speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Rynhardt P Kruger]

Hi,

I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console. It just did it again while I 
was typing the previous sentence. When that happen, I have to killall speechd-up and than start speech-dispatcher and 
speechd-up again.
This is a really annoying problem, it happens with verying intervals and mostly when speakup is saying something. 
I am running speech-dispatcher 0.6.5 and speechd-up from the cvs tarball. I am using the espeak-generic module although 
it happens with the espeak and flite modules too. It just did it again at the prier sentence!

Please help me, I can't use my computer fully with this anoying problem.

Thanks for any help in advance.

Rynhardt 

-- 
I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Michael Whapples]

This sounds quite odd. Firstly I would suggest using the espeak specific
module rather than the espeak generic one, I did find that sometimes
there could be problems with speech-dispatcher crashing with the generic
one. I have only had one crash of speech-dispatcher since changing to
the espeak specific module, and that one I couldn't track down as there
wasn't enough information in the log files and as it hasn't happened
since it is too rare to be able to catch by altering the log level. As
you seem to get crashes so regular, you should be able to get it to
happen when you raise the log level. Also make sure that the modules you
are using/have enabled also have a high log level. Also on this topic,
disable any modules you don't need, this can affect stability.

After trying the last suggestion does the problem go away? if not does
raising the log levels reveal any hint as to what the problem is?

From
Michael Whapples
On Sat, 2008-01-19 at 12:12 +0200, Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console. It just did it again while I 
> was typing the previous sentence. When that happen, I have to killall speechd-up and than start speech-dispatcher and 
> speechd-up again.
> This is a really annoying problem, it happens with verying intervals and mostly when speakup is saying something. 
> I am running speech-dispatcher 0.6.5 and speechd-up from the cvs tarball. I am using the espeak-generic module although 
> it happens with the espeak and flite modules too. It just did it again at the prier sentence!
> 
> Please help me, I can't use my computer fully with this anoying problem.
> 
> Thanks for any help in advance.
> 
> Rynhardt 
> 

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Daniel Dalton]

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008, Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console. It just did it again while I
> was typing the previous sentence. When that happen, I have to killall speechd-up and than start speech-dispatcher and
> speechd-up again.

Ok. I sometimes get this problem.
(It happens a bit but not as much as what you said)
I just wrote myself a script I run (its in my path)
and I get speech back.
I guess I could try the espeak driver but haven't had time.

My simple script is at:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/projects/restart-speech-0.3.tgz

You probably already thought of this...

--
Daniel Dalton

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/
d.dalton@iinet.net.au

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Hynek Hanke]

Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console.
Hello Runhardt,

what exactly do you mean by ,,nothing in the log''? Do you mean
there is no clear reason for the crash at the end of the log file
or do you mean that the logfile has 0 bytes?

In the first case, please increase the LogLevel in speechd.conf to 5, switch
Debug to 1 (and remove the # comment character) in espeak.conf or whatever
module you are using and send me speechd.log and espeak.log to
hanke@brailcom.org (not the list since it will be big file), perhaps
we can deduce something.

If you really mean the logfile is totally empty, then there must
be some path or permission problem. Please write where do you
expect the log to be, how do you run speechd and
what is the result of ls -l speechd.log .

Thank you,
Hynek

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Rynhardt P Kruger]

Hi hynek,

By nothing in the log file I ment that there isn't something in the log that can give me a clue about what the error
is. I have after my prev message, increased the loglevel to 5 and turned debuging in the espeak-generic module on, but
strangely it didn't crash after that! *smile*
But as I said in my prev message, it happens with verying intervals, so if it isn't over its problem, (which is
logicley correct, but I really hope it is), it will crash again and I will send you the two files.

Thanks.

Rynhardt

* Hynek Hanke <hanke@brailcom.org> [080121 17:44]:
> Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> > I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> > Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console.
> Hello Runhardt,
> 
> what exactly do you mean by ,,nothing in the log''? Do you mean
> there is no clear reason for the crash at the end of the log file
> or do you mean that the logfile has 0 bytes?
> 
> In the first case, please increase the LogLevel in speechd.conf to 5, switch
> Debug to 1 (and remove the # comment character) in espeak.conf or whatever
> module you are using and send me speechd.log and espeak.log to
> hanke@brailcom.org (not the list since it will be big file), perhaps
> we can deduce something.
> 
> If you really mean the logfile is totally empty, then there must
> be some path or permission problem. Please write where do you
> expect the log to be, how do you run speechd and
> what is the result of ls -l speechd.log .
> 
> Thank you,
> Hynek
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Rynhardt P Kruger]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the tip, but I have allready made myself a script to restart speech and I gave it the name "spup" 
(SPeechd-UP) for quick typing. I have also enabled it in the sudoers file so that I don't have to be root to execute it.

