All TTS services crash on my Windows 10 laptop

[ser_jace]

I encounter this error every time I click on TTS play button or when TTS is trying to play automatically. I’ve used Anki on various PCs over many years, but this time I cannot use any TTS service, not default Windows 10 one, nor Awesome TTS or others, they all crash once play some audio. Tools > Check Database does not work for me, nor Anki reinstallation or plugins reinstallation or disabling. When I disable all plugins, and use a standard tts formatting, it still crashes. Please, help me fix that.

Error:

An error occurred. Please use Tools > Check Database to see if that fixes the problem.
If problems persist, please report the problem on our support site. Please copy and paste the information below into your report.
Anki 2.1.65 (aa9a734f) Python 3.9.15 Qt 6.4.3 PyQt 6.4.0
Platform: Windows-10-10.0.19045
Flags: frz=True ao=False sv=2
Add-ons, last update check: 2023-06-11 12:49:27

Caught exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “aqt.webview”, line 46, in cmd
File “aqt.webview”, line 153, in _onCmd
File “aqt.webview”, line 662, in _onBridgeCmd
File “aqt.overview”, line 92, in _linkHandler
File “aqt.main”, line 712, in moveToState
File “aqt.main”, line 733, in _reviewState
File “aqt.reviewer”, line 161, in show
File “aqt.reviewer”, line 181, in refresh_if_needed
File “aqt.reviewer”, line 243, in nextCard
File “aqt.reviewer”, line 372, in _showQuestion
File “aqt.sound”, line 150, in play_tags
File “aqt.sound”, line 209, in _play_next_if_idle
File “aqt.sound”, line 212, in _play
File “aqt.sound”, line 223, in _best_player_for_tag
File “aqt.tts”, line 120, in rank_for_tag
File “aqt.tts”, line 85, in voice_for_tag
File “aqt.tts”, line 81, in voices
File “aqt.tts”, line 580, in get_available_voices
File “aqt.tts”, line 585, in _get_available_voices
File “anki._backend_generated”, line 1291, in all_tts_voices
File “anki._backend”, line 156, in _run_command
anki.errors.BackendError: WindowsError { details: Other, source: Error { code: HRESULT(0x80070002), message: “The system cannot find the file specified.” } }

[dae]

What happens when you use TTS in other apps that use the SpeechSynthesis API? There’s an old legacy API that some apps use that is a separate thing, so you’d need to confirm what they’re using.

[ser_jace]

Hello Damien,

Thank you for your prompt response and for creating Anki, an app that has transformed my life. I appreciate your work and dedication to this amazing software.

I have some good news. After I received your reply, I tried to reproduce the error I reported earlier, but something changed and I got a different error message instead:

I reinstalled Awesome TTS and the problem seems to have disappeared. I’m not sure what caused it, but I’m glad it’s gone. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you. It must have been a glitch on my laptop that resolved itself somehow.

Thank you for your time and assistance, I hope to use Anki as usual now, without any issues whatsoever.