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The Important Stuff: Getting It and Setting It Up

You can download the latest version here.

For installation details, see the file INSTALL in the archive, or look here.

News about the module (such as there is) is here.

If you're a developer, you can find the SourceForge project page and the CVS repository here.

About The Kernel Beep Module

Ever since I switched my primary desktop to Linux, I've been frustrated by the circa-1970s console beep.  Every other modern operating system lets you replace the beep with a more aesthetically-pleasing alternative.  To add insult to injury, it uses the (truly hideous) PC speaker, which doesn't allow you to control or mute the volume - unless you're one of the lucky ones who has a sound card that lets you wire the speaker to it.

Well, I went looking for a kernel patch/module/whatever to replace the horrible beep.  All I wanted was a simple "play a .wav"-type of solution.  Instead, I found a lot of solutions which seemed quite a bit more complex than what I needed, and (at the same time) restrictive in the options that you had available on a beep, or on what kind of sound card you had.

So, frustration yields invention.  I wrote my own solution to the problem, and now am making it available to others who are (possibly) equally as frustrated.  Since I recently installed Linux 2.6, that's what the solution ended up being implemented for.

I don't pretend for a second that it's the "best possible" solution in the world.  I also don't pretend that it's bug-free.  What I do say is that it seems to work on my system, and is relatively simple in implementation.

The Good

• Requires only a small patch to your vanilla kernel.  The rest is in a kernel module.  If the module isn't loaded, the original beep prevails.
• Provides a fairly generic hook into userspace.  It really doesn't matter if you use ALSA, ESD, aRTS, or whatever.  If you can code it, the beep module can do it when the beep is due.  I use ALSA, so that's what I've included as an example.  I'll include scripts for other sound systems, if someone provides them.

The Bad

• If you don't have a 2.6.x kernel, it won't work.  If someone wants to modify it so that it works on older kernels, you know where the code is, just send the changes back to me :)
• It's not an "automatic install" sort of thing.  You do have to patch your kernel (which means recompiling it), and you do have to code your userspace hook (unless you use straight ALSA like I do).  Eventually, it would be nice to have it work that way, but I can't see skipping the kernel recompile any time in the near future.

The Ugly

• If you don't have a vanilla kernel, it might not work.  Then again, it probably will.  The patch is very small.  It's highly likely to apply cleanly anyway.  But, if it doesn't, you're pretty much on your own.  I can't possibly support every kernel variant out there.
• I'm no kernel guru, so getting it to build both as a module and compiled straight into the kernel is beyond my (admitedly limited) kernel knowledge at the moment.  I went for the module approach, because it doesn't require patching kbuild.  Again, if you want to submit the code to make it work either way, send it to me and I'll likely put it in.

Documentation

Installation

BEWARE: There be dragons here!  Well, dragon hatchlings, at least.

Unfortunately, since this is a kernel module, and involves patching your kernel, installation is not your regular "configure", "make", "make install" dance.

Step 1: Patching the Kernel

There is a patch file called beep-kernel-2.6.2.patch.  If you don't know how to patch and rebuild your kernel, this topic is way beyond the scope of this documentation, so I'd suggest taking a look at this for starters.

This patch is against a vanilla 2.6.2 kernel.  It's a simple patch, though, and should probably apply against just about any flavour of 2.6 kernel.  I can't guarantee it, though.  If it doesn't apply cleanly, open the patch with your favourite editor, and make the changes in the patch to drivers/char/keyboard.c in your kernel source directory.

Once you've applied the patch and rebuilt your kernel, reboot into your brand new beep-enabled kernel.  You should notice that nothing has changed.  Yet.

Step 2: Installing the Beep Module

Change to the directory you untarred the beep-module source and type:

A brand new beep.ko should be created for you, if everything goes well.

Then, as root, type:

And the module should be installed into your module directory.

Step 3: Creating the Beep Userspace Handler

You will need to create a program, /sbin/beep, that the beep handler runs whenever it needs to beep.  I've included my beep handler (copy it to /sbin/beep) and sound (copy it to /usr/share/sounds/beep.wav) in the examples directory.  I use ALSA, so if you do as well, this should suffice.  If you use something else, or want your beeps to go through the regular sound daemon on your system (ESD, aRTS, JACK, etc.), you'll need to create your own script.

If you come up with a script and I don't have it, you might want to send it to me.  Who knows, I might make the installation smart enough to install the right script automatically for you in a future version.

Step 4: Entering the World of Beeps

Now, once everything is in place, type (as root):

Do something that would normally make the irritating noise. You should get whatever you made your /sbin/beep script do.

Type (again as root):

and everything should be back to the way it once was.

You might want to make the beep module load whenever your sound card is loaded up, by editing modprobe.conf, or you might want to load it in an init script.  I do the former.

Enjoy!

FAQ

There is no FAQ, as yet.  I hope everything is covered in the install notes and in the README.

Known Bugs

None, at this exact moment.  Of course, that could mostly be due to the fact that AFAIK I'm the only one using it.

News

March 13, 2004

I finally got it all bundled up, and (hopefully) working.  I even made this (albeit rudimentary) webpage.

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Last updated Tuesday, March 16, 2004
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