To get grml using software speech at the boot prompt type: grml swspeak <cr> The boot prompt comes up just after your cd stops spinning for a few seconds. If you do a typo, hit control-u to wipe the line or backspace to wipe a single character. If everything works you'll hear a finished booting message and be told to type swspeak to get speech going. Do that and you should be on your way. grml is a security hardened debian distribution. It's easier to make install on a hard drive than ubuntu for now. Ubuntu is working to catch up on that score though.