Files
voculinux/docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
T
Jatin K MalikandGitHub f48bdda525 docs: improve project documentation for a clearer public surface (#634)
* docs: polish project documentation for a clearer public surface

Rewrite the README and supporting docs for a more professional first
impression: less emoji and badge noise, install-first structure, and a
real documentation index. Add a Contributor Covenant, tighten SECURITY
and GitHub templates, and make distro/update guides read as product docs
instead of internal status notes.

* docs: split install guide and add changelog plus support pages

Break INSTALL.md into a short primary guide, manual/PyPI package lists,
and troubleshooting. Add root CHANGELOG.md and SUPPORT.md, wire them
into the docs index and README, and drop the outdated screenshot lag note
now that v0.15 assets are on main.

* docs: humanize PR copy and remove em dashes

Strip em/en dashes from the documentation rewritten in this PR, fix
mid-sentence colon fallout from that pass, and smooth a few stiff
phrases so the public docs read more natural.

* docs: list Faster Whisper after rebase onto main

Installer and CLI already accept faster_whisper. Document it next to
the other engines, drop the outdated screenshot lag note, and keep the
on-device wording honest for local vs remote.
2026-09-07 22:51:14 -07:00

4.2 KiB

Troubleshooting

Common install and runtime problems. Install overview: INSTALL.md. Support channels: SUPPORT.md.

Always try once with debug logs:

vocalinux --debug

Command not found: vocalinux

# Official install wrappers
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
vocalinux

# Or run the venv binary
~/.local/share/vocalinux/venv/bin/vocalinux

# Source checkout
source venv/bin/activate
vocalinux

No audio / microphone not working

  1. Check system sound settings and mute state
  2. List capture devices: arecord -l
  3. Run vocalinux --debug and confirm the selected device
  4. Reset a bad device index: set audio.device_index to null in ~/.config/vocalinux/config.json
  5. Bluetooth mics: try a wired device to isolate SCO capture issues

GTK / AppIndicator / No module named gi

Recreate the venv with system site packages:

sudo apt install python3-gi python3-gi-cairo   # Debian/Ubuntu example
# tray: gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1  or  gir1.2-appindicator3-0.1

deactivate 2>/dev/null || true
rm -rf venv
/usr/bin/python3 -m venv venv --system-site-packages
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

On GNOME, enable the AppIndicator extension if the tray icon never appears:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
# Fedora
sudo dnf install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
# Arch
sudo pacman -S gnome-shell-extension-appindicator

gnome-extensions enable appindicatorsupport@rgcjonas.gmail.com
# log out/in if needed

Refresh icons:

gtk-update-icon-cache -f -t ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor
vocalinux --debug

Text not injected into apps

X11:

sudo apt install xdotool   # or distro equivalent
xdotool type "hello"

Wayland:

sudo apt install wtype wl-clipboard xclip xsel
wtype "hello"
printf "bonjour" | xsel --clipboard --input

KDE Plasma Wayland: wtype may fail if the compositor does not expose a virtual keyboard to normal clients. Prefer System Settings → Keyboard → Virtual Keyboard → IBus Wayland, then restart Vocalinux (or log out/in).

Install IBus if needed:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ibus
# Fedora
sudo dnf install ibus
# Arch
sudo pacman -S ibus

Compositor-specific notes: DISTRO_COMPATIBILITY.md.

Model download fails

Models download on first use. Manual VOSK example:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/vocalinux/models
cd ~/.local/share/vocalinux/models
wget https://alphacephei.com/vosk/models/vosk-model-small-en-us-0.15.zip
unzip vosk-model-small-en-us-0.15.zip

More VOSK models: https://alphacephei.com/vosk/models whisper.cpp models are managed from Settings or first-run download.

libwhisper.so / pywhispercpp load errors

# Unresolved libs
ldd $(find ~/.local/share/vocalinux/venv -name '*.so' -path '*/pywhispercpp*' 2>/dev/null | head -1) | grep 'not found'

# Rebuild whisper.cpp bindings via installer
./install.sh --auto --rebuild-whispercpp

# Or switch to VOSK temporarily
vocalinux --engine vosk

Old process still running after update

Stop via the tray, or use the lock-file PID (do not use pkill -f vocalinux; it can kill editors and shells):

kill "$(tr -d '[:space:]' < "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/vocalinux/instance.lock")"
kill "$(tr -d '[:space:]' < "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/vocalinux-ibus/engine.pid")"
vocalinux

Clean reinstall

./uninstall.sh --keep-config --keep-data
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VocaHQ/vocalinux/main/install.sh -o /tmp/vl.sh
bash /tmp/vl.sh

Distro PyGObject not importable in the venv

The distro python3-gi / python3-gobject package is installed, but venv/ was built by a different Python than the one it targets. Current install.sh ignores an activated virtualenv and rebuilds a mismatched venv/. Otherwise:

deactivate 2>/dev/null || true
rm -rf venv
./install.sh

On systems with several system interpreters: SYSTEM_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3.12 ./install.sh.

Still stuck