Overuse of system beep without volume control

Thanks for your comment. The changes you are requesting require more
discussion and should rather be done on an appropriate mailing list or
forum.

http://www.ubuntu.com/community/forums/ might be a good start.

Thanks for your response Mike. I disagree with your assessment that the changes all require more discussion - I think some of them are pretty straightforward, it's just a question of correct categorization. Do developers actually pay attention to the forums? I was under the impression that it was more for user->user support + communication.

I also agree with chris. The system beep (from the pc speaker) is obsolete and should IMHO never be used. The GNOME system beep should be used instead.

I also agree disabling system beeps also in virtual consoles. If you have your loudspeakers pluged in and want to listen to music and a system beep appears it's a big pain for the ears! Especially when your loudspeakers stand in the near, for example on your desk!

The problem on my Thinkpad Z61m is - even if I listen to music in low volume the beep is so much louder than normal music that it trashes the ears.

I also cannot disable or lower the volume of my PC speakers in Gnome mixer:

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
        Memory at ee240000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>

Completely agree with felix - on my Thinkpad system beeps through the headphones are physically painful.

I agree!

When I use 'gedit' Text Editor, and I press backspace when there is no text, it beeps.

For anyone who finds this bug and wants to disable or change the system beep, here are a few options:

1) System > Preferences > Sound > System Beep > Enable System Beep (check / uncheck)

2) To change the volume / pitch, use `xset b 30 500`. The first number is the volume, in percentage, and the second is the frequency in hertz. See `man xset` for more info.

Adding to Ayatana to signal the DX/DUX teams to take a look at this.

I very frequently hear complaints from new users that Ubuntu makes their computer beep really loudly and nastily whenever the press backspace too many times in a text entry field, or otherwise trigger an alert noise. Ubuntu has a much more pleasant alert sound that should be played instead (which you can hear in System > Preferences > Sound > Sounds > Alert Sound). I would go so far as to say that we NEVER want to play the system beep during the course of a normal graphical session; sometimes it is so loud, users look as if they had received an electric shock.

Rick Spencer said pitti would save us.

"I would go so far as to say that we NEVER want to play the system beep during the course of a normal graphical session; sometimes it is so loud, users look as if they had received an electric shock"

That was exactly my point, too ;) Which I wrote here 2 and a half years ago. And which EVERY GOOD BETA TESTER notices immediately but nobody cares.

There is another bug, #290204, only for beeping on shutdown.
but the solution posted by "w1zard" disables every beep! Fantastic! Legendary!

He woote:
"An upgrade to Intrepid has re-enabled the 'bell' or 'beep' when clicking 'Shutdown' or at the login screen. There is no way in the GUI or standard Gnome settings to reset this (none that work, anyway). The only way to disable it again is:

run gconf-editor from terminal and set
/desktop/gnome/peripherals/keyboard/bell_mode
to 'off' rather than 'on'

Not exactly easy to find for your experienced users, impossible for the average user. At the very least this should setting should be migrated during an upgrade, but should really be editable from the Sound properties tab."
(https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/290204/comments/12)

This setting should be made in Audio-configurations! I am sure this can be fixed in 100 paper cuts!

There is another bug, #290204, only for beeping on shutdown.
but the solution posted by "w1zard" disables every beep! Fantastic! Legendary!

He wrote:
"An upgrade to Intrepid has re-enabled the 'bell' or 'beep' when clicking 'Shutdown' or at the login screen. There is no way in the GUI or standard Gnome settings to reset this (none that work, anyway). The only way to disable it again is:

run gconf-editor from terminal and set
/desktop/gnome/peripherals/keyboard/bell_mode
to 'off' rather than 'on'

Not exactly easy to find for your experienced users, impossible for the average user. At the very least this should setting should be migrated during an upgrade, but should really be editable from the Sound properties tab."
(https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/290204/comments/12)

This setting should be made in Audio-configurations! I am sure this can be fixed in 100 paper cuts!

