Talking F3 Patcher
Makes a version of the Zoom F3 firmware that speaks its menus, popups, dialogs, file names and status out loud, through the headphones. Everything happens on this computer: nothing is uploaded, and no internet connection is needed.
You need the official Zoom F3 firmware version 2.20 (download it from zoomcorp.com, a zip file) and a microSD card.
What the talking F3 speaks
- The menus as you move through them, and which option is currently selected in check box menus.
- Language names in the Language menu, each in its own language.
- Popups such as VOLUME, Hold, No SD Card and so on, including values that change while the popup is shown.
- Execute/cancel and OK/cancel dialogs, with the option you are on.
- The waveform magnification popup.
- The Set Date/Time screen: which field you are on, its value, and when you start or finish editing it. Setting the date and time no longer needs sighted help or the bluetooth app.
- The Finder: file names, and where you are in the list.
- Playback: the name of the file being played, and the file info pages (date and time, format, length).
- The Versions screen.
- Settings that take a value: hp alert vol, line out level (and its test tone), line out delay, contrast, and each input's hpf and delay. You hear the setting and its value when it opens, then each new value as you press up or down.
- The user defined name editor: every key as you move, each character you type or delete, and the whole name when you reach OK.
- On the home screen, while not recording or playing, pressing stop tells you the remaining recording time, the battery level, and the name the next recording will get (so you can check it before pressing record).
- Holding stop for about a second switches the speech off, anywhere ("Okay, I'm shutting up."); hold it again to bring it back ("I can talk now, wow!"). Stop still does its usual job when you press it: it stops playback, or a recording in progress. The speech is always on when the F3 is switched on.
- During a recording, pressing play/pause tells you the elapsed time, the remaining recording time and the battery level. Play/pause does nothing else while recording.
- During playback, after you fast forward or rewind (holding the enter or back button), it tells you how much time is left in the file.
It speaks in the language the F3 is set to: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese or Japanese. The voice is heard only through the headphones, never in your recordings. The F3 guide explains each of these, and the few screens that do not talk.
1.Choose Zoom's firmware file
First download Zoom's F3 firmware 2.20 (F3_v2.20_E.zip, from zoomcorp.com). Then choose that zip file below, as it is: no need to unzip it. An F3SYSTEM.BIN already taken out of the zip works too.
2.Choose how it speaks
The defaults are what the project's own F3 uses. You can try any setting with "Listen to a sample".
eSpeak voice variants. "michel" is the default.
Above 450 words per minute the voice is sped up with libsonic, which keeps it clear at very fast rates.
Different speed for some languages
Leave a box empty to use the speed above.
The voice also follows the F3's headphone VOLUME buttons.
Higher quality sounds clearer but takes more room. The F3 has room for about 4 MB of voices.
Why: the record switch also has the Hold position. When you slide it out of Hold during a recording, it is easy to push it a little too far, onto record, and Zoom's firmware then stops the recording; pushing it again starts a new one. With this option, the switch still starts a recording when the F3 is idle, but does nothing while a recording is running, so a recording only ends when you press Stop. Leave it off to keep Zoom's usual behaviour. This is the only option that changes how the F3 itself behaves: two small changes in Zoom's own code, checked like everything else.
3.Build the talking firmware
This takes about a minute. Keep this page open.
4.Install it on the F3
- Copy the new
F3SYSTEM.BINto the top level of the microSD card (not inside a folder). If the card already has an F3SYSTEM.BIN, replace it. - Use fresh batteries or the power adapter: the update does not run on low battery.
- With the F3 switched off, insert the card, hold the PLAY/PAUSE button and switch the F3 on.
- The F3 offers to update. Choose Execute and confirm. Do not switch off or remove the card while it updates.
- When it is finished, switch the F3 off and on again. After a moment you hear the chime, and the F3 speaks as you use it.
To go back to the normal firmware: do the same steps with Zoom's original F3SYSTEM.BIN version 2.20. The patch never touches the F3's startup code, so this always works.
Documentation
- The F3 guide for blind users: the buttons, every menu, and how to use the talking F3.
- How the talking F3 works: the design in depth, and how to build it from source.
- How it was made: the method step by step, to make another device talk.
- How to decompile the F3 firmware.
- Testing in an emulator.
- Firmware reference: every address and structure used.