Thanks for the tip anyway.

Rynhardt

* Daniel Dalton <d.dalton@iinet.net.au> [080121 17:44]:
> On Sat, 19 Jan 2008, Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> > Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console. It just did it again while I
> > was typing the previous sentence. When that happen, I have to killall speechd-up and than start speech-dispatcher and
> > speechd-up again.
> 
> Ok. I sometimes get this problem.
> (It happens a bit but not as much as what you said)
> I just wrote myself a script I run (its in my path)
> and I get speech back.
> I guess I could try the espeak driver but haven't had time.
> 
> My simple script is at:
> http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/projects/restart-speech-0.3.tgz
> 
> You probably already thought of this...
> 
> --
> Daniel Dalton
> 
> http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/
> d.dalton@iinet.net.au
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Rynhardt P Kruger]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your tips. The reason why I don't use the native espeak module, is because I've found that the espeak module 
will block /dev/dsp even though I have set it to use the alsa driver. I also like to custemise the generic espeak module 
so that the afrikaans (my native language) is on voice 1, and en-r on voice 0. I have not found a way to do it with the 
native espeak module. One can change the lang parameter, but sadly there is not a lang file in the /proc/speakup 
directory like there is with the apollo.

I have also disabled all the other modules in speechd.conf, festival and flite would block the oss devices as well.
I have now rased the log level to 5, but strangely it didn't crash after that! Hope it stay that way.

Take care,

Rynhardt

* Michael Whapples <mwhapples@aim.com> [080120 20:20]:
> This sounds quite odd. Firstly I would suggest using the espeak specific
> module rather than the espeak generic one, I did find that sometimes
> there could be problems with speech-dispatcher crashing with the generic
> one. I have only had one crash of speech-dispatcher since changing to
> the espeak specific module, and that one I couldn't track down as there
> wasn't enough information in the log files and as it hasn't happened
> since it is too rare to be able to catch by altering the log level. As
> you seem to get crashes so regular, you should be able to get it to
> happen when you raise the log level. Also make sure that the modules you
> are using/have enabled also have a high log level. Also on this topic,
> disable any modules you don't need, this can affect stability.
> 
> After trying the last suggestion does the problem go away? if not does
> raising the log levels reveal any hint as to what the problem is?
> 
> From
> Michael Whapples
> On Sat, 2008-01-19 at 12:12 +0200, Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I have a strange problem on my grml 1.1 rc1 box.
> > Often speech-dispatcher will crash, with nothing in the log and no message on the console. It just did it again while I 
> > was typing the previous sentence. When that happen, I have to killall speechd-up and than start speech-dispatcher and 
> > speechd-up again.
> > This is a really annoying problem, it happens with verying intervals and mostly when speakup is saying something. 
> > I am running speech-dispatcher 0.6.5 and speechd-up from the cvs tarball. I am using the espeak-generic module although 
> > it happens with the espeak and flite modules too. It just did it again at the prier sentence!
> > 
> > Please help me, I can't use my computer fully with this anoying problem.
> > 
> > Thanks for any help in advance.
> > 
> > Rynhardt 
> > 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Tomas Cerha]

Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:
> I have now rased the log level to 5, but strangely it didn't crash after that!

Hello Rynhardt, there is one known Speech Dispatcher bug of this kind.
It seems to appear only on certain hardware combinations and never shows
after changing log level to 5 or running speech-dispatcher in a
debugger, so it is hard to track down.  Thus leaving log level at 5 may
be a workaround for you, but be cautious about the growing log size (may
need to set up log rotation).

Regards, Tomas

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Daniel Dalton]

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008, Rynhardt P Kruger wrote:

> Hi Daniel,

Hi,

>
> Thanks for the tip, but I have allready made myself a script to restart speech and I gave it the name "spup"

Ok. Thought you probably had thought of that one...
And mine doesn't need to be ran with sudo since I  added sudo before each 
command in the script...
Oh and I think mine calls my speakup configuration file so everything is 
just how I like it again...
Using the line
exec speakup-set
Obviously speakup-set is the script that adjusts my speakup settings.
When removing this line lets see what happens:
Yep that line is useful.

--
Daniel Dalton

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/
d.dalton@iinet.net.au

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Michael Whapples]

On your comment about using alsa in the espeak specific module
and /dev/dsp being blocked, well this is possibly to do with alsa. When
using alsa, you shouldn't try and use OSS systems directly. You will
need to use alsa-oss emulation. I think there is two ways to do oss
emulation with alsa, kernel emulation (where I think you can just
use /dev/dsp directly, or via the aoss command (eg. 
aoss realplay
would start realplayer using the software oss emulation of alsa).