I have to say that one of the ridiculously small 12 reasons that led me to abandon Ubuntu (& return to Windows XP, not happily) was the jarring beep described here. It was especially antagonizing when I was playing Solitaire as my last act before heading to bed, using the rote click-click-click to stupefy my attention and relax; except that clicking an already clicked card caused this loud shrieking bleep, which rather defeated the purpose of the game for me.

I only tried 10 or 20 times to figure out how I could fix or change this. Apparently, using GUIs since 1985 was insufficient preparation for smooth Ubuntu use and after twelve months I admitted my Linux devotion was inadequate to the demand for mastering Linux obscurities.

I agree with Roger that this is currently one of the most irritating minor issues with Ubuntu and Gnome. It bothered me some much hearing the system beep when using Firefox's find feature that I spent a fair amount of time looking for solutions to this. In the end, the only solution I was able to make work was disabling the system beep entirely, and using Compiz's visual system bell feature.

Like many people have written, really the correct solution is to play the Gnome alert sound instead of triggering the system beep. This would bring Ubuntu more in line with what Mac OS X does in similar situations, allowing the user to choose the alert sound to play through the speakers in the Sound preference pane. In this day and age, there is really no excuse to trigger the system beep during a normal graphical Gnome session.

pretty much the first thing I do after every Ubuntu install is add the line
blacklist pcspkr
to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
I'm not sure if this will fix all your beepy problems, but I don't get most/any of the beeps you complain about...

I agree with Michael and others - please disable the pcspkr module by default in Ubuntu.

I've been embarrassed too many times by that super loud beep after using a new install of Ubuntu - then I realize, oh yeah I forgot to blacklist that stupid module.

Peter, your solution merely causes the computer to ignore alerts by silencing the internal speaker. This is hardly the correct behavior. The correct behavior is for the Gnome Alert sound (which is user customizable) to be played through the active sound device at the times when currently Gnome activates the system beep.

In any case, a user should not have to customize their /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file just to get a decent experience with Ubuntu.

That solution silences only the internal motherboard pc speaker, not the regular speaker.

Gnome can still visually flash if a program still uses the obsolete pc speaker.

I blacklist pcspkr everytime I install Ubuntu.

Eventually perhaps calls to the pc speaker could be redirected to use the gnome alert sound, but this is an easier shortterm solution that works just fine with no coding.

While blacklisting the pcspkr device is certainly an improvement over the current behavior, I wouldn't go as far as to call it a "solution that works just fine," unless a replacement is provided for the system beep. If we do blacklist the pcspkr by default, we need to ensure that Gnome/Compiz is configured by default to visually flash when a program tries to activate a system beep. Simply losing the alerts is not acceptable. However, it seems to me like it would take only a few lines of code at most to trigger the Gnome Alert sound whenever a program tries to activate the system beep. That being said, I am not very familiar with Linux/Gnome programming, so it could be substantially more complicated.

This is an issue that should have been fixed long ago, but it seems to have been overlooked.

while i agree that if a speaker or headphone is attached then the use of system beep should be minimised and used only in high priority cases.

BUT if there are no speakers or headphones attached then the current settings should be place.

I feel the same as Doug: It's annoying to have to blacklist the stupid speaker every time I install Ubuntu - it's happened more than a couple of times where I've wanted to just quietly shut down the computer before going to bed, but end up waking my girlfriend up due to the ridiculously loud beep.

What is interesting is that the beep depends on the master volume, so if it's set low than it's not a big deal. But when it's set near/at 100%, it can rattle the room.

I don't have any technical input on this bug, and I'm not even sure if this affects the majority of Ubuntu users, but as a casual user this is very annoying.

The annoying beeping is fixed in karmic somewhat - it now plays the much softer Gnome alert bell through the sound system (rather than the internal speaker) instead.

Still, we need to address that we may be using that too much (like hitting backspace)

Scott, if you have information about the state of this problem, can you please add it to these bugs?

http://tinyurl.com/lq7nfd

Callum: I dont see this option in System > pref > Sound

"For anyone who finds this bug and wants to disable or change the system beep, here are a few options:

1) System > Preferences > Sound > System Beep > Enable System Beep (check / uncheck)"

Right now my system beep only works on shit down i want system beep to work instead of the speakers
with irssi and terminal and such.

When I shut down my computer, or the last three laptops I installed using Ubuntu 9.04, the system beeps repeatedly about 5-8 times as its shutting down, then stops.

I've turned off system beeps in "System > Preferences > Sound > System Beep > Enable System Beep" yet this problem remains.

Yeah that's why I just disable the pcspkr module, instead of merely turning off beeps in gnome, because it still can beep other times, like when shutting down.

OMG! My prayers have been heard! *tears in his eyes*
Disable the damn thing already! We're not in the 70's anymore! Kill it with fire!

We discussed that here at the platform sprint, and nobody objected to blacklisting the PC speaker by default.

This bug was fixed in the package module-init-tools - 3.10-2

---------------
module-init-tools (3.10-2) karmic; urgency=low

  * blacklist.conf: Blacklist pcspkr. It produces an ugly and loud noise,
    getting on everyone's nerves. If still needed at all, this should be done
    by a nice pulseaudio bing. (LP: #77010)

 -- Martin Pitt <email address hidden> Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:02:28 +0100

Great :-). To be honest: I just unplugged the speaker from my motherboard!

On 08/08/2009 07:53 AM, Martijn Bastiaan wrote:
> Great :-). To be honest: I just unplugged the speaker from my
> motherboard!
>
Please forgive me but i dont recall the backlist file location.
I will use locate however i havent had a system beep at all since the
first couple of weeks before A1 IIRC, but it does beep on shutdown.

--
Sincerely Yours,
    John Vivirito

https://launchpad.net/~gnomefreak
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JohnVivirito
Linux User# 414246

"How can i get lost, if i have no where to go"
    -- Metallica from Unforgiven III

Hooray!

Redemption! :D

Please see comment 26 on bug 301174, "Use proper sound event instead of system beep".

I don't think the issue here is the fact that users can't or don't readily know how to address the loud system beep that plays, I think the issue is that audio works for the user in other applications, but that the default alert sound selected in gnome-control-panel isn't played, with no reason given to the user, or any indication given to them that something is awry. Blacklisting the pc speaker module or adjusting the volume of the speaker sounds in your mixer are just work arounds, not fixes, and as far as
blacklist.conf: Blacklist pcspkr. It produces an ugly and loud noise,
    getting on everyone's nerves. If still needed at all, this should be done
    by a nice pulseaudio bing. (LP: #77010)
goes, if we can play a nice pulse audio bing, why can't we play the default alert sound selected by the user? To me this sounds like an issue with something underlying in the wm or audio subsystem, considering it appears in both compiz and metacity, in multiple applications (like firefox, gnome-terminal, and even the gtk+ demo application).
I'd love to hear from a developer (you know, then they get to it, not to sound antsy or anything :) ) about what causes the system beep to play instead of the selected alert sound, why the user isn't notified that the system couldn't play the selected alert sound, or even just that this is a fallback behavior from any number of issues that couldn't possibly all be resolved in one bug report. That way the individuals having this issue could give feedback and logs to the developers, and we could squash the or all of the bugs that are causing this to happen in the first place. I guess I just don't see 'make the pc speaker stop making noise' as a resolution for 'when I choose an alert sound in gnome-control-panel, a beep plays instead,' because it sounds like a workaround to me. I'm not complaining! work arounds are good, but in all the bug reports mentioning the system beep playiing instead of the alert sound, not one I've seen has addressed /why/ this is happening or how to get alert sounds to play. I'm also just another human like you, so if I've missed such an explanation or resolution, feel free to point it out to me and ill try to say thank you around the foot in my mouth :)

Still getting a system beep on battery low. Dell Mini 9, Karmic Beta

It doesn't seem to happen any more for anyone else. Can you please check "lsmod | grep pc" whether you have pcspkr or snd_pcsp loaded?

Test comment, sorry.

@ Pitti

snd_pcm_oss 37920 0
snd_mixer_oss 16028 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 75296 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 22276 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd 59204 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
sdhci_pci 7100 0
sdhci 17472 1 sdhci_pci
snd_page_alloc 9156 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

Test comment again, sorry

how do I stop getting these emails? I don't even have a computer
running *buntu anymore sadly :-(

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 9:31 AM, Mat Tomaszewski
<email address hidden> wrote:
> @ Pitti
>
> snd_pcm_oss            37920  0
> snd_mixer_oss          16028  1 snd_pcm_oss
> snd_pcm                75296  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
> snd_timer              22276  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
> snd                    59204  15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
> sdhci_pci               7100  0
> sdhci                  17472  1 sdhci_pci
> snd_page_alloc          9156  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
>
> --
> Overuse of system beep without volume control
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/77010
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of a duplicate bug.
>

@Paul Gupta you got an unsubscribe button in Launchpad when viewing this bug report, on the right side somewhere, having a red round icon with a "-" on it.

i am using acer aspire one and when headphone is not plugged i get the bip sound when i press backspace in a terminal

I can confirm Mat Tomaszewski's comment (#36)

I am also getting a system beep on low battery on the Dell Mini 9 (Running Karmic Beta)

I can confirm Mat Tomaszewski's comment (#36)

I am also getting a system beep on low battery on the Dell Mini 9 (Running Karmic Beta)

the pcspkr (#77010) and snd_pcsp (#246969) should be in blacklist.conf... so their should be no "system beep" through the pc speaker...

unless the Dell Mini 9 is different... anyways check you have those two in your etc\modprobe.d\blacklist.conf

pcspkr is blacklisted and i am not receiving the 'annoying' system beep. However i am not getting any beep at all. Gnome Alert sound has not taken over this job. I can go into System > Preferences > Sound and 'Choose an alert sound' and when I click on the sound I can hear it, but it does not happen during normal use.
I am finding that Terminator is flashing to give me a visual clue. Gnome-terminal however is not giving me this visual indicator.

Thank you to everyone who has worked on the 100 paper cuts, on their own they are small changes, together they make a huge difference.

@steverweber

pcspkr and snd_pcsp *are* in the blacklist.conf, and yet I am getting the beep sound. This is a serious issue that will affect many users (Dell Mini 9 is a very popular model that was available with Hardy preinstalled) and a regression.

@ Martin Pitt

What other information is needed here (the bug is still marked as "incomplete").

Cheers!

Please let me know if I can provide any information that will help in diagnosing why the Mini 9 beeps on low battery.

This was fixed for most people in Karmic. Unfortunately I have no idea at all how to debug the remaining beep on some particular models.

The module-init-tools side of this was fixed (blacklisting PC speaker modules), so the remaining beep must come from somewhere else and in a different package (yet to be discovered).

(Something to look at at a conference, when the devs have physical access to the affected hardware)

On Sun, 2009-10-11 at 17:45 +0000, Martin Pitt wrote:

> The module-init-tools side of this was fixed (blacklisting PC speaker
> modules), so the remaining beep must come from somewhere else and in a
> different package (yet to be discovered).
>
The blacklist was already there - all the patch did was move it in the
file and remove the word "fuck" from the comment ;)

Scott
--
Scott James Remnant
<email address hidden>

This fix solves the problem for me (system beep on battery-low on Dell Mini 9):
https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/449582/comments/6

I take that one back - the beep is still there... :(

since yesterday is back... and the pcspkr module is blacklisted on my system

since yesterday, is back... and the pcspkr module is blacklisted on my system

Beep was back with pcspkr module blacklisted and not running here on my Dell Inspiron 1525 (also a model that shipped with Ubuntu). Regardless of sound settings, such as mute (even the Alert Sound mute) in the sound preferences, it would emit a beep if I did a search in Firefox for example for something that didn't exist.

My solution was to change:

/desktop/gnome/peripherals/keyboard/bell_mode

to "off"

No longer get the beep that just about gets people evicted from their apartment for blasting it at 3AM, or blows out someones ear drums while relaxing to some music with headphones.

Kristopher Ives wrote:
> Beep was back with pcspkr module blacklisted and not running here on my
> Dell Inspiron 1525 (also a model that shipped with Ubuntu). Regardless
> of sound settings, such as mute (even the Alert Sound mute) in the sound
> preferences, it would emit a beep if I did a search in Firefox for
> example for something that didn't exist.
>
> My solution was to change:
>
> /desktop/gnome/peripherals/keyboard/bell_mode
>
> to "off"
>
> No longer get the beep that just about gets people evicted from their
> apartment for blasting it at 3AM, or blows out someones ear drums while
> relaxing to some music with headphones.
>
>
I still get the beep when the battery is critically low on my Mini 9.
It's a very frustrating regression - the problem didn't exist on Hardy,
which was pre-installed, or Jaunty. I've already had to face the
embarassement a few times, when I've drawn weird looks and had to use my
machine for 20 minutes less than I could...

I noticed just now that I also hear the bell again.
I have a Dell Latitude D630.

snd_pskp und pcspkr are blacklisted and do not appear in lsmod (attached).

You'll notice several new reporters in the last 24h in this bug. Could this have something to do with the kernel update to 2.6.31.14 from .13? (the Dell Mini problems seems separate from the rest since that has persisted from longer ago)

Also, is anybody *not* using a Dell Laptop?

I just upgraded from Jaunty to Karmic beta.
Skimming through the updated conf-files I noticed the comment in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
Thank you SO MUCH for doing this :)
It has always been the very first thing I "fixed" in fresh Ubuntu installations. I believe this will greatly improve the first-time user experience.
Oh, and it works fine here btw (ThinkPad X60t)

For me the beep is back too, terminal bell and new mail event. It used to be so nice when we had it replaced with something else.

pcspkr and the other module backlisted and not loaded.

Karmic up-to-date from 5 hours ago

For me the beep is back too, terminal bell and new mail event. It used to be so nice when we had it replaced with something else.

pcspkr and the other module backlisted and not loaded.

Karmic up-to-date from 5 hours ago

Are the pcspkr and the other drivers built into the kernel and not as modules in the latest kernel package?

For me the beep is back too, terminal bell and new mail event. It used to be so nice when we had it replaced with something else.

pcspkr and the other module backlisted and not loaded.

Karmic up-to-date from 5 hours ago on a Dell Precision M4300 laptop

Are the pcspkr and the other drivers built into the kernel and not as modules in the latest kernel package?

I've found some bug reports that are similar to this one and in one of them they mentioned a beep control in alsamixer. I found this on a Dell Mini 9 and am attaching the amixer output from it. Using a Live CD from yesterday this was muted by default though.

The likely duplicates are bug 451113 and bug 455692.

Opening libgnome task for disabling /desktop/gnome/peripherals/keyboard/bell_mode by default, which seems to be one half of the problem here.

Opening alsa-lib task for disabling the "beep" alsa mixer control by default. According to Brian Murray's debug info this might already have been fixed recently, but keeping this task for verification. I asked Mat T. to confirm this on current Karmic.

Luke, can you please tell me whether the keyboard bell is important for anything a11y related?

I have been hearing a nice beep from a sound file for a long time, but something broke a week ago or so in Karmic, and now I only get the system beep.

So obviously there has been a solution that has worked for years, but I don't know what went wrong.

Martin:

Muting the beep control in alsamixer solved my problem.

Previously the volume of the control was set to 00 but it was not muted, and this produced the ugly and extremely loud beeps (especially on headphones).

I don't know whether I have ever changed that control. But I installed a fresh karmic during Alpha 3 and have upgraded since then.

I know have the pcspkr blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf (automatically, I didn't add it myself), and I don't have the pcspkr module loaded. But, after a suspend/resume cycle I still get the system beep!

