No sound with Emacs 23.1.1 on Ubuntu 9.10

[Joe Casadonte]

I installed Emacs 23.1.1 via apt-get under Ubuntu 9.10, and it doesn't
generate any sounds (e.g. C-g does not make it go "beep"). Sound does
work on the computer (e.g. CDs and YouTube and such). Any ideas?
Thanks!

--
Regards,

joe
Joe Casadonte
jcasa...@northbound-train.com

[Óscar Fuentes]

Joe Casadonte <jcasa...@northbound-train.com> writes:

> I installed Emacs 23.1.1 via apt-get under Ubuntu 9.10, and it doesn't
> generate any sounds (e.g. C-g does not make it go "beep"). Sound does
> work on the computer (e.g. CDs and YouTube and such). Any ideas?

IIRC, there was a problem with (K)ubuntu 9.10 and the PC buzzer, because
now it is emulated by default. IIRC again, you need some alsamixer
tweak. A quick Internet seach for "alsamixer ubuntu beep pc" returned
this:

http://friendlytechninja.com/2009/10/16/howto-fix-alert-system-beep-in-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala/

HTH

--
Óscar

[Joe Casadonte]

On Dec 31 2009, 6:03 pm, "B. T. Raven" <ni...@nihilo.net> wrote:

> Look at variable visible-bell via C-h v. If this is non-nil you might
> get a frame-flash instead of a ding.

Thanks, but it's 'nil'

[Joe Casadonte]

On Dec 31 2009, 11:52 pm, Óscar Fuentes <o...@wanadoo.es> wrote:

> http://friendlytechninja.com/2009/10/16/howto-fix-alert-system-beep-i...

That's like the opposite problem; I can't get mine to turn on, they
can get theirs to turn off :)

[Joe Casadonte]

On Jan 1, 7:41 pm, "B. T. Raven" <ni...@nihilo.net> wrote:

> If you position cursor after
>
> (ding)
>
> in *scratch* and evaluate with
>
> C-x C-e do you hear anything?

Sadly -- nothing.

[Joe Casadonte]

Evidently in 9.10 the PC speaker is disabled by default:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/karmic/+source/linux/+bug/77010

Why they "solved" this issue by disabling the speaker is beyond me;
like many others, I feel the real solution is to let Gnome deal with
the sound. That would be a way better default behavior, IMHO.

So, to get the behavior I desired (turn on the beep but replace it
with a gentler sound) I did the following:

Edit the /etc/pulse/default.pa file and add the following lines at the
bottom of the file:

load-sample drip-ogg /usr/share/sounds/gnome/default/alerts/
drip.ogg
load-module module-x11-bell sample=drip-ogg

Then add the following lines to my ~/.bashrc file:

xset b on
pactl load-module module-x11-bell sample=drip-ogg >/dev/null

The result is a pleasing system alert sound that's available pre-
login, and the same pleasing system sound available post-login, but
only after I've brought up a terminal window (which I nearly always do
first thing anyway).

The "xset b on" turns the alert sound back on, and the "pactl" line
replaces it with a more pleasing sound. I haven't yet figured out how
to do the "xset" bit globally (putting it in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
didn't work for me), nor have I figured out a way to do without it
(simply commenting out the "pcspkr" line in /etc/modprobe.d/
blacklist.conf didn't do it).

Occasionally I get both the system beep and my more pleasing sound
both happening at once; when it does happen, simply re-running the
"pactl" line fixes the issue (which I can do by opening up another
terminal window). It's not an ideal solution, but it works well enough
for me. I hope this helps someone else!