[GTALUG] Actual ttyS0 MIA

[Karen Lewellen]

Hi Stewart,


On Sun, 10 May 2020, Stewart C. Russell via talk wrote:

> Kind of. Not quite.

Well of course, cannot expect this to flow logically.
>
> Default situation: The first USB serial device you plug in (it doesn't matter 
> which port) appears as /dev/ttyUSB0. The next one becomes /dev/ttyUSB1
>
Actually, that it has a default makes a grand deal of sense.  After all, 
how often would a person have say 4 of them running at a time?



> There's no way of telling which device is what without digging about in udev 
> rules or making sure you use distinct hardware for each one (like the FTDI, 
> Prolific, QinHeng and Silicon Labs devices I mentioned the other day).
I suppose, hypothetically that if one has more than one hardware device, 
you might assign  One software program to work with one location, and a 
second to work with another?

  >
> Allocation of COM ports under Windows seems to be random. The first device I 
> plug in is usually COM6 or COM9. No idea about DOS.
>
My guess is that  Windows does this because  in dos technically the first 
4 and sometimes 5  can have specific associated  tasks.  In theory,  some 
editions  of windows have something that sort of vaguely passes as dos in 
a round about sort of way.  Therefore  windows would  move things further 
up the scale.  James remark about IRQ lines  can still ring true.  because 
IBM used them oddly everyone else  decided to sing along.
My current computer is a p3 with allot of things  going on inside.  In 
fact I have been putting off trying to find what  port and IRQ my sound 
card  is using so I can configure  mplayer and mpxplay.

>
>
> I have a USB DecTalk; well, an EMIC-2 board with an FTDI USB-Serial adapter I 
> homebrewed into a small box with a speaker and headphone jack: 
> https://scruss.com/blog/2016/02/27/t%c9%92k-b%c9%92ks-a-tiny-hardware-speech-synthesizertts/ 
>

Wait!  you built a $600 dectalk USB unit in your garage?
Does it provide all 9 voices?
Can you make it sing?
Seriously, to give others here a bit of perspective,  the unit I am using 
right now for my dectalk voice for my computer is built into a box that 
also provides a fully functional scanner for reading.
To be sure Dr. hawking used one voice, but there are 9 in total, all with 
names  like perfect Paul, Doctor Dennis and whispering Wendy, which 
really does whisper.
  when it was first 
sold by xerox the unit cost..$5,500.  I replaced  it, I prefer to have a 
spare, for  slightly less than a thousand, and often find them sold for 
around $1,500 even today.
A unit  the size of what I guess Stewart built sounds closer to a dectalk 
express, which  is a serial  port  unit, and very hard to find anymore,
  especially not with a functional battery.  I managed  to find one 
about a year or so back, only to 
have UPS smash it to pieces because of how the customs form was completed.
I was actually about to start looking for someone who sells dectalk USB 
units here, so as to avoid  what would happen if I tried to  order it 
from  the states.
Stewart, your comments about speech quality has me wanting to ask 
something about speech in  Linux, which for the record is reprehensible, 
even if free.  IBM created a voice known as eloquence which while not my 
cup of tea, would make Linux a reasonable possibility for more people if 
available.  I have no idea what IBM uses the voice for now, but they still 
own it I am told.


  . FTDI serial interfaces - although briefly vilified by Linux types - are the 
> easiest to work with under Linux. Each one has a unique serial number, and 
> can be made to appear on a particular port with a little bit of 
> configuration.
>
Granted, I am now trying to imagine how those fit into a  machine, but 
cannot help feeling that  what constitutes a little bit of configuration 
for  Mr. builds  dectalks in his basement,  is a grand dance for the rest 
of the world.
I mean seriously, if you want to make some extra cash during the pademic I 
can likely  find you a few happy customers, laughs.
Cheers,
Kare

  > cheers,