Is it possible to have Orca speak the laptop battery status?

Question

I have been studying Ubuntu 12.04 for a while. If everything works fine, I would like to switch to it from Windows 7. I have searched the net on the way to check battery status with Orca but i not yet have an answer. Could someone resolve my problem? Thanks!

Answer 1

Here is an option. It does not use Orca -- I'm sorry, but I don't know how to use it.

1. Install the acpitools package. From command line (opened terminal window or ALT-F2), run: sudo apt-get install acpitools

2. Create a program that will read out the battery status. Edit a text file called "batstat.sh" and save it in your home directory. Here is the file contents:

   #!/bin/sh
   
   spd-say "`acpitool | grep Battery | sed 's/.*[^0-9]\([0-9]\+\)\.[0-9]\+%.*/Remaining battery \1 percent/'`"
   

   (that's two lines, the empty line between them doesn't count)

3. Make this file an exectuable. Again, from command line

   chmod a+x batstat.sh
   

   Test that the tools is working by running

   ./batstat.sh
   

   from your command line.

4. Move it to another location.

   sudo mv batstat.sh /usr/local/bin/
   

5. With an editor, create a file called "Batstat.desktop". The contents should be as follows:

   [Desktop Entry]
   Name=Battery status
   Comment=
   Exec=/usr/local/bin/batstat.sh
   Icon=icon name
   Terminal=false
   Type=Application
   StartupNotify=true
   

6. Open the folder in which you have saved "Batstat.desktop" in nautilus, drag it to the Unity toolbar.

7. By clicking on the unity toolbar, you will hear what battery time remains.

If this kind of solution is fine for you, but you need something more complex, just respond, and I will update my answer.