Posted by Steve on Fri 18 Mar 2005 at 16:06
One thing that has often annoyed me about most typical Linux installations I've seen has been the annoying frequency of console beeps.
Take GNU Bash for example, my installation is setup so that I can save typing and complete filenames, directories, and command line arguments merely by pressing the TAB key. However when I type an unambigious word it beeps at me.
For the case of bash specifically I can disable this by running:
echo 'set bell-style none' >> ~/.inputrc
(This actually affects all programs that use GNU Readline).
However this does nothing to stop other programs, such as GNU Screen from also making beep noises.
However there is a simple solution to remove console beeps completely, for all programs.
Within the X11 Window SystemFrom the system consoleTo remove all console beeps whilst running X you should execute:
xset b offThis disables the console beep for all programs.
To remove all console beeps whilst running from the system console execute:
setterm -blength 0This disables the console beep for all programs, by setting the "beep length" to zero.
Each of these commands will allow you to alter other things too, and have useful and interesting man pages. To view them use one of the following commands:
man xset man setterm
This article can be found online at the Debian Administration website at the following bookmarkable URL:
This article is copyright 2005 Steve - please ask for permission to republish or translate.