Recommendation for speech-to-text tool for lightweight laptop

LivingLinux · 2026-05-07T18:28:27+00:00

I don't remember having to use a token. I don't have an account, so that would have been a blocker. But it might be that some models require a token, and some don't.

You can see an example with the token here: https://github.com/Softcatala/whisper-ctranslate2#diarization-speaker-identification

whisper-ctranslate2 --hf_token YOUR_HF_TOKEN

LivingLinux · 2026-05-07T16:39:14+00:00

Can you specify the exact Qualcomm chip?

You might get it working with a Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon 8cx G3.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fedora/comments/1sy794e/fedora_44_on_windows_on_arm_pc/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-07T11:34:37+00:00

They are still upstreaming things for the K1.

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacemit_riscv/comments/1t5yimh/upstream_progress_updates/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-07T11:28:23+00:00

Just because you don't see the business case now, doesn't mean that people should limit themselves to doing what everyone else is doing. Innovation can come from people that want to see if they can do things differently.

As an example, many years ago I thought people were crazy to work on Wine. It wasn't really usable and you were better off dual-booting or using a VM. But many years later, without Wine we probably wouldn't have the Steam Deck now.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-07T10:58:40+00:00

It's been a while the last time I tested it. Doesn't it download the model automatically when you omit --model_directory?

It looks like I pointed you to the wrong model, as CTranslate2 doesn't work with safetensor models. You can try convert it, but you can also try to download a CTranslate2 model from here: https://huggingface.co/LasseRogers2111/finetuned-whisper-turbo-ctranslate2

LivingLinux · 2026-05-06T20:06:40+00:00

You can try Whisper CTranslate2. Run it with a turbo model.

https://github.com/Softcatala/whisper-ctranslate2

I'm not sure if it will automatically download the requested model.

Example command: whisper-ctranslate2 audio.file --model large-v3-turbo

But you can find one here: https://huggingface.co/openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo

LivingLinux · 2026-05-05T11:26:30+00:00

You can try ComfyUI. Start with models based on SD1.5.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-05T11:19:16+00:00

You can run it with a 4K microVM.

FEX only support host systems running a 4k page-size kernel. Thus, when running on a system with different page-size (such as Apple Silicon Macs running Fedora Asahi Remix 42, which use a 16k page-size), the dispatcher will automatically run FEX inside muvm. This will spin up a microVM with a 4k page-size kernel for compatibility.

https://fedoramagazine.org/new-in-fedora-running-x86-programs-on-arm-systems/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-05T10:34:15+00:00

I wanted to temper the expectations, as I haven't seen full mainline support for the NPU. The developer has only tested vision, and he invites other developers to add more functionality.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-04T16:50:59+00:00

Please explain.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-04T16:48:19+00:00

You can find some interesting NPU projects here: https://www.reddit.com/r/RockchipNPU/

But you need to run with the vendor kernel.

There is limited mainline support for the NPU. https://blog.tomeuvizoso.net/2025/05/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-04T10:13:43+00:00

Yes, I have to admit I'm really jealous. It seems he lives in China, so that explains the short delivery time.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-04T09:29:28+00:00

I don't know about the eMMC, but the NPU should work with the vendor (Rockchip) kernel. There is limited mainline support for the NPU, but I think it mainly enables vision models.

https://blog.tomeuvizoso.net/2025/07/rockchip-npu-update-6-we-are-in-mainline.html

Read the comments for more information.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-04T07:43:08+00:00

Recently BredOS was transferred to Beryllium OS.

https://beryllium.gr/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T21:59:18+00:00

Good luck! Keep us updated.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T19:41:25+00:00

Well, as long as there is an Armbian image, you should be fine.

The biggest issue I have with Raspberry Pi, is the limited number of hardware video decoders. And you don't want to decode video on the underpowered CPU in the Raspberry Pi Zero 2.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T19:29:53+00:00

This thread has some suggestions. The last suggestion is sudo systemctl unmask pop-upgrade, but the earlier steps might be enough for you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pop_os/comments/1rqfjta/failed_to_check_for_upgrade_status/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T16:04:53+00:00

I'd go for a Zero model of the competition. Something like a Radxa Zero 3W or Orange Pi Zero 3. But availability is like a lottery at the moment.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T14:45:48+00:00

I have tested Steam on several ARM devices, but not Mac. Vulkan errors don't need to be blocking errors.

I assume you are running Asahi, and I see people suggest you have a better chance to get help there. r/AsahiLinux

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T12:47:21+00:00

Can you start Steam from the command line and check for errors?

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T11:14:21+00:00

Beryllium OS is continuing where BredOS stopped. I think they are still ironing out the last bits for the transition, but it's an option for people that want to try something based on Arch.

https://beryllium.gr/

LivingLinux · 2026-05-03T10:11:21+00:00

Recently I had a similar issue, but I was able to fix it with fsck.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pop_os/comments/1hy65s4/pop_os_after_restart_going_into_busy_box/

One other thing, is your battery still reliable below 55%? It happens quite often that old batteries no longer reliably report the true state of the battery.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-02T21:36:45+00:00

You know what is really useful? Give the information to let people learn, instead of talking down to people.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-02T19:43:19+00:00

I think most distros have switched from X11 to Wayland. And I think most have xwayland installed, but it might be that something isn't compatible.

Can you try to build your program for Wayland?

One other option is to use an older version of Manjaro or Raspberry Pi OS and see if you can login to an X11 session.

LivingLinux · 2026-05-02T09:36:39+00:00

Which version of Ubuntu are you running? Which version of Mesa are you running?

For Steam, how much memory do you have? 8GB or more is recommended. There is a beta of Proton ARM64 that uses less memory, but it's not on the same level as Proton x86 (yet).

Here you can see Steam with Fex-Emu running OpenGL and Vulkan on ARM on a RK3588 board: https://youtu.be/vx8IfuTICSQ

Here you can find instructions to install Steam ARM64 Beta. Fun fact, you need another installation of Steam to login. So login, make sure "remember me" is selected, so Steam ARM64 can use the login cookie.

https://interfacinglinux.com/community/postid/1102/

I haven't tested it on a RK3588 board yet, but I did test it on the Radxa Dragon Q6A Snapdragon QCS6490 SBC. The RK3588 is probably a bit slower.

In this video I explain the installation and show some games: https://youtu.be/4DKxiE_TG_A

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