LF Tip: Don't beep at me

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SystemAdministration

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Guido really likes it when a computer is tailored to his needs and looks like he wants it. That's why he is using Linux.

Abstract:

This is a small tip. From now on LinuxFocus will have at least one new tip every month. If you have some ideas for a new tip then send them to guido("at" sign)linuxfocus.org

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Introduction

I absolutly hate it when a computer beeps at me. I use frequently tab-completion in the shell to save some typing and I can't stand it when it beeps all the time.

So here is an instruction how to get quickly rid of the beep. To test it you can just press crtl-g in a shell if you here a beep then it is still on.

Beep globally off

In a plain linux console (no graphical X11) you can turn the beep off with the command:

setterm -blength 0

#alternatively you can change the frequency of the beep to a 
#very low value:

setterm -bfreq 10

When working under X11 (no matter if KDE, Gnome, XFCE, or ... is used) you turn off the beep with:

xset b off

Beep off on a per shell basis

Alternativley you can turn off the beep directly in the shell.

Bash:

# has to go into /etc/inputrc or .inputrc 
# It will not work in a .bashrc file!
set bell-style none

Tcsh:

# put this into your .tcshrc file

# just tab completion beep off:
set matchbeep = never
# any beep off:
set nobeep = 1

Conclusion

To avoid any misunderstanding: The above instructions just turn off the beep. You can still listen to music on your PC.

Enjoy the silence!