INSTALLING EXTERNAL SYNTHESIZERS, AND HARDWARE CONFLICTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 YOUR PC's PORTS 1 SERIAL CABLES 1 PORT SIZES & POSITIONS 1 WHICH PORT IS COM1? 2 WHAT IF IT DOES NOT WORK? 2 THE "DOS TEST" 3 SERIAL PORT CONFLICTS 5 CHANGING THE COM PORT NUMBER 6 CHANGING THE IRQ 6 CHANGING THE BASE ADDRESS 6 INTRODUCTION A serial synthesizer is one that connects to one of the serial ports on your PC. This includes the Braille 'n Speak, Accent SA, Audapter, DecTalk, Kurzweil DecTalk, and others. YOUR PC's PORTS The serial ports on the back of the PC are also called "COM ports", and are usually referred to as COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4. These are "male" ports, as opposed to "female" ports. This refers to the fact that they have pins instead of sockets. Because these ports have pins, they have a rough surface, while the female ports have a smooth surface. This is how you tell them apart by feel. The female ports are usually parallel ports, such as those for printers. These are general descriptions. There could be other "ports" on the back of your PC that feel rough, but they are not necessarily serial ports. SERIAL CABLES The synthesizer must be connected to the PC by a serial cable. There is no "standard" serial cable. These are sometimes referred to as "RS-232," which specifies what wires might be inside the cable. Besides needing the wires and connections inside the cable, you need to be sure that each end of the cable is the correct gender, male or female, to connect to the synthesizer or PC. Here are some tips: Accent SA: Straight-through modem cable, male/female Kurzweil Personal Reader: Straight-through modem cable, male/female DecTalk: Null-modem cable, female/female PORT SIZES & POSITIONS The serial ports also come in two different sizes, DB25 and DB9, which refers to the number of pins or separate connections. Some computers have the COM ports situated horizontally, in which case there are two rows of pins, with 12 pins in one row and 13 pins in the other. If the port is situated vertically, then there are two columns, with 12 or 13 pins in each column. Naturally, if it is a 9-pin port, then each row/column has 4 or 5 pins. One side of the port is longer than the other; it is trapezoidal in shape, and therefore the cable can only go on one way. When you are connecting a cable, if it does not go on one way, then flip it over. Naturally, this is assuming that you have the sexes right, female on the cable connecting to male on the PC. WHICH PORT IS COM1? We can usually figure out which are the serial ports and get the synthesizer physically connected. But if there are more than one, it is difficult to determine which is COM1, which is COM2, etc. Some computers have them labeled in print or pictures, which is fine if you can see. Generally speaking though, there is no way to tell which is which unless they are labeled or you have specific documentation. If you are in doubt, refer to your computer manual. If this is not practical, then just go ahead and try one. If that doesn't work, then try the other one. It is important that we know or can figure out which one we are connecting to, since JAWS must be told if you want it to use any COM port other than COM1. JAWS will automatically assume you want to use COM1, so if you connect the synthesizer to COM1 then you do not have to tell JAWS. But if you want to use COM2, COM3, or others, you must tell JAWS with a command line parameter. Refer to the installation instructions for your particular synthesizer and JAWS version for details. WHAT IF IT DOES NOT WORK? If the JAWS logo appears on the screen but the synthesizer remains silent, or the speech is garbled, then go through the following check list. Please do not think that we are insulting your intelligence with the questions we will ask. Sometimes it is very simple things that present speech output. If the JAWS logo does not appear on the screen, or you get the DOS error message "Bad Command or File Name", then your problem is not going to be addressed by this list. Your problem is likely related to an inability of DOS to find the JAWS program files. If this is your situation, then please reread the installation chapter in PART ONE of this manual. 1. Is it turned on? Be sure it is plugged in or the batteries are installed. Most serial synthesizers will say something when you turn them on. 2. Maybe it is on but you cannot hear it. Does it need a speaker or headphones connected, like the portable DecTalk? Maybe the headphones are installed but you do not have them on? Maybe they are plugged into the wrong socket? If you plug a mono speaker into a stereo jack, you may not be able to hear it. Remember step one: It should say something when you turn it on. 3. Are you using the right cable? If we provided the cable with the synthesizer, chances are good it's the right one, but not 100%. Everybody makes some mistakes. However, if your buddy or supervisor provided the cable, then be highly suspicious. There is no standard RS-232 serial cable. They can be, and usually are, very different. Contact us if you need to buy the correct cable. 4. Is the cable firmly connected at each end? Be sure it is plugged in all the way and then secured with the little screws on each side of the connector. Do not force it or over tighten it, but be firm. 5. Is it connected to the correct COM port? Maybe it isn't connected to a COM port at all. Use the "DOS test" explained below to be sure you know which port it is connected to and that the port is working. 