Xgrid icon Using Xgrid

Xgrid allows you to use multiple Macs (and/or multiple processors on a single Mac) to speed up processing. iSpeak It uses Xgrid to take the individual sections (defined by splitting the document) and convert them to audio on all available Macs. This helps to process documents faster, which is definitely an asset when trying to convert documents such as entire novels from Project Gutenberg.

Note that iSpeak It need only by installed on your Mac — Xgrid sends all required material when it asks a Mac to do the work.

iSpeak It will ensure that your Mac (called the Controller) can manage an Xgrid when you first choose the Xgrid option for processing an iTunes transfer. This requires administrator privileges and iSpeak It will prompt you to provide your administrator password prior to activating Xgrid control.

To make a Mac (called an Agent) available for use on an Xgrid you need to do the following:
  • In the System Preferences go to Sharing and select the Xgrid service. A Configure... button will appear and you will need to ensure a correct configuration. You must set the Authentication method to "None". You can choose to use the first available controller (allowing any Mac to send jobs to this Mac) or specify a specific Mac (the one you will be using to initiate the processing of a document). To specify a Mac use the name defined in its Sharing System Preference.
  • If you are running a Firewall you must ensure that ports 4111-4120 are open since they are used by Xgrid.
  • Note that you must at least one Agent or the jobs generated by iSpeak It will never be processed. We suggest that you make the Mac running iSpeak It an Agent so that it will take jobs. This is also useful if you have a Mac with multiple processors since Xgrid will ensure that they are all used for processing the document.
    • If you have an older Mac (e.g. a G4 PowerBook/iBook) it is recommended that you do not make it an Agent if you are using it to run iSpeak It. Using it as the Controller is fine but it can get overwhelmed if it has to both process sections and receive audio files from other Macs.
iSpeak It will use your currently selected voice for all text-to-speech conversions on other Macs. If, however, you are using a voice that is not installed on another Mac then iSpeak It will default to using the currently selected voice on that Mac.

Apple provides Server tools that can be extremely useful for tracking an Xgrid. It is recommended that you download and install these tools so that you can track jobs and determine which Macs are currently being used as part of your Xgrid. The specific tool to use is called Xgrid Admin — it will give you a detailed look at the progress of a document (and any potential issues with Agents not being available).

When iSpeak It is processing a document via Xgrid it can seem non-responsive — this is due to the fact that it is continually checking to see how many jobs are left. While you could make use of iSpeak It while it is processing a document (e.g. open another window and load another document for processing), it is recommended that you wait for the current document to complete before loading other documents. Note that you can still load multiple documents and have iSpeak It transfer all of them to iTunes (see Batch Processing for more details).