So, apparently the system beep works even without the pcspkr module.

This is after manually running

$ pactl load-module module-x11-bell sample=bell.ogg

to get the PulseAudio bell sound working.

What seems to happen is that after unloading and reloading the PA module, the system beep stops and the PA beep takes over. After suspending my laptop and resuming again, something strange happens. When I press ctrl-G in a termal (for example) I hear the system beep again, but I also hear the PA beep. And I don't hear it only once. The PA beep goes into an endless repeat loop.

To stop PA from repeating the beep, I can simply start pavucontrol (just starting it is enough).

To get rid of the system beep I have to use "pactl unload-module" and then "pactl load-module" as above.

So my particular problem is probably related to pulseaudio.

Let's please please please fix this if at all possible. However, this is effecting fewer and fewer people, so is not a release blocker atm. Setting to Medium.

Opening Linux task:

<TheMuso> the config item for the kernel CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP somehow got enabled again.
<seb128> pitti, I've a pc beep entry in alsamixer there
<TheMuso> jaunty's kernels have the hda beep disabled, and somehow it got re-enabled for karmic
<TheMuso> So to really really put a clamp on this, we turn it off, once again, in the kernel.
<TheMuso> it was accidentally reverted back in July, but since it didn't bother anyone, we didn't think to check it, but now its causing problems again, we can fix it.
<TheMuso> It was reverted due to some x86/lpia config consolidation.

So it seems to really fix this it needs to be disabled again in the kernel. However, that's a little too late for karmic final, so I propose to take the safe option and just disable the gconf key for keyboard bell by default. That won't help beeps for batteries, or beeps in VTs, but at least fix 80% of the trouble.

Opening Linux task:

<TheMuso> the config item for the kernel CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP somehow got enabled again.
<seb128> pitti, I've a pc beep entry in alsamixer there
<TheMuso> jaunty's kernels have the hda beep disabled, and somehow it got re-enabled for karmic
<TheMuso> So to really really put a clamp on this, we turn it off, once again, in the kernel.
<TheMuso> it was accidentally reverted back in July, but since it didn't bother anyone, we didn't think to check it, but now its causing problems again, we can fix it.
<TheMuso> It was reverted due to some x86/lpia config consolidation.

So it seems to really fix this it needs to be disabled again in the kernel. However, that's a little too late for karmic final, so I propose to take the safe option and just disable the gconf key for keyboard bell by default. That won't help beeps for batteries, or beeps in VTs, but at least fix 80% of the trouble.

<pitti> TheMuso: can/should we do anything about it in alsa? or should I just close that task?
<TheMuso> pitti: We'd be running around like headless chickens if we did it in alsa, since different codecs/revisions of codecs all label it different things.

My problem seems pulseaudio-related. Unfortunately, every time I try to go to the pulseaudio package in lauchpad, all I get is an error page saying that launchpad is having problems.

Today I first resumed the laptop on the train and it worked fine with the themed beep using the module-x11-bell configuration in PA that was active before suspend.

But when I got to work and resumed again (now connected to an external keyboard and screen) something went wrong in PA again. It started beeplooping the sample, and when I triggered a new beep I got the dreaded system beep. And I see this in syslog:

Oct 23 10:48:15 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 89 events suppressed
Oct 23 10:48:20 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 245 events suppressed
Oct 23 10:48:25 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 213 events suppressed
Oct 23 10:48:30 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 214 events suppressed
Oct 23 10:48:38 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 159 events suppressed

I would report this on pulseaudio if Launchpad let me...

Fix uploaded to unapproved.

On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 4:54 AM, David Kågedal <email address hidden> wrote:
> Oct 23 10:48:15 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 89 events suppressed
> Oct 23 10:48:20 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 245 events suppressed
> Oct 23 10:48:25 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 213 events suppressed
> Oct 23 10:48:30 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 214 events suppressed
> Oct 23 10:48:38 krank pulseaudio[2700]: ratelimit.c: 159 events suppressed

Err, no, that's a driver (linux bug) issue with resume, apparently.
It's best to file a separate bug using "ubuntu-bug alsa-base".

