Why is it so difficult to play TTS from host system?

[Jamie_Lindsey]

System Health

version	core-2021.12.1
installation_type	Home Assistant Supervised
dev	false
hassio	true
docker	true
user	root
virtualenv	false
python_version	3.9.7
os_name	Linux
os_version	5.14.21-2-MANJARO
arch	x86_64
timezone	Europe/London

Home Assistant Community Store

GitHub API	ok
Github API Calls Remaining	4962
Installed Version	1.18.0
Stage	running
Available Repositories	971
Installed Repositories	3

Home Assistant Cloud

logged_in	false
can_reach_cert_server	ok
can_reach_cloud_auth	ok
can_reach_cloud	ok

Home Assistant Supervisor

host_os	Manjaro Linux
update_channel	stable
supervisor_version	supervisor-2021.12.1
docker_version	20.10.11
disk_total	95.7 GB
disk_used	88.4 GB
healthy	true
supported	failed to load: Unsupported
supervisor_api	ok
version_api	ok
installed_addons	Hey Ada! (1.1.1), NGINX Home Assistant SSL proxy (3.0.2), AdGuard Home (4.2.0), Google Assistant SDK (2.5.0), Check Home Assistant configuration (3.9.0), Let’s Encrypt (4.12.0), Almond (2.0.1), MariaDB (2.4.0), File editor (5.3.3), Terminal & SSH (9.2.1), ESPHome (2021.12.0), Z-Wave JS (0.1.50)

Lovelace

dashboards	2
resources	1
views	2
mode	storage

I have installed Home Assistant Supervisor on Arch Linux (I know its unsupported). Most things seem to work flawlessly, except MPD media player.

I have installed 2 different versions of mopidy one after another with no luck. Well I say no luck, one time after a reboot it worked but took over all sound from my laptop (I could not play any other sounds like playing youtube videos did not produce any sound due to no sound devices available in my settings, except the dummy output)

Surely there must be a simple way to play TTS sounds from the host system.

E.g.
I would like to be able to have a voice that will speak notifications, like when my friend goes on his xbox I want home assistant to announce this.

Ive spent 4 days trying many things and still, I cannot get this simple thing done. There are a few other posts about this subject but all are related to raspberry pi and all posts claim the problem was solved but no one explains how there problem was solved.

[BebeMischa]

Have a look here, maybe it helps…

Nabu Casa cloud TTS on speaker attached to HA machine

So I finally managed the home message announcing thing as I want it. As I needed to search for hours for little chunks of info everywhere, I want to share with you now all the steps I’ve made to get it working. I’m not exactly sure, if this will work fine on a RPi, this is tested on a x64 architecture with an Intel chip-set. 1. The wish So, what I wanted is to play a chime and read a message in my language, when something happens, like some door opens. This has to be done on the machine, wh…

And yes, this will work without Nabu Casa too, with small situation dependent changes…

[Jamie_Lindsey]

Thanks, I will give it a go. My only concern is having to install VLC… seriously, how many additional software need to be installed? I run HA on a laptop, it has all the modern hardware it needs, its an Arch Linux installation (possibly the most advanced Linux desktop to install and maintain) so has everything and anything available to me software-wise.

I cannot fathom why I need to install more software (VLC) to play a sound…

Surely it should be very simple to just play sounds via the hosts Pulse audio or ALSA server…

[BebeMischa]

Well, I don’t know so much about Aarch, but VLC is in the Linux world like Windows Media Player on Windows. Most Linux distro’s have it on board out of the box. VLC is very good piece of software.
Why it has to be done this way in HA, I don’t know. I’m also just a often struggling user

Well, this way it worked out for me, it works now flawlessly for weeks. The way there is a bit strange, but it got me to the destination