These directions document upgrading eSpeak NG on Ubuntu 18.04. eSpeak
NG is the default voice for Orca.
On Ubuntu 18.04, the default version of eSpeak NG does not speak certain
types of punctuation (including the vertical bar (|), caret (^),
greater-than (>) and less-than (<)) when used in Orca's "say-all" or
speaking flat review lines or words, even with punctuation set to all.
This is not particularly critical for most uses, but these characters
are critical for programming and systems administration.
Upgrading eSpeak NG as follows will result in this punctuation being
read correctly when punctuation is set to all and a say-all or flat
review line or word command is issued.
COMMAND NOTATION
This document uses the dollar sign ($) as a prompt at the beginning of
each command. This indicates that a command can be run as a non-
elevated/non-root user. Do not type the dollar sign when typing the
command.
In many directions, the hash (#) is used to indicate that a command
should be run as root or using elevated privileges. In these
directions, this notation is not used. Instead commands are given with
sudo when elevated privileges are required.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Check running version of eSpeak NG. The package name is the second
field on each line, while the version is the third field.
$ dpkg -l | grep espeak
The output should be:
ii espeak-ng-data:amd64 1.49.2+dfsg-1
amd64 Multi-lingual software speech synthesizer: speech data
files
ii libespeak-ng1:amd64 1.49.2+dfsg-1
amd64 Multi-lingual software speech synthesizer: shared
library
ii speech-dispatcher-espeak-ng 0.8.8-1ubuntu1
amd64 Speech Dispatcher: Espeak-ng output module
2. If this is less than 1.49.2+dsfg-8 (As of 2020-04-01, it is
1.49.2+dsfg-1 on Ubuntu 18.04), these directions are known to work.
3. Download the requisite packages:
$ wget
http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/e/espeak-ng/libespeak-ng1_1.49.2+dfsg-8_amd64.deb
$ wget
http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/e/espeak-ng/espeak-ng-data_1.49.2+dfsg-8_amd64.deb
4. Then install them:
$ sudo dpkg -i libespeak-ng1_1.49.2+dfsg-8_amd64.deb espeak-ng-
data_1.49.2+dfsg-8_amd64.deb
5. Check the installed eSpeak NG version:
$ dpkg -l | grep espeak
The output should be:
ii espeak-ng-data:amd64 1.49.2+dfsg-8
amd64 Multi-lingual software speech synthesizer: speech data
files
ii libespeak-ng1:amd64 1.49.2+dfsg-8
amd64 Multi-lingual software speech synthesizer: shared
library
ii speech-dispatcher-espeak-ng 0.8.8-1ubuntu1
amd64 Speech Dispatcher: Espeak-ng output module
6. Reboot the machine. Turning Orca off and on several times may also
pick up the change, but this has not been entirely reliable in testing.
7. Test that the following characters are correctly read by issuing a
flat review speak line (Orca+i)
| ^ < >
8. Enjoy :)
These directions pull in an upgraded version of eSpeak NG from Ubuntu
19.04. By doing so, we ensure that your system will continue to receive
upgrades to eSpeak NG as new software is added to Ubuntu 18.04, as long
as the new software is greater than the version we have just installed.
--
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to espeak-ng in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1870642
Title:
Upgrade espeak-ng in Binoic Beaver to at least 1.49.2+dfsg-8 (from
1.49.2+dfsg-1)
Status in espeak-ng package in Ubuntu:
New
Bug description:
Workaround directions follow this report in a comment.
eSpeak NG prior to commit a766b22 (https://github.com/espeak-ng
/espeak-ng/commit/a766b22643653402171ba8b482a9ed3f419f57bb) did not
properly interpret certain characters (including the vertical bar (|),
caret (^), greater than sign (>), and less than sign (<)) as
punctuation. Thus, when passing --punct (without arguments, for "read
all punctuation") these characters were not read at all.
This is particularly critical for users doing software development or
systems administration using screen readers (such as the built-in
Orca), where the addition or removal of one of these characters can
significantly change the meaning of what is being read.
eSpeak NG in Bionic Beaver (1.49.2+dfsg-1) does not include the fix
for this issue. However, eSpeak NG 1.49.2+dfsg-8 (as seen in Disco
Dingo) includes the fix for this issue. I have tested that upgrading
to the Disco Dingo packages on a Bionic Beaver system corrects this
issue.
This minor version bump will significantly increase the accessibility
of Bionic Beaver 18.04 LTS for users of Orca, other screen readers,
and possibly other users and uses of eSpeak NG.
Release Info:
$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release: 18.04
Package Info:
$ apt-cache policy libespeak-ng1
libespeak-ng1:
Installed: 1.49.2+dfsg-1
Candidate: 1.49.2+dfsg-1
Version table:
*** 1.49.2+dfsg-1 500
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
Expected Behavior:
On Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver), running:
$ espeak-ng --punct "< > | ^"
should produce the audio "less than greater than v bar circumflex".
Actual Behavior:
The system produces no sound.
To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/espeak-ng/+bug/1870642/+subscriptions
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