://www.formilab.ch/speakfree/unix > > When you have installed the program, access the reflector by entering > : > > lwl..braille.uwo.ca port 4074 > > To see who is on the reflector, go to: > > http://lwl.braille.uwo.ca/speakup.html > > > Ann K. Parsons > > > > > > -- > Ann K. Parsons > email: akp at eznet.net ICQ Number: 33006854 > WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp > "All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup >
