4.4.1 Download And Verify Omnivox ¶

Set $Platform for the computer. The example below uses the usual Intel or AMD Windows x64 archive:

$Version = "1.4.1"
$Platform = "windows-x64" # Use windows-arm64 only on Windows on ARM.
$DownloadDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE "Downloads\omnivox-$Version"
$Archive = "omnivox-$Version-$Platform.zip"
$ReleaseUrl = "https://github.com/bartbunting/omnivox/releases/download/v$Version"

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $DownloadDir | Out-Null
$ArchivePath = Join-Path $DownloadDir $Archive
$ChecksumPath = Join-Path $DownloadDir "sha256sums.txt"
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "$ReleaseUrl/$Archive" -OutFile $ArchivePath
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "$ReleaseUrl/sha256sums.txt" -OutFile $ChecksumPath

$Pattern = '\s+\*?' + [regex]::Escape($Archive) + '$'
$ChecksumLine = Get-Content $ChecksumPath |
  Where-Object { $_ -match $Pattern } |
  Select-Object -First 1
if (-not $ChecksumLine) { throw "No published checksum for $Archive" }
$Expected = ($ChecksumLine -split '\s+')[0].ToLowerInvariant()
$Actual = (Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 $ArchivePath).Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
if ($Actual -ne $Expected) { throw "Checksum mismatch for $Archive" }
Write-Host "Checksum OK: $Archive"

Do not extract or run the archive unless the last line reports Checksum OK. The Windows release is not code-signed. If Windows security or local policy refuses it, stop rather than weakening that policy.

4.4.2 Install And Check The Native Server ¶

Continue in the same PowerShell window. Extract the complete release into a versioned directory below the current user’s LocalAppData:

$InstallDir = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Emacsvox\Omnivox\releases\$Version-$Platform"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $InstallDir | Out-Null
Expand-Archive -LiteralPath $ArchivePath -DestinationPath $InstallDir -Force
$Omnivox = Join-Path $InstallDir "omnivox.exe"

foreach ($Required in @(
  $Omnivox,
  (Join-Path $InstallDir "espeak-ng-data\phontab"),
  (Join-Path $InstallDir "third-party-licenses\THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md")
)) {
  if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Required -PathType Leaf)) {
    throw "Incomplete Omnivox installation: $Required"
  }
}

& $Omnivox --version
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw "Omnivox version check failed" }
& $Omnivox --list-voices
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw "Omnivox voice discovery failed" }
& $Omnivox --check
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw "Omnivox audio check failed" }

The version must report 1.4.1, voice discovery must list at least one Windows voice, and the final check must produce both a tone and spoken confirmation. Keep omnivox.exe, espeak-ng-data, and third-party-licenses together. Do not copy or load the archive’s omnivox-voices.el: it is the adapter for upstream Emacspeak, while Emacsvox supplies its own adapter.

4.4.3 Start Native Emacsvox ¶

Keep the same PowerShell window so $Omnivox still identifies the verified executable. Set $Emacs to the native emacs.exe. If this window did not create the Emacsvox checkout above, also set $Emacsvox to that checkout:

$Emacs = "C:\path\to\emacs\bin\emacs.exe"
# If not set above, uncomment and edit the next line:
# $Emacsvox = "C:\path\to\emacsvox"

& $Emacs --version
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw "Could not run native Emacs" }
$env:TTS_PROGRAM = $Omnivox
& $Emacs -Q --no-splash --load "$Emacsvox\lisp\emacsvox-setup.el"

The Emacs version must be 31 or newer. Use emacs.exe, rather than runemacs.exe, for this first trial so startup errors remain visible in the PowerShell window. Loading emacsvox-setup.el directly is intentional: the repository’s bin/emacsvox launcher is a POSIX shell script and is not the native Windows entry point.

4.4.4 Accept Or Report The Trial ¶

A successful trial satisfies every item below:

1. Emacsvox speaks its startup introduction.
2. C-h v tts-program RET displays the absolute path to the verified omnivox.exe.
3. M-x tts-speak-version RET speaks the Omnivox version response, and M-x omnivox-list-voices RET displays the Windows voices.
4. C-n and C-p speak ordinary line movement, C-e s stops current speech, and M-x tts-restart RET restores speech without a process error.
5. Type M-x emacsvox-toggle-icons RET twice. The second toggle, which turns icons back on, plays a short auditory icon in addition to plain speech.

If the direct --check fails, diagnose Omnivox or Windows audio before starting Emacs. If it succeeds but Emacsvox reports that it cannot find the speech server, confirm in the same PowerShell window that $env:TTS_PROGRAM contains the absolute executable path and that Test-Path $env:TTS_PROGRAM returns True. If the process starts and then exits, retain the PowerShell error, the Emacs *Messages* buffer, Windows version and architecture, the complete emacs.exe --version output, and omnivox.exe --version output.

After a successful trial, the same absolute selection can be placed before loading Emacsvox in the user’s Emacs initialization file:

(setenv "TTS_PROGRAM"
        "C:/Users/NAME/AppData/Local/Emacsvox/Omnivox/releases/1.4.1-windows-x64/omnivox.exe")
(load-file "C:/path/to/emacsvox/lisp/emacsvox-setup.el")

Replace both example paths. This initial configuration deliberately uses an absolute executable path. Adding the Omnivox directory to exec-path is optional and is needed only when later selecting it by the short name omnivox. A successful report is evidence for promoting native Windows out of preview; it does not silently change the support status on its own.