FreeLists / blindipod / [blindipod] Re: Fwd: RE: trouble running Voicebox script

[liguy371 <liguy371@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Anna and list :

Maybe I should have informed the list I'm using Windows Vista and wondering
if maybe voice box is not compatable with Vista?  I even went to the on line
help in windows and it said disable script notification and still that error
message comes up!

 

Or should I just skip the step # 7 listed below: and go to step number 8
skipping the run voicebox again after music is loaded and do steps 9 and 10?

I know what voice box does great explination on Kane's behalf.  So I was
wondering OK I'll live without the directories being announced I'm just
going to put everything into the place where ever I tunes exports the files
into from the I tunes program into the I pod video 5 g 30 gig drive

Tha

7.  Download and run the Voicebox program.  We've done the hardest 

 work already, but you still have a problem:  Rockbox has an installed 

 voice, but has no idea how to read file names or directories to you so 

 you can manipulate or play the contents of your iPod.  As you may know 

 from previous list discussions about this topic, Rockbox does not have 

 an intelligent text-to-speech engine.  Instead, files and directories 

 are identified through a series of pre-recorded "talk clips" that your 

 computer creates on demand using the primitive text-to-speech engine 

 that Microsoft Windows offers.  Voicebox enables you to update the 

 talk clips on your iPod in a plug-and-play fashion.  It examines the 

 folder names and file names you have placed on your iPod-the ones that 

 you can see from Windows Explorer thanks to what you did in Step #1 

 and what you will do in Step #8-and it allows those things to be voiced so
you can navigate back and forth between them.

 You can find Voicebox at <http://rockbox.aplcycling.org/voiceBox.zip.

 

 This is a free program, and it doesn't take long to run.  You first

 

 unzip the files into a directory of your choosing, then run the

 

 executable which is called VOICEBOX.HTA.  You run the program simply 

 by highlighting the file called VOICEBOX.HTA and hitting the Enter 

 key.  Then you navigate through the start-up screen, making sure all 

 options are checked that should be checked.  In general, the defaults 

 already are set the way you'll desire them.  But you will have to tell 

 Voicebox where your iPod is so it can place appropriate talk clips 

 onto the iPod instead of onto another part of your computer.  So at 

 the edit box where it asks what drive you're running Voicebox on, 

 simply type the letter name your computer has assigned the iPod to, 

 followed by a colon.  Your entry in this edit box will look like E: or 

 F: for example.  Tab to the field that says RUN VOICEBOX, hit Enter, 

 and wait patiently.  The operation does not tend to give you progress 

 reports while it's running; but the iPod will make a crunching sound 

 as Voicebox is installed or updated, and you can hear this sound if 

 you gently pick up the iPod and hold it to your ear.  It sounds much 

 like the sound a computer makes as a new application is

 

 being installed.  The iPod is, after all, just a uniquely designed 

 little

 

 computer terminal with its own hard drive and a screen and headphone jack.

 When Voicebox has finished, you will hear a chime emanate from your 

 computer's sound card and will hear the opening Voicebox screen again, 

 which you can navigate through using the Tab key.  JAWS speaks this 

 screen very well without any kind of script or JAWS cursor gymnastics.

***

 8.  Now comes the fun part: actually loading your files onto the iPod.

 

 This is much easier for you to structure in Rockbox than it would be 

 in iTunes, since iTunes has its own secret way of categorizing and 

 even naming files from its library.  But if you have songs on your 

 computer that you wish to transfer to your iPod-or even songs on CDs, 

 for that matter-you simply copy or move these from their present 

 location on your hard drive or CD drive to the iPod drive.  You do 

 this using My Computer or Windows Explorer, using CTRL+C to copy 

 whatever you've highlighted and CTRL+V to paste.  This is a manual 

 operation, not an automated one.  Copying long lectures or even short 

 music files can take a couple of minutes, since your iPod is an 

 external drive that doesn't operate with quite the speed of your PC.  

