Now Fixed: Archlinux Speakup problems after alsa package upgrade

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Hi,

I have spent sometime today trying to get espeakup working on one of my
two Linux systems. I now have it working with alsa-lib-1.2.6.1-1 and
Espeakup-0.90 on Arch, using standard Arch packaging.

What was the fix?

I introduced a file:

/etc/asound.conf

<begin file contents>
ctl.!default {
        type hw
	        card 0
		}

		<end file contents>

		Why that should matter is beyond me. Seems like this
		should be the default behavior, no?

		Best,

		Janina

Janina Sajka writes:
> Hi, Alexander:
> 
> I ram an -Syu upgrade on one of my two machines and rebooted. I can
> confirm espeakup 0.9.0 and also:
> 
> alsa-lib 1.2.5.1-3
> alsa-utils 1.2.5.1-1
> 
> Unfortunately, I do not get Speakup speech. Doing "espeak hello" works,
> as do aplay commands.
> 
> I would also note the amixer command environment seems OK now, but
> that's a separate issue.
> 
> I will leave things as they are for now, rather than downversioning
> alsa-lib, in case I can give you some other
> debugging output. Let me know, and thanks for your efforts.
> 
> Janina
> 
> 
> Alexander Epaneshnikov writes:
> > 14.06.2021 16:26, Janina Sajka пишет:
> > > Hi, All:
> > > 
> > > Just returning to this topic to add my own experience on updating my
> > > Arch Linux installation on two machines over the weekend.
> > > 
> > > I also ran into problems that rendered Speakup unusable with espeakup.
> > > Reverting alsa-lib fixed the Speakup issue. As we don't know how long
> > > the problem may persist, I've added the following to my
> > > /etc/pacman.conf:
> > > 
> > > IgnorePkg   =alsa-lib
> > > 
> > > 
> > > I also discovered problems with alsa-util packages. A command as
> > > straight forward as:
> > > 
> > > amixer controls
> > > 
> > > returned meaningless results. Further, several of my audio devices were
> > > silent with volumes set to 0, and the switch set to "false." So, I also
> > > added a line like the above for alsa-utils.
> > > 
> > > Not sure how to be helpful to anyone interested in debugging, but I do
> > > have two machines and am willing to try. Please advise.
> > > 
> > > Best,
> > > 
> > > Janina
> > > 
> > Hello everyone. please test espeakup 0.90 with laytest alsa-lib on Arch Linux.
> > I will be happy to hear the results.
> > 
> > -- 
> > Sincerely, Alexander.
> 
> -- 
> 
> Janina Sajka
> https://linkedin.com/in/jsajka
> 
> Linux Foundation Fellow
> Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org
> 
> The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> Co-Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa
> 

-- 

Janina Sajka
(she/her/hers)
https://linkedin.com/in/jsajka

Linux Foundation Fellow
Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Co-Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa