[DECtalk] DECtalk Found a workaround for getting DECTalkAccess32 working w/ JFW

Thu Jun 2 18:38:09 EDT 2011

Hi Alex,

Great find there!  However, when I tried entering that into the run
dialog and starting JAWS with Eloquence as my default profile, then
switching over to the DECtalk profile...I still got Eloquence.  Any
thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

On 6/2/11, Raymond Grote <musicalman1 at comcast.net> wrote:
> You never know. They might decide to drop it. Wouldn't surprise me if they
> did drop it in a few years.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex H." <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 5:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECtalk Found a workaround for getting
> DECTalkAccess32 working w/ JFW
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I did sometime last week, got the "not supported anymore but we will
>> just keep it around" response. So, looks like DT's not going away in
>> JAWS, but just not going to be updated.
>>
>> Alex
>>
>> On 6/2/11, Brandon Misch <bmisch2002 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> has anyone else emailed them about this? would be nice if it was fixed.
>>>
>>> On Jun 2, 2011, at 5:09 PM, Alex H. wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> I've found some more cool stuff/bugs in JAWS support for DECTalk
>>>> access32.
>>>>
>>>> If you don't want to rename the eloq.jls file i talked about in the
>>>> original post, just use this from the run dialog to start JAWS.
>>>> "c:\program files\freedom scientific\jaws\12.0\jfw.exe" /synth=dtsoft
>>>> This forces JFW to load the DECTalk soft synth driver at startup.
>>>> It'll still use Eloquence until you switch the voice profile to
>>>> DECTalk Access32.
>>>>
>>>> Instead of doing this from the run dialog, alternatively you could
>>>> modify the JAWS desktop shortcut to do this to save time going to the
>>>> run dialog etc.
>>>>
>>>> One nasty side effect of making JAWS load the dtsoft synth at startup
>>>> is if you've already got JAWS configured to use the DECTalk access32
>>>> profile as the default.  Instead of DECTalk, you'll get Eloquence at a
>>>> nice fast speed, with the pitch all the way up. Very annoying! So the
>>>> rule is, start JAWS loading the dtsoft module, then switch to DECTalk
>>>> access32 after JAWS is running with Eloquence. A right pain, and I
>>>> wish FS would actually fix this instead of work around it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Alex
>>>>
>>>> On 5/23/11, Alex H. <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Jayson,
>>>>>
>>>>> Agreed. If it were a perfect world we'd have it on all platforms, but
>>>>> they have a budget and I use Linux and Windows, and do not own any
>>>>> Macs yet so for me Linux too would be more beneficial.
>>>>>
>>>>> Alex
>>>>>
>>>>> On 5/23/11, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I, on the other hand, would much rather see the classic DECtalk made
>>>>>> available on Linux if one other platform were to be supported. I
>>>>>> rarely
>>>>>> use
>>>>>> a Mac, but when I do, I'm perfectly satisfied with the default Alex
>>>>>> voice.
>>>>>> Jayson
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Corine Bickley" <corine.bickley at gallaudet.edu>
>>>>>> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 7:14 PM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECtalk Found a workaround for getting
>>>>>> DECTalkAccess32 working w/ JFW
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'll check into the cost. We're working on a charity-enabled budget,
>>>>>> as I don't expect to ever recover the costs we've put out so far. :)
>>>>>> I'm trying to do what Dennis Klatt would have wanted. That's all.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:40 AM, Pitermach <pitermach at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Well, there aren't that many issues, so most of the sapi drivers
>>>>>>> around
>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>> very stable these days. This would include window-eyes, NVDA, and
>>>>>>> dolphin's
>>>>>>> SuperNova. Ditto for the tts to mp3 apps like text aloud and
>>>>>>> d-speech.
>>>>>>> In my experience JAWS's sapi driver is very unstable and crashes for
>>>>>>> me
>>>>>>> after ruffly a minute of usage with a lightweight synth. And it's not
>>>>>>> even
>>>>>>> getting as much responsiveness as it could, though that's something
>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>> don't need to be worried about - it's not your problem Smile.
>>>>>>> Also, after you release the windows build, do you thinkl it would be
>>>>>>> possible to develop dectalk for mac? Apple, like microsoft has a sapi
>>>>>>> equivllent on mac for developping voices, which amung other things
>>>>>>> can
>>>>>>> work
>>>>>>> with VoiceOver, the screen reader built into MacOSX.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>>> From: FRIDO ORDEMANN
>>>>>>> To: DECtalk Discussions
>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 1:55 PM
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECtalk Found a workaround for getting
>>>>>>> DECTalkAccess32 working w/ JFW
>>>>>>> One issue I have become concerned about is possible difficulties that
>>>>>>> users
>>>>>>> of DECtalk will encounter when they have certain screen readers
>>>>>>> installed.
>>>>>>> If someone can summarize the group's experience with changing
>>>>>>> synthesizers
>>>>>>> or changing screen readers, I'd appreciate knowing what sorts of
>>>>>>> problems
>>>>>>> we're up against as we test out classic SAPI DECtalk. I don't want to
>>>>>>> release something that causes people problems when they try to
>>>>>>> install
>>>>>>> DECtalk but already have some other voices installed.
>>>>>>> corine
>>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>>> From: Alex H. <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> To: DECtalk Discussions <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>>>>>>> Sent: Sun, May 22, 2011 12:46:58 PM
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECtalk Found a workaround for getting DECTalk
>>>>>>> Access32 working w/ JFW
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Michael,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Funny you mention that, because when JAWS 11 came out, people started
>>>>>>> complaining to FS and they didn't say anything about DECTalk being
>>>>>>> not
>>>>>>> supported back then, only that they couldn't reproduce the problem
>>>>>>> (yeah right). Sounds like they're becoming lazy over there, I mean
>>>>>>> it's probably a five line fix in some file or other and they just
>>>>>>> don't care.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The real question is if they'll keep the existing DT Access32 files
>>>>>>> for future versions and just not provide any tech support for the
>>>>>>> synth? That's sort of a band-aid way of doing it, but that's what
>>>>>>> they'll probably do knowing FS.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Fortunately if this doesn't work, we should have a classic SAPI
>>>>>>> version of DECTalk that will be functional with any screen reader
>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>> can use SAPI synths, so I'm not too worried.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Alex
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 5/22/11, Michael Hansen <amtk62 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> I agree 100%.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I talked to FS support last week, and they told me that Access 32
>>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>> not supported after JAWS 10. So they know about the problems and
>>>>>>>> apparently do not want to fix them. Either that or they can't fix
>>>>>>>> them.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 5/21/11, Brandon Misch <bmisch2002 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> would be better if fs fixed it so you wouldn't have to change the
>>>>>>>>> name
>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>> eloquence.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On May 21, 2011, at 7:36 PM, Michael Hansen wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Wow, Alex! This is awesome! Great find!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Michael
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 5/20/11, Alex H. <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> I've found a workaround to get DECTalk Access32 working with JFW.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> WARNING WARNING WARNING: This isn't complicated, but it could
>>>>>>>>>>> leave
>>>>>>>>>>> you with no speech if you're not careful and set up another voice
>>>>>>>>>>> profile or don't have NVDA to fall back on.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 1. You should really do this with an older version of JAWS if you
>>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>>> any installed, or use NVDA or System Access, or even narrator to
>>>>>>>>>>> do
>>>>>>>>>>> these steps to avoid conflicts.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 2. Assuming you've already tried to have Access32 set up as a
>>>>>>>>>>> voice
>>>>>>>>>>> profile, just select that using insert-ctrl-s, and then the
>>>>>>>>>>> profile
>>>>>>>>>>> name for DECTalk access32.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 3. Open the start menu, Programs or All programs, Jaws 10/11/12,
>>>>>>>>>>> Explore Program Files.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 4. Navigate to the Drivers\speech\eloq subdirectory.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 5. Rename eloq.jls to something else like "evil_eloq.jls"
>>>>>>>>>>> Alternatively, you can simply move the file to another location.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 6. Reboot JAWS. You should now have DT access32 speech! Worked
>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>> me.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Note: I am not responsible for any outcome of this, use at your
>>>>>>>>>>> own
>>>>>>>>>>> risk. However, if something doesn't work you can always just
>>>>>>>>>>> rename
>>>>>>>>>>> the file back to eloq.jls and things are good again.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I haven't tested to see if the Eloquence voice profile is saved
>>>>>>>>>>> if
>>>>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>>>>> rename it back, but I don't use eloquence anyway, so...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Enjoy and good luck!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Alex
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>>> DECtalk mailing list
>>>>>>>>>>> DECtalk at bluegrasspals.com
>>>>>>>>>>> http://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
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