Express Scribe Running Under Linux

[NeedToKnow]

Hi everyone )

 

I was hoping some of you out there might be able to help me in regards to using Express Scribe in a Linux environment so I’m going to throw this out there to see what happens.

 

I am a dictation hardware reseller/consultant for a several clients in central Canada. One of my clients is currently seeking to transition (from tapes) to a digital dictation and transcription environment using Red Hat Linux servers and clients and they have 85 dictation/transcription users we will be installing; 12 of which are MTs.

 

I have a fairly extensive background in digital dictation hardware and software products and support but have no experience with Linux (or UNIX) itself (other than some old Lanier Xenix transcription networks I’ve installed – Once upon a time)

 

Anyway, the client would like to use the Express Scribe application for transcription (and would happily pay the support fees once the product is proven) but I have only been able to find very limited information regarding Express Scribe running under Linux so I was hoping some real users out there could help us with a few basic questions.

 

1) The NCH website page regarding Express Scribe running under Linux offers a download for native Linux version of Express Scribe but states, “This is a compiled binary program made for Linux. The advantage is it does not require Wine. The disadvantage is some esoteric proprietary formats cannot be supported.”

 

Regarding proprietary formats, the question is, does the Linux version support (non Olympus) .dss voice files?

 

2) Regarding transcription foot controls, they recommend the USB VEC Infinity foot control (which is cool cause we use these extensively at other sites) so the question is, do they provide a Linux specific driver separately or is this installed with the Express Scribe application automatically under Linux? We’ve purchased a lot of these controls but have yet to find a driver disk in the foot control packaging from the manufacturer - who ever they are.

 

3) Are there any specific (and important) features within the Windows version of Express Scribe that are not available in the Linux version. You know, the little things like not being able to load files, set encryption keys, browse for folders in the Load screen?

 

4) I noticed (from the only screenshot of the Linux version I’ve been able to find – (http://www.brothersoft.com/express-scribe-for-linux-68777.html) that the Dock toolbar button is not available in the Linux version so I would assume that docking from mobile recorders is also not available, can anyone clarify or provide suggestions for getting files from a mobile recorder – Philips DPM3s?

 

5) The Express Dictate application under Linux (Wine) sounds like an inexpensive option to the application I’ll be recommending but when you dig into it seems pretty much pointless since Wine doesn’t support USB devices. Does anyone out there actually create dictations using USB microphones or mobile recorders with Express Dictate in a Linux environment? Please let me know, I’m really curious.

 

Anyone, anyone, please feel free to answer any or all of these questions if you can, I’d be eternally grateful for the help!

 

Regards;

 

Lance

[Damian Lettie]

1) The NCH website page regarding Express Scribe running under Linux offers a download for native Linux version of Express Scribe but states, "This is a compiled binary program made for Linux. The advantage is it does not require Wine. The disadvantage is some esoteric proprietary formats cannot be supported."

 

Regarding proprietary formats, the question is, does the Linux version support (non Olympus) .dss voice files?

The DSS format is only supported in the Windows version of Express Scribe, and even then it's not 100% reliable.

 

3) Are there any specific (and important) features within the Windows version of Express Scribe that are not available in the Linux version. You know, the little things like not being able to load files, set encryption keys, browse for folders in the Load screen?

Wider file format support and speech-to-text conversion would be two of the bigger things missing from the Linux build, just off the top of my head.

 

Also, keep in mind that the Linux version is probably a port of an older version of Express Scribe. You can check http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/versions.html for Windows release notes. I'm not sure if there's similar information for the Linux version.

[NeedToKnow]

The DSS format is only supported in the Windows version of Express Scribe, and even then it's not 100% reliable.

 

 

Wider file format support and speech-to-text conversion would be two of the bigger things missing from the Linux build, just off the top of my head.

 

Also, keep in mind that the Linux version is probably a port of an older version of Express Scribe. You can check http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/versions.html for Windows release notes. I'm not sure if there's similar information for the Linux version.

 

 

Thank you very much for the information!

 

The DSS file thing could be a bit of a challenge but it’s best to know before hand. Also, thanks for the link to the revision history, I hadn’t spotted it before but it’s a great idea.

 

Again, thank you!

[coolrat33]

Thank you very much for the information!

 

The DSS file thing could be a bit of a challenge but it’s best to know before hand. Also, thanks for the link to the revision history, I hadn’t spotted it before but it’s a great idea.

 

Again, thank you!

 

 

I have a big problem! I installed Express Scribe in my Linux system. But it can't load ANY files at all. Perhaps it can load WAVE, but I don't use WAVE. All my files are mp3 format. And none of these will load.

 

Could someone please give me some advice on why this is happening?

Thank you in advance!!

[davidgould]

I have a big problem! I installed Express Scribe in my Linux system. But it can't load ANY files at all. Perhaps it can load WAVE, but I don't use WAVE. All my files are mp3 format. And none of these will load.

 

Could someone please give me some advice on why this is happening?

Thank you in advance!!

I posted elsewhere on this forum a possible answer.

 

You probably need to install the ffmpeg package to get decoders - use

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

I have MP3s working well, but some proprietary formats (eg. WMA) aren't supported (unless I'm missing something).

[vogeljh]

My wife has been successfully using Express Scribe under linux (Ubuntu/Kubuntu 8.04) for medical transcription from home nearly a year. We are very happy with how it works. We convert the .wma files to .wav using mplayer, and use OpenOffice to create the Word .doc format files the clinic wants back.

 

Re Question 2): Regarding transcription foot controls, they recommend the USB VEC Infinity foot control (which is cool cause we use these extensively at other sites) so the question is, do they provide a Linux specific driver separately or is this installed with the Express Scribe application automatically under Linux? We’ve purchased a lot of these controls but have yet to find a driver disk in the foot control packaging from the manufacturer - who ever they are.

 

I did not need to find or install any drivers. The foot control worked fine, except for the fact that she has to re-run the foot-pedal configuration wizard after each re-boot. Mostly she does not re-boot often.

 

Re Question 3): Are there any specific (and important) features within the Windows version of Express Scribe that are not available in the Linux version. You know, the little things like not being able to load files, set encryption keys, browse for folders in the Load screen?

 

I think the only thing we noticed was the limited audio file formats supported in the native linux version we run.

 

Re Question 5): The Express Dictate application under Linux (Wine) sounds like an inexpensive option to the application I’ll be recommending but when you dig into it seems pretty much pointless since Wine doesn’t support USB devices. Does anyone out there actually create dictations using USB microphones or mobile recorders with Express Dictate in a Linux environment? Please let me know, I’m really curious.

 

We just do the transcription, not the dictation, but I actually tried running it under wine before figuring out it was pointless because of the lack of USB device support as you point out.

 

I have one more question of my own: I have attempted to upgrade to Ubuntu 9.04, and now 9.10 is out, but I cannot get Express Scribe to run under the latest versions. The main problem seems to be the install script's reliance on "update-desktop-database" which does not work in the newer versions. Does anyone know how to get around this?

 

Thanks!

[davidkitfriedman]

I tried to get Express Scribe working on Linux tonight but it didn't work.

I tried tonight to get Express Scribe working with Wine on GNU/Linux Debian with OpenBox, but there was some error message when I tried to install wine32.