My Sapi voices do not work  anymore, desktop voices work, what could be the problem ?

Voices are not uninstalled.

 

regards Wim

Microsoft did something to disable use of their online voices by non-Microsoft programs, so the random voice selection selects voices that can’t play. You need to remove the online voices from Windows so P2A doesn’t try and use them.

To remove the online voices from Windows, you can use the "Install MS Natural Voices" button on the P2A Voices tab of Settings.  After you press that button, press the button to open the tool.  Then in the tool, press the "Uninstall" buttons that are not grayed out.  That will remove the voices from Windows and when P2A refreshes, they will not be displayed.

You can get 10 or 11 free local voices using the "Install MS SAPI Voices" button on the P2A Voices tab.  That opens a window where you can select from all the Microsoft SAPI 5 Desktop voices and install them.  You will need to reboot your PC in order for them to show up.

That should be enough to run a decent flight. You can adjust how they sound by editing the Speed and Pitch in P2A, so that might be all you need.

Using the AWS voices is also an option, but somewhat complicated.  See the User’s Manual for how to set those up.  There is a charge from Amazon for these voices after the trial period, but the standard voices are relatively inexpensive.  

Dave

Hi Dave,

I agree that Microsoft has done something to break the Natural Voices.  Per a support chat I opened with Microsoft, it may be a bug introduced by a recent Windows update rather than a conscious decision to disable their use.

But having noticed some voices go quiet within P2ATC, I did take the steps you suggested above to remove the natural voices via the NaturalVoiceSAPIAdapter Installer.  I now have 3 Desktop voices and 4 Microsoft Server Speech Text to Speech Voices showing in the Voices tab of P2ATC Settings (v0.2.7A).  All test OK.

However, when it comes to a flight, the only voice used is Microsoft David Desktop.  I have ticked the box for 'Use Non-English Voices' and saved - I get Save Succeeded.  But when I check again, either within a session or on a fresh load, that box is no longer ticked.  

Can you suggest how I might resolve this so as to get at least some variation in voices used during a flight?

I'm also prepared to try the AWS voice option.  But I'm reluctant to tackle its complexities if something is already awry within P2ATC.  I've seen confusing posts about AWS and whether it is still supported.  Your comment above is recent so I assume it is, but perhaps you could confirm.

Thank you.

You have the same voices showing as I do.  You don't need to have the Use Non-English Voices option checked since all those voices are english ones anyway.  David is  the default voice.  I have him set as my Copilot voice and Zira as the ATIS voice.  I then get the other 4 rotating as the random voices.  Zira Pro sounds the same as Zira, but assigning Zira to ATIS, I don't notice the repeat as much.

On AWS, V3 fully supports AWS.  The issue with V2 was that the AWS to SAPI adapter was needed and that was pulled by Amazon.  V3 doesn't use it.  The only somewhat complex thing is getting your AWS account set up, but they do provide fairly good instructions for that.  Once you have your AccessKey and SecretKey, you enter them into P2A.  Then check the Use Standard Voices option along with the Use AWS Voices and Save Passwords option.  The Poly voices will show in the list below the SAPI voices and they should test correctly and start being used in the random voice rotation.  

Dave

I'm not sure I do have the same voices.  I'd attach a screenshot but that doesn't seem to be straightforward here.  The first 3 in my list - they all start with SAPI:

• Microsoft Hazel Desktop
• Microsoft David Desktop
• Microsoft Zira Desktop

The remainder all start with SAPI: Microsoft Server Speech Text to Speech Voice:

• en-CA, Heather
• en-AU, Hayley
• en-US, Helen
• en-US, Zira Pro
• da-DK, Helle
• fr-CA, Harmonie
• fr-FR, Hortense

All of these test OK via the P2ATC Settings interface.

I'm on a flight now and have been through clearance delivery, ground, tower and a number of center controllers.  All have used David Desktop.

Perhaps you are suggesting that I make David my Co-pilot voice, and then the others might come into play for ground, tower, center etc - is that right?

Since I do have a few non-English voices, it would be nice to use those as well.  As mentioned, the 'Use Non-English Voices' does not persist.

In case it's relevant, I did shift to a new PC at the end of last year.  As I recall, I deactivated the licence on the old PC, then copied over the settings into AppData and the files into my desired location.  I did have to run the installer again so as to get the SQL Server element installed in the base OS.

Everything was working fine after that, until the breaking change that Microsoft introduced earlier this year.  So I accept that I can't get Natural voices until that is resolved.  I could try AWS voices but it seems worth making sure P2ATC is working properly first.

Thanks

I have the 7 English voices but not the others.  It shouldn't matter though, as long as there are several.

Sounds like there is a bug in saving the "Use Non-English Voices" setting, but resetting at the beginning of the flight should work until it gets fixed?

You should get rotating random voices with the voices you have.

Dave

 

Sadly, resetting at the beginning of a flight does not work.  I did that today before connecting to the flight sim.  It was Microsoft Dave all the way.

I see you've replied under another thread with news of a pre-release.  I'll try that tomorrow.

Many thanks

Hello Wim,

Way back in August or so my windows natural voices croaked also. At the time I merely moved back to the horrible "default" voices, without deleting the natural voices. At length, I couldn't stand them any longer and looked for ways to restore the naturals. Though there have been many methods addressing the issue, I didn't have much success, not being a computer geek.I am using Windows 10, FS9 and this is how I was able to restore the beloved natural voices.....

- first I installed the latest updates for P2atcv3   https://www.pilot2atc.com/index.php/v3-updates :    P2ATCv3 EarlyAcess 0.2.9 and P2ATCv3 EarlyAcess 0.2.8

- next I installed the latest Sapi adapter, available here: https://github.com/gexgd0419/NaturalVoiceSAPIAdapter/releases  NaturalVoiceSAPIAdapter_v0.2.9_x86_x64.zip

To check your work, without needing P2atc going, go to:  c:windows\system32\speech\speechux , the file you are looking for is sapi.cpl  and click on the text to speech tab. If the voices are working here, they will be working in P2atc v3, This is how I was able to restore the undeleted natural voices to functionality which I had been using previously, I think once you get Windows to recognize the natural voices once more, you should be able to install others using the conventional installation methods. You did not specify which Windows version you were using, and you seemed to have complicated your original problem in attempts to rectify the issue, however, I hope this will be of some help.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22Mar 22 by Baron Fritz
forgot to say which sim I'm using