 But using the Rename function in Windows, you can put whatever names 

 you want on the folders or files you've copied, being sure to always 

 keep the three-letter extension at the end of the file name so that 

 your iPod will know whether it's supposed to be running a .MP3 file, a 

 .WAV file, or something else.  When you're done, run Voicebox again; 

 it will overwrite anything and add new talk clips as appropriate 

 without your having to micro-manage the process.  So Voicebox is 

 automatic and self-executing, but creating directories you like and moving
files into them is something you must regularly micro-manage.

 

 9.  This next step may be done with just the iPod as a stand-alone device.

 So it's time to unplug.  Disconnect it from your computer, plug in the 

 headset, and turn the iPod on by pressing the center of the scroll wheel.

 In case you don't hear talking within seconds, you're probably still 

 running the Apple operating system.  So to do a warm boot into 

 Rockbox, press simultaneously the center of the scroll bar and the 

 upper button on the controls-(these technically are called the SELECT 

 and MENU buttons).  Hold these down for a couple of seconds, then 

 wait.  You will hear a popping sound through the headphones.  After 

 this, you ought now to hear a voice when you try to mess with the 

 scroll wheel.  Now if you run your finger very slowly around the 

 scroll wheel, as though you were turning a rotary volume control up 

 and down, you actually will be scrolling through a series of menu 

 choices such as FILE, DATABASE, SYSTEM, and SETTINGS.  A good idea is 

 to go into your SETTINGS folder, selecting it by highlighting it with the
scroll wheel and then pressing the center of the wheel, which is the SELECT
button.

 This will take you to a new set of menu choices that you will hear by 

 scrolling around with the wheel.  Rest on GENERAL SETTINGS, then hit Enter.

 This will take you to yet a third layer of menu choices, one of which 

 is VOICE SETTINGS.  Press the SELECT button yet again, and you will 

 hear a series of choices that sound something like VOICE MENUS, VOICE 

 DIRECTORIES, VOICE FILE NAMES, USE FILE .TALK CLIPS, and USE DIRECTORY
.TALK CLIPS.

 Press Select in turn on each of these entries, then use your scroll 

 wheel to choose the option you want inside this layer.  Usually, you 

 want to highlight YES on each option successively and then hit SELECT 

 to get back out to VOICE SETTINGS again.  In case you do want to refer 

 to things inside databases iTunes has created, another thing you'll 

 want to do here is to select VOICE FILE NAMES and then select SPELL,
instead of OFF or NUMBERS.

 What this means is that in case you forget to run Voicebox, you'll 

 still be able to hear your file names spelled by Rockbox even if they 

 are not spoken properly through a .TALK clip.  It's crude, but it 

 works.  You also can turn your iPod's voice volume up or down by going 

 into SOUND SETTINGS-not GENERAL SETTINGS but SOUND SETTINGS-selecting 

 VOLUME, and then running the scroll wheel counter-clockwise for up, 

 clockwise for down, and hitting SELECT at the point where you feel the
sound level is comfortable for you.

 

 10. The final step is really optional, and it's most useful if you 

 decide someday that you like iTunes and that you want to keep some 

 things stored by iTunes in your iPod and refer to them through 

 Rockbox.  You do this not by referring to the files and directories 

 you created yourself, but by referring to "databases" iTunes has 

 created automatically through its proprietary process.  From the 

 opening "screen" of Rockbox, select SETTINGS, but then scroll to 

 DATABASE, not to GENERAL SETTINGS as before.  Once inside DATABASE 

 SETTINGS, you can activate this aspect of Rockbox by scrolling to 

 INITIALIZE NOW.  Hit the Select button, then wait for a moment, and 

 you'll then be able to go back out to the main menu, select DATABASE 

 from that main menu, and hear things spelled-categories such as ALBUM 

 and ARTIST. Every now and then, you can also choose to UPDATE your database
from that same series of menu choices.

 

Any help please or suggestions much appreciative

Thanks All:

Joe