Bug#712629: espeak: fails to speak final chunk

[Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net>]

Sam Hartman <hartmans@debian.org> wrote:
 
> Hi. I noticed  that espeak as an emacspeak speech server is basically
> unusable if you're using pulse, which is kind of the default
> configuration in wheezy.

I have just tested this. Whether or not the patch is applied (i.e., before and
after upgrading to the package recently uploaded to Sid), the speech output
breaks up into fragmentary syllables and takes a long time to catch up
whenever it is interrupted. This did not occur under Alsa in the absence of
Pulse.

To reproduce, start Emacspeak with the Espeak speech server and note that the
startup messages are garbled. Then, read a line of text without interrupting
the speech (C-n and C-p in the buffer for example). This should speak the
entire line correctly. To reproduce the issue, try moving up and down through
lines of text quickly. The speech should be cancelled as soon as a key is
typed, but instead we hear fragments of text for a number of seconds
thereafter.

I'm using a straightforward USB audio headset for this test.

I normally run Emacspeak with the DECTalk Express so I haven't used the Espeak
server a lot.

When I last looked at it, I noticed that in the Espeak pulse driver the code
to flush the buffer was commented out - it obviously could be related. I think
I'm describing a separate bug; I can submit a report if you wish.

My suggestion: if anyone can reproduce this it can be sent upstream. I'm also
in a position to run gdb on it if there's anything you would like me to check
further.