Arch Linux

zencefil

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 27

[SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

Hi everyone,

I installed Arch on my Thinkpad X301 some days ago. Today, I switched from ALSA to OSS - mostly because I was hoping the annoying beep would go away, which didn't happen, but I might try some more.
With ALSA, I had my keyboard multimedia keys (volume up/volume down/mute) configured in the Xfce4 keyboard settings tool, inserting the commands ("amixer set master mute" etc.)

For OSS, the OSS wiki page suggests to use the ossvol script, but it has disappeared from the AUR.
Other explanations work with xbindkeys.

But do I really need to install anything else to make this work? Isn't there simply a command like "oss set master mute" I can insert into the Xfce keyboard settings, like it worked with ALSA? I looked for "OSS commands" but I think I'm looking the wrong way...

Any help will be appreciated!

Last edited by zencefil (2015-10-23 20:56:53)

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

You can get the PKGBUILD for ossvol at the aur-archive.  The upstream git is here

But why change from alsa to oss?  What is the annoying beep that you hear?  When do you hear it?

zencefil

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 27

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

Hi,
thanks for the link.
So you think it's not possible without ossvol?

I get the beep when navigating in the filesystem and hitting the end of a directory or using the backspace key to move higher in the hierarchy.
In the meantime, I found out I can disable it with the command "xset -b"
Tried to make that permanent by creating ~/.xprofile which contains the command, but no effect yet. Maybe I need to create /etc/xprofile too?

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

You can read the script and try manually if you wish https://github.com/ghost1227/ossvol/blob/master/ossvol
I like scripts as I can add a notify send on vol changes or mute/unmute. 

Do you use a login manager or do you start X through xinit?  If you start via xinit, why not add 'xset -b' to the .xinitrc prior to the exec line?  I'm not sure if all login managers read the .xprofile or even /etc/xprofile.  You'll have to check that.  You can get your login manager to run 'xset -b' upon starting of X though.

Tutti

Member

Registered: 2015-02-26

Posts: 117

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

Sounds like the pc-speaker, have you read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Di … eaker_beep? in addition to xset it discusses other methods to disable it.

zencefil

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 27

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

@Tutti: yes I read that page, I understood "disable pc speakers" means to disable the built-in speakers completely, which I don't want because I listen to music through them a lot.

@frank604:nice, I'll try finding the commands I'm looking for in the script.
I'm not using Xinit at the moment, I log in through bash, then 'startxfce4' manually if I need it.

So anyone knows why my ~/.xprofile and /etc/xprofile files apparently aren't processed by x at startup?

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

I've never used xprofile but try using .xinitrc and run startx to start x.  see if that resolves your issue

zencefil

Member

Registered: 2015-10-20

Posts: 27

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

I ended up using the commands suggested by rusty99 in this thread. Configured the volume-up and volume-down buttons, the mute button somehow configured itself

I'm not sure not whether I should mark the topic as solved (my initial question as stated in the post title has been answered), or to include the 'beep' topic in the title. I thought the problems might be connected but it turned out they're not...

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: [SOLVED] Sound: OSS + multimedia keys

Well the topic is solved.  Feel free to open a new thread about the other issue.  You can add a link to this thread into the OP of new thread.