Your comment about the voices is very valid, and if the
speech-dispatcher developers would like to improve the espeak module, I
think it would be good to have control over the espeak voices to
symbolic voice name mappings. It may be possible to hack round this by
removing any espeak voice data files not needed, but I am unsure of this
and don't know that I could recommend it unless the person doing it was
certain of what they were actually doing. Also I don't know if that hack
would work for being able to access voices from different languages.

As suggested by others, there has been some particular problems on
certain hardware, so to see if it might be, what type of system is it
(eg. type of processor).

From
Michael Whapples

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Adam Myrow]

On Tue, 22 Jan 2008, Michael Whapples wrote:

> As suggested by others, there has been some particular problems on
> certain hardware, so to see if it might be, what type of system is it
> (eg. type of processor).

I have also experienced occasional crashes of speech-dispatcher.  I have a 
system with hyper-threading, and am using an SMP kernel.  I wonder if it 
could be a problem specific to SMP machines?  Maybe, it's some kind of 
race condition.  Increasing the log level may be keeping speech-dispatcher 
so busy writing to the log file that it doesn't have time to get into the 
race condition.  Just my theory.  Any thoughts?

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Rynhardt P Kruger]

Hi,

I think my prosesser is a duolcore because grml deteckt two CPUs but there is just one prosesser on the board. It's a 
pentiom 4, 3.0 ghz
I have 1 gig and 256 meg ram in this case. I am also using a soundblaster audigy soundcard.

Take care,

Rynhardt

* Michael Whapples <mwhapples@aim.com> [080123 17:00]:
> On your comment about using alsa in the espeak specific module
> and /dev/dsp being blocked, well this is possibly to do with alsa. When
> using alsa, you shouldn't try and use OSS systems directly. You will
> need to use alsa-oss emulation. I think there is two ways to do oss
> emulation with alsa, kernel emulation (where I think you can just
> use /dev/dsp directly, or via the aoss command (eg. 
> aoss realplay
> would start realplayer using the software oss emulation of alsa).
> 
> Your comment about the voices is very valid, and if the
> speech-dispatcher developers would like to improve the espeak module, I
> think it would be good to have control over the espeak voices to
> symbolic voice name mappings. It may be possible to hack round this by
> removing any espeak voice data files not needed, but I am unsure of this
> and don't know that I could recommend it unless the person doing it was
> certain of what they were actually doing. Also I don't know if that hack
> would work for being able to access voices from different languages.
> 
> As suggested by others, there has been some particular problems on
> certain hardware, so to see if it might be, what type of system is it
> (eg. type of processor).
> 

> From
> Michael Whapples
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)

Re: speech-dispatcher crashing with nothing in log

[Alex Snow]

might be hyperthreaded, since I'm not sure there's a dual-core p4 at 
that speed
On Wed, Jan 23, 2008 at 08:07:03PM +0200, Rynhardt P Kruger 
wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I think my prosesser is a duolcore because grml deteckt two CPUs but there is just one prosesser on the board. It's a 
> pentiom 4, 3.0 ghz
> I have 1 gig and 256 meg ram in this case. I am also using a soundblaster audigy soundcard.
> 
> Take care,
> 
> Rynhardt
> 
> * Michael Whapples <mwhapples@aim.com> [080123 17:00]:
> > On your comment about using alsa in the espeak specific module
> > and /dev/dsp being blocked, well this is possibly to do with alsa. When
> > using alsa, you shouldn't try and use OSS systems directly. You will
> > need to use alsa-oss emulation. I think there is two ways to do oss
> > emulation with alsa, kernel emulation (where I think you can just
> > use /dev/dsp directly, or via the aoss command (eg. 
> > aoss realplay
> > would start realplayer using the software oss emulation of alsa).
> > 
> > Your comment about the voices is very valid, and if the
> > speech-dispatcher developers would like to improve the espeak module, I
> > think it would be good to have control over the espeak voices to
> > symbolic voice name mappings. It may be possible to hack round this by
> > removing any espeak voice data files not needed, but I am unsure of this
> > and don't know that I could recommend it unless the person doing it was
> > certain of what they were actually doing. Also I don't know if that hack
> > would work for being able to access voices from different languages.
> > 
> > As suggested by others, there has been some particular problems on
> > certain hardware, so to see if it might be, what type of system is it
> > (eg. type of processor).
> > 
> 
> > From
> > Michael Whapples
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> -- 
> I use grml linux (http://grml.org/)
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
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operating system for Intel systems, Linux, has employed a number of top
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yesterday: "World domination, fast -- it's either us or Linus".  Mr. Torvalds
was unavailable for comment ...
	-- Robert Manners, rjm@swift.eng.ox.ac.uk, in comp.os.linux.setup