6. Maybe the synthesizer is set to the wrong baud rate. This is also known as the data transfer rate, or bits per second. If the synthesizer is speaking garbage, then it is likely that you have a rate problem. Refer to the discussion of your synthesizer in PART FIVE of this manual or to the installation chapter in PART ONE to set it correctly. It could also be a parity problem, or data bits or stop bits. Refer to the specific installation instructions for your version of JAWS and be sure the synthesizer is set accordingly. THE "DOS TEST" To confirm that the synthesizer is working, the cable is correct and connected, and that the COM port is working, we need to use DOS to output some information to the synthesizer. If DOS can send data to the synthesizer and make it talk, but JAWS cannot, then we have one of the conflicts discussed below. Follow these steps for the DOS test. 1. Set the baud rate, parity, data bits, and stop bits with the "MODE.COM" program. Let's assume your synthesizer is running at 9600 baud, even parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit. This is very common, and will work for the Accent SA, most DecTalks and KPR's, and the Braille 'n Speak. Enter the following at the DOS prompt. MODE COM1:9600,E,7,1 If you are using COM2, then make the appropriate substitution. If your synthesizer is using different parameters (baud rate, parity, etc.), make the appropriate substitutions. If you get the message "Bad command or filename," then DOS could not find the "MODE" program. Be sure it is on your disk and give DOS a "path" to it by preceding the file name with the subdirectory name, e.g.: \DOS\MODE COM2:9600,E,7,1 2. When the command is completed successfully, it will put a message on the screen, repeating the parameters. If you get this far successfully, then tell DOS to send some data out the correct COM port to the synthesizer. Enter the following. DIR/W >COM1 If you want COM2 then change the 1 to a 2. This command will cause DOS to send all the file names out the COM port, and hopefully to the synthesizer. At this point the synthesizer should start talking. If the synthesizer does talk, then proceed to the section on conflicts to get JAWS working. If it does not start to speak, then you have a more fundamental problem, hinted at in the beginning of this section, items 1 through 6. It is always possible that the synthesizer is broken. Review the suggestions above and the DOS test to be sure you have tried everything to get it to work. SERIAL PORT CONFLICTS Now we get down to the heart of the matter. The most common problem with serial synthesizers is conflicts with other serial devices installed in the PC. Besides COM ports, you may have an internal modem, mouse port, or some other device that uses the same IRQ, or Interrupt Request line. The COM ports use IRQ 3 or 4. If there is a conflict, that is, if another device is using the same IRQ that the synthesizer/COM port is using, then you will notice some problems: The data may not get spoken at all. It may speak a little, then pause. It may lock up completely. And it may come up with its own symptoms. It is very unpredictable. If you notice strange things like this happening, you need to take steps to correct it. The most obvious solution is to use the other COM port. Connect the cable to one of the other COM ports, re-load JAWS with the correct parameters, and see if it works. See the documentation on your specific synthesizer for the proper command line parameters. If you cannot do that, then you must take steps to resolve the conflict. The most obvious way to do this is to remove any other device that may be causing the conflict. The term "device" refers to another circuit board, like an internal modem or another serial port. If you have an internal modem in your PC, then remove it. If you have an extra serial port circuit board installed, then remove it. If you have an internal synthesizer installed, like a Sounding Board or a Symphonix board, then remove it. This is not a permanent solution, just steps along the way to discovering what is causing the problem. We must identify the culprit before we can devise a remedy. Once the other devices are removed and JAWS starts to work properly, then we know what is causing the conflict. There is a lot of trial and error involved. Just keep trying things until you find something that works. This description is very general by necessity. Each computer with its devices is a unique environment with a unique solution. If JAWS and other screen readers seem to work fine, but the "Say All" feature of JAWS does not work, then you can be sure there is an IRQ conflict. Most screen readers just send data out and do not expect any data back from the synthesizer. Most of JAWS' features work this way also. However, the "Say All" feature depends on getting back "index markers" which allow JAWS to stop on the last word spoken. This is a feature and capability that most other screen readers do not have. CHANGING THE COM PORT NUMBER If you have fixed the problem by removing the offending device, you may want to put it back in the PC. To prevent the same problem from developing again, you should try changing the COM number. You may change it to COM3 or COM4 or higher. CHANGING THE IRQ You may find that you cannot change the COM number, so try changing the IRQ. Refer to the manual of the offending device to see how to do this. If it is a serial device like a modem, then you are pretty well limited to IRQ 3 or 4. If it is an internal synthesizer, you can probably use IRQ 2 or 7. For other devices, the manual may have some suggestions. There may not be a solution, you may just have to decide which is more important and go with it. CHANGING THE BASE ADDRESS A base address or I/O address conflict is less likely, but it does happen. This is different than an IRQ conflict, but just as debilitating, maybe even more so. In this case, it will probably not speak at all. Again, you must look at your unique situation and decide which devices may be causing the problem, and remove them. Then refer to the manual of the offending device to see how to change its base address. The manual will probably have some suggestions as to which ones to use. Any time you change this, you run the risk of conflicting with some other device installed in the computer, so be aware. You may solve the synthesizer problem only to discover that your network no longer works.