This bug was fixed in the package libgnome - 2.28.0-0ubuntu3

---------------
libgnome (2.28.0-0ubuntu3) karmic; urgency=low

  * debian/libgnome2-common.gconf-defaults: Disable keyboard bell mode by
    default. It did not do anything in Jaunty and earlier, because HDA beep
    was disabled in the kernel completely; but now that it is (erroneously)
    enabled again, it produces scary loud beeps. This is a safe workaround to
    at least quiesce it under GNOME. (LP: #77010)

 -- Martin Pitt <email address hidden> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:49:27 +0200

I just uninstalled Ubuntu because of this problem. I installed it this morning, and had been using it in my university classes. I hit backspace too many times and got some scary loud beeps, despite volume being muted. I Googled for advice, and was advised to destroy my PC speaker physically. Some more digging revealed a possible manual change to some configuration file to turn off the beeps. I did the change, and hit Reboot. When shutting down, I got about 10 rapid high-pitched outrageously-loud beeps. Lecture stopped as everyone looked at me for a few seconds in disgust.

I will not boot into that installation of Ubuntu ever, ever again. I'll be back in a few versions, but you can bet I'll be installing it and testing it in a place where loud noises are OK.

Turn off all system beeps, completely, period, every time, all the time, or I'll never be back.

I just uninstalled Ubuntu because of this problem. I installed it this morning, and had been using it in my university classes. I hit backspace too many times and got some scary loud beeps, despite volume being muted. I Googled for advice, and was advised to destroy my PC speaker physically. Some more digging revealed a possible manual change to some configuration file to turn off the beeps. I did the change, and hit Reboot. When shutting down, I got about 10 rapid high-pitched outrageously-loud beeps. Lecture stopped as everyone looked at me for a few seconds in disgust.

I will not boot into that installation of Ubuntu ever, ever again. I'll be back in a few versions, but you can bet I'll be installing it and testing it in a place where loud noises are OK.

Turn off all system beeps, completely, period, every time, all the time, or I'll never be back.

(Also, this form submission didn't work in Google Chrome)

If we are talking about the completion-beep, etc., as described by the original post, SOME OF US WANT IT. I opened a bug report a week or so ago (now fixed) when Karmic started muting the beep on reboot all the time; I had to go in via ALSAMIXER to re-enable the beep after each reboot, and adjust its volume down to about 20% or so (yes, full volume is far too loud).

beandog, the alsa mixer allows beep to be muted and/or the volume controlled.

Gals/Guys, please do not use this bug report as a means to spew
vitriolic bits. This bug report has a clear description, has clearly
identified Karmic tasks, and has clear progress indicators for those
tasks. In other words, it is narrow in scope, we know what's broken,
and we're fixing them.

Please use the ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list to vent, and/or file
a separate bug report. Thanks!

On 23/10/2009 17:51, Noel J. Bergman wrote:
> If we are talking about the completion-beep, etc., as described by the
> original post, SOME OF US WANT IT. I opened a bug report a week or so
> ago (now fixed) when Karmic started muting the beep on reboot all the
> time; I had to go in via ALSAMIXER to re-enable the beep after each
> reboot, and adjust its volume down to about 20% or so (yes, full volume
> is far too loud).
>
>
The beep could be re-enabled by the user if he specifically requires it,
but I've no doubt that by default all beeps should be muted.

Mat

Mat,

> The beep could be re-enabled by the user if he specifically requires it,
> but I've no doubt that by default all beeps should be muted.

In case it wasn't clear, I have no problem with that at all. I only object(ed) when the system changes my settings after I've made them, forcing me to re-do them on each reboot (side effect, I believe, of addressing comment #78). Daniel very quickly fixed that problem, and I've no issue with how karmic is today, nor with the default being set to off.

Also bare in mind that if one re-enables the bell event, that Martin disabled in the fix of libgnome, the beep/bell event is played as a sound event, and once the kernel issue is fixed, it will not be a horrible system screech like many of you have experienced.

Were scary beeping noises reduced for Karmic? I did some testing and the beeping seems to have abated. May I mark the paper cut as fixed?

Seems that this problem is "fixed" by breaking possibility to use pc speaker?
Or is this; https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/398161
unrelated issue?

Seems that this problem is "fixed" by breaking possibility to use pc speaker?
Or is this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/398161
unrelated issue?

I'm still getting the beep on battery low...

> The beep could be re-enabled by the user if he specifically requires it,

How does the user re-enable the PC speaker beep? This user can't figure it out.

The beep is still present - Lucid alpha 1... :(

Is anyone else having this problem or am I the single most unlucky person in the world?

Again, to reproduce on Dell Mini 9:

- let your battery run critically low (> 10%)

- listen carefully :)

This bug is extremely frustrating to me. Every time I get the beep I have to stop working, even though there's still plenty of battery life left. I don't have to mention the potential embarassement that it can cause...

Mat,

right, the linux task is still open. That's where it needs to be fixed for good (need to disable CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP)

Mat,

right, the linux task is still open. That's where it needs to be fixed for good (need to disable CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP)

On Mon, 2009-12-14 at 22:24 +0000, Mat Tomaszewski wrote:

> Again, to reproduce on Dell Mini 9:
>
> - let your battery run critically low (> 10%)
>
> - listen carefully :)
>
> This bug is extremely frustrating to me. Every time I get the beep I
> have to stop working, even though there's still plenty of battery life
> left. I don't have to mention the potential embarassement that it can
> cause...
>
This one almost certainly comes from the Dell BIOS not Ubuntu.

Scott
--
Scott James Remnant
<email address hidden>

@pitti

Thanks, who do I need to poke to get the ball rolling? :)

@keybuk

Hm, are you sure? It wasn't the case on Hardy and Jaunty, and I have never upgraded the BIOS.

> > The beep could be re-enabled by the user if he specifically requires it,
>
> How does the user re-enable the PC speaker beep? This user can't figure it out.

Several of us have been spending a fair amount of time over in bug #486154 trying to figure this out, and we still haven't accomplished it. In fact, we're not entirely sure in what sub-system the PC speaker beep was disabled. Can those responsible for the change *please* stop by and let us know what was changed, so we know what we have to undo?

Pretty please?

We have cookies.

I wiped my system and reinstalled karmic, and this behaviour is gone.
It seems that you have it when you where running karmic during the alpha/beta phases

What happens if some part of the computer overheats? Shouldn't it first beep, and if nothing happens, then shut down?

this bug affects in my ubuntu jaunty installation

This is now fixed in Lucid.

Just to add my two cents: although this has been already mentioned in comment 83 I'd like to add that to mute the "PC Beep", just select it with the arrow keys and press 'm'. Simply setting the volume bars to 0 is *not* enough! This completely solved the issue for me in Lucid on a Dell XPS M1530. (along with blacklisting pcspkr, but that is default now anyway)

Need software for sound please help us....

This bug was opened for a version of the kernel that is no longer supported. If there is a kernel issue w.r.t. this problem on a supported kernel version, please open a new bug.

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

This bug was nominated against a series that is no longer supported, ie karmic. The bug task representing the karmic nomination is being closed as Won't Fix.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

Stumbled over this bug while unblacklisting 'pcspkr' in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf. There was a reference to this bug number.

I hate the beeps for the most part, but unloading the kernel module means the `beep` utility doesn't work. I like to use it for notifications as I only have headphones on my desktop.

This Debian post has a better fix in my opinion: https://www.debianadministration.org/article/110/Removing_annoying_console_beeps

`beep` still works, but terminals and vim don't beep at me.

Here's the link I messed up in the previous post:

https://www.debian-administration.org/article/110/Removing_annoying_console_beeps

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu. Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic) reached end-of-life on April 30, 2011.

See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Please upgrade to the latest version and re-test.

Closed due to no response.