Installing Ubuntu on an AMD HP Laptop

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Hello, Didier here
This file /var/log/speech-dispatcher exists in Ubuntu 18.04 but is empty.

However, after some digging I found the logs in
/run/user/1000/speech-dispatcher/log

This helped me to set a female mbrola voice.

The config file to use is espeak-mbrola-generic.conf, not
espeak-ng-mbrola-generic.conf as I mistakenly wrote in
my previous answer.

You will need the espeak binary, so install it:
sudo apt install espeak

Install a mbrola feminine voice:
sudo apt install mbrola-us1

Edit the file:
/etc/speech-dispatcher/modules/espeak-mbrola-generic.conf
sudo gedit /etc/speech-dispatcher/modules/espeak-mbrola-generic.conf &
In this long line:
"echo \'$DATA\' | espeak -v mb-$VOICE -s $RATE -p $PITCH $PUNCT -q --stdin --pho | mbrola -v $VOLUME -e /usr/share/mbrola/$VOICE/$VOICE - -.au | $PLAY_COMMAND
Replace  all three occurrences of $VOICE by us1 so it becomes:
"echo \'$DATA\' | espeak -v mb-us1 -s $RATE -p $PITCH $PUNCT -q --stdin --pho | mbrola -v $VOLUME -e /usr/share/mbrola/us1/us1 - -.au | $PLAY_COMMAND
Save the file.

In the Settings GUI of orca choose the espeak-mbrola-generic speech
synthesizer.
You won't be able to select another Person than:
"espeak-mbrola-generic defaulst voice(en)"
however the edit made in espeak-mbrola-generic.conf
is a workaround that allows to set any MBROLA voice.

At next login you should hear a female voice.

Hope this helps,

Didier 
--
Didier Spaier

On 07/23/2018 04:29 AM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 22, 2018 at 10:02 AM, Linux for blind general discussion
> <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
> 
>> Also, it is rather difficult to debug an issue in Ubuntu
>> for me as I can't find the log files for speech-dispatcher,
>> and I don't have the time to learn, not being an Ubuntu
>> user, sorry.
> 
> For Linux Mint 18, which is built on Ubuntu 16.04, they are in:
> 
> /var/log/speech-dispatcher
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Paul