Compiling HTK 3.4 on Windows XP
Wednesday, 14th October, 2009
[This post is from my old blog, originally posted Monday 30th July 2007. As it is still read, I have moved it here with no revisions]
Introduction
Here are some notes on my experiences of compiling HTK 3.4 on Windows XP. I compiled HTK successfully, but some research and experiment was necessary. In the end I tried and was successful with Cygwin and with Visual Studio Express. I hope you find these notes useful.
The issues addressed here will obtain whether you’re using the makefiles that come bundled in the htk3.4 zipfile or the winmakefiles makefiles refered to by Anna Langley in her 02/02/07 post to htk-users.
These notes do not cover getting HSLab to run on Windows. I recommend Praat for labelling, and Praat or SpeechRecorder for recording.
Preparation
Getting the htk source code
Download the HTK source zipfile form the HTK website. Note you must register – and make sure you read the licence! – before you can download either the code or the documentation.
‘Mac’ format
The source files have multiple carriage returns (‘\r’) at line ends. This upsets both make (cygwin) and nmake (VSE). Nmake appears to think the files are in Mac format and won’t touch them. I don’t know why this spurious whitespace is there, or why it should cause such problems. In any case, the first step is to strip out these characters from all source files. Write a little script in your favourite language, or use this Python script:
#! /usr/bin/python
import os
def convert(fn):
data = open(fn).read().replace('\\r\\r', '')
open(fn, 'w').write(data)
def main(dataDir):
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(dataDir):
for fn in files:
fullFn = os.path.join(root, fn)
convert(fullFn)
if __name__ == '__main__':
dataDir = 'HTK-3.4/htk/'
main(dataDir)
Using cygwin
Requirements
You’ll need Cygwin, of course, and make sure you have installed gcc (which might not be included by default).
Prepare HTK source code
The only changes to the source code I found necessary (apart from the line-end changes above), were those pointed out by Mark Huckvale of UCL in his HTK howto.
1. Remove the reference to "-lX11" in the instructions for HSLab:
Change HTKTools/Makefile line 55f
from:
%: %.c $(HTKLIB)
if [ ! -d $(bindir) -a X_ = X_yes ] ; then mkdir -p $(bindir) ; fi
if [ x$@ = xHSLab ] ; then
$(CC) -o $@ $(CFLAGS) $^ $(LDFLAGS) -lX11 ;
else
$(CC) -o $@ $(CFLAGS) $^ $(LDFLAGS) ; fi</pre>
to:
%: %.c $(HTKLIB)
if [ ! -d $(bindir) -a X_ = X_yes ] ; then mkdir -p $(bindir) ; fi
if [ x$@ = xHSLab ] ; then
$(CC) -o $@ $(CFLAGS) $^ $(LDFLAGS) ;
else
$(CC) -o $@ $(CFLAGS) $^ $(LDFLAGS) ; fi</pre>
2. Overwrite HGraf.c
$ cd HTKLib $ cp HGraf.c HGraf.c.original $ cp HGraf.null.c HGraf.c $ cd ..</pre>
Compilation
HTK should now compile with ./configure; make; make install as in the README.
To make HTK available from outside cygwin
HTK is now available only from inside cygwin (e.g., from the cygwin terminal). To make HTK available from the rest of Windows you need to put two things on your PATH:
- the path to the HTK bin files (e.g.: C:\cygwin\usr\local\bin);
- the path to the cygwin1.dll (i.e.: C:\cygwin\bin)
Once you’ve put these on your PATH, you should be able to call HTK commands from the Command Prompt window (or anywhere else).
Using visual studio express
Update (27/07/2007): Arlindo Vega has posted to htk-users and created a web page covering compilation of HTK on Windows using Visual Studio 6, 7 (VS.Net2003) and 8 (VS2005).
Set up
Download and install the following (go to the Microsoft VS Express download page and follow the instructions):
- Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition.
- Visual Studio Express Editions 2005 Service Pack 1.
- Microsoft Platform SDK for Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express.
n.b.: These are large downloads. Download requires registration.
Make sure the bin/, lib/ & include/ directories of the MS Platform SDK are in your PATH.
Reboot!
Make clean!
Everything should now work as in the README. However, if you get an error message like the following:
C:..htkHTKLib>nmake /f htk_htklib_nt.mkf all <.../> Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version 8.00.50727.762 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. lib /OUT:HTKLib.win32.lib esig_asc.obj esig_edr.obj esignal.obj esig_nat.obj HAdapt.obj HAudio.obj HDict.obj HFB.obj HGraf.null.obj HLabel.obj HLat.obj HLM.obj HMap.obj HMath.obj HMem.obj HModel.obj HNet.obj HParm.obj HRec.obj HShell.obj HSigP.obj HTrain.obj HUtil.obj HVQ.obj HWave.obj strarr.obj HExactMPE.obj HFBLat.obj HArc.obj Microsoft (R) Library Manager Version 8.00.50727.762 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. esig_asc.obj : fatal error LNK1107: invalid or corrupt file: cannot read at 0x1776 NMAKE : fatal error U1077: '"C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio 8VCBINlib.EXE"' : return code '0x453' Stop.
Try:
C:\path\to\htk\HTKLib>nmake /f htk_htklib_nt.mkf clean
And then run your original make again.
Conclusion
HTK will compile on Windows, as long as care is taken over the initial set-up. I hope these notes make that set-up easier.
Llaisdy 
Sunday, 1st November, 2009 at 9:40 pm
[…] Compiling HTK 3.4 on Windows XP. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Compiling HTK 3.4 on Windows XP Posted by […]
Tuesday, 22nd December, 2009 at 3:14 am
Hi, I just downloaded the newest HTK from its website. I got it to compile in VS 2005 no problem. I am “very” new to HTK, I did the test steps to test the installation, and it seems fine so far.
I am not sure why did you have to go through so many initial setup to get it running. But it’s probably becoz I haven’t really started using it, so don’t know if it’s all compiled properly.
Anyway, it’s good to have your article, it’s complete and will be helpful to me later!
Thanks
Tuesday, 22nd December, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Tony
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad to hear it’s more straightforward now.
Ivan
Thursday, 21st January, 2010 at 7:27 pm
I’m having a similar U1077 error when trying to install HTK on my 64-bit Win7 computer:
C:\htk\HTKLib>nmake /f htk_htklib_nt.mkf all
Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version 8.00.50727.762
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
cl /nologo /c /ML /W0 /GX /O2 /G5 /Ob2 /D “NDEBUG” /D “WIN32” /D “_WINDO
WS” /I “.” /D “WIN32_AUDIO” /D ARCH=\”WIN32\” /D “PHNALG” HAdapt.c
cl : Command line warning D9035 : option ‘GX’ has been deprecated and will be re
moved in a future release
cl : Command line warning D9036 : use ‘EHsc’ instead of ‘GX’
cl : Command line warning D9002 : ignoring unknown option ‘/ML’
cl : Command line warning D9002 : ignoring unknown option ‘/G5’
HAdapt.c
c:\htk\htklib\HShell.h(49) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: ‘Winso
ck2.h’: No such file or directory
NMAKE : fatal error U1077: ‘”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC
\BIN\cl.EXE”‘ : return code ‘0x2’
Stop.
Does anyone have an idea of what could be causing the problem? I ran the VCVARS file, so that’s not the problem. Thanks in advance!
Friday, 22nd January, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Figured it out. The compiler didn’t install correctly with VS Express.
Sunday, 18th July, 2010 at 8:27 pm
So how did you solve the problem since I have the same problem and I am stuck. I have the same error message. Did you re install Microsoft Visual studio?.. Thanks for your help.
Saturday, 23rd January, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Dear BK
Thanks for posting your problem, and especially the solution!
Ivan
Saturday, 9th October, 2010 at 1:16 am
[…] https://llaisdy.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/compiling-htk-3-4-on-windows-xp/#using-visual-studio-express […]
Tuesday, 7th June, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Hi Guys,
Any body knows how to make HSLab command which shows the interface, works in windows?
I have installed HTK and it works perfectly but cannot run HSLab to record and … .
Thanks