Can't you simply run Systemctl enable espeakup To have the service start at boot time? Systemctl start espeakup Should start it in the current session. On 4/1/19, 22:56, "Martin McCormick" <martin.m@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: After getting the path in the correct place in /lib/systemd/system/espeakup.service, the upgrade works just like it should. If you want the system to boot talking, you also need a line containing nothing more than espeakup in your /etc/rc.local script. A word about /etc/rc.local is in order. I noticed that stretch or debian9 doesn't come with /etc/rc.local so I checked things out a bit. It turns out that the concept of /etc/rc.local is being deprecated. Deprecated means removing something that is easy to remember, useful and intuitive in favor of something that is opaque, virtualized and non-intuitive but experts say you can do so much more with the replacement. Just kidding but sometimes it seems like that is what deprecated means. /etc/rc.local still works but it may go away some day. After messing with one of the two stretch systems long enough, I had to completely remove speakup and espeak so I can attest to the fact that apt-get now gets you a speakup that works. After apt-get update followed by apt-get upgrade, it is apt-get install espeak You can test it by calling espeak "hello" or whatever expression you like and, if you hear it spoken, espeak is good. Next, as root, apt-get install espeakup and the new installation should talk to you but you are not done. If you rebooted the system right then, it would come up silent. You would need to su - and type the command espeakup followed by the carriage return to have speech again. If you put 'espeakup' in /etc/rc.local, that will start the process as soon as the system has enough resources to run speakup. /etc/rc.local gets run each time the system reaches a new run level. It is a /bin/csh shell script so you must make it executable with chmod +x for it to work. I would hope/imagine that something will replace it eventually and it may actually be better but such is the march of time. Martin Tom Fowle <wa6ivgtf@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > A hearty second to Janina's thanks to both Samuel and Okash. > I wasn't aware of their "screen reader usage" status till recently. > > Your efforts are very much appreciated. > > Tom Fowle _______________________________________________ Speakup mailing list Speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup