Voice Assistant Auto-Start Service

This guide explains how the voice assistant is configured to start automatically when Batocera boots.

Service Overview

The voice assistant now runs as a Batocera service that starts automatically at boot time, enabling hands-free wake word detection from the moment your system starts.

Service Details

• Service Name: voice_assistant
• Location: /userdata/system/services/voice_assistant
• Status: ✅ Enabled and running
• Log File: /tmp/voice-assistant.log
• Service Log: /tmp/voice-assistant-service.log

What the Service Does

When Batocera boots:

1. Starts Ollama (if not already running) - Required for LLM responses
2. Starts Voice Assistant - Runs voice_assistant_wake.py in background
3. Begins Listening - Immediately starts listening for “Hey Jarvis” wake word
4. Logs Activity - All output goes to /tmp/voice-assistant.log

Managing the Service

Check Service Status

batocera-services list

Look for: voice_assistant;* (the * means it’s enabled)

Start the Service Manually

batocera-services start voice_assistant

Stop the Service

batocera-services stop voice_assistant

Enable Auto-Start (Already Done)

batocera-services enable voice_assistant

Disable Auto-Start

batocera-services disable voice_assistant

Viewing Logs

Real-time Log (Live)

tail -f /tmp/voice-assistant.log

View Last 50 Lines

tail -50 /tmp/voice-assistant.log

Check if Service Started Successfully

cat /tmp/voice-assistant-service.log

Check if Ollama is Running

ps aux | grep ollama

Check if Voice Assistant is Running

ps aux | grep voice_assistant_wake

LED Feedback Behavior

The wake word mode includes LED feedback on GPIO 25 (AIY Voice HAT LED):

LED States

LED Flow

1. Startup: LED starts OFF (ready to listen)
2. Wake Word Detected: LED turns ON immediately when you say “Hey Jarvis”
3. During Processing: LED stays ON while recording, transcribing, and getting LLM response
4. Response Complete: LED turns OFF after the assistant finishes speaking
5. Back to Ready: LED stays OFF while waiting for next wake word

LED Always Turns Off When:

• ✅ Response is spoken successfully
• ✅ Recording fails (no audio captured)
• ✅ No speech detected (silence or unintelligible)
• ✅ Program exits (shutdown/crash)
• ✅ Any error occurs

The LED is a reliable indicator: If the LED is ON, the system is busy processing. If OFF, it’s ready for the wake word.

Troubleshooting

Service Won’t Start

Check if all dependencies are in place:

# Check Ollama
ls -la /userdata/ollama/bin/ollama

# Check models
ls -la /userdata/voice-assistant/models/

# Check Python libraries
ls -la /userdata/voice-assistant/lib/

# Check whisper-cli
ls -la /userdata/voice-assistant/whisper-cli

Check for Errors

# View the error log
tail -100 /tmp/voice-assistant.log

# Check service status
batocera-services status voice_assistant

Restart the Service

If something goes wrong:

# Stop and restart
batocera-services stop voice_assistant
sleep 2
batocera-services start voice_assistant

# Or reboot to restart everything
reboot

LED Not Working

The service uses gpioset command to control the LED. Verify it works:

# Test LED manually
gpioset gpiochip0 25=1  # LED on
sleep 1
gpioset gpiochip0 25=0  # LED off

If this works but the service LED doesn’t, check the log:

tail -20 /tmp/voice-assistant.log

Service File Location

The service script is at:

/userdata/system/services/voice_assistant

This is a bash script that:

1. Sets up environment variables
2. Starts Ollama (dependency)
3. Starts the voice assistant Python script
4. Runs everything in the background

Boot Behavior

At Boot:

1. Batocera starts up
2. Ollama service starts (if enabled)
3. Voice assistant service starts
4. Assistant begins listening for “Hey Jarvis”

During Use:

• Say “Hey Jarvis” → LED turns on → Speak your question → LED turns off → Assistant responds
• The assistant continues listening after each interaction
• No need to manually start anything

Switching Modes

The service currently runs wake word mode by default. To switch to button mode:

1. Stop the service:

   batocera-services stop voice_assistant
   

2. Edit the service file:

   nano /userdata/system/services/voice_assistant
   

3. Change this line:

   # From:
   python3 voice_assistant_wake.py > /tmp/voice-assistant.log 2>&1 &
   
   # To:
   python3 voice_assistant_button.py > /tmp/voice-assistant.log 2>&1 &
   

4. Save and restart:

   batocera-services start voice_assistant
   

Disabling Auto-Start

To prevent the voice assistant from starting at boot:

batocera-services disable voice_assistant

The service file remains but won’t auto-start. You can still start it manually.

Manual Start Without Service

If you prefer not to use the service, you can still run manually:

cd /userdata/voice-assistant
python3 voice_assistant_wake.py

Service Dependencies

The voice assistant service depends on:

• ✅ Ollama (auto-starts if not running)
• ✅ Python libraries in /userdata/voice-assistant/lib/
• ✅ Whisper models in /userdata/voice-assistant/models/
• ✅ Audio hardware (AIY Voice HAT)

All dependencies are automatically handled by the service script.

Status: ✅ Service enabled and running Auto-start: ✅ Yes Current mode: Wake word detection LED feedback: ✅ Yes (GPIO 25)