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<title>System Bell</title>
<articleinfo>
<authorgroup>
<author><firstname>Pat</firstname><surname>Dowler</surname></author>
<author><firstname>Matthias</firstname><surname>Hoelzer</surname></author>
<author><firstname>Mike</firstname><surname>McBride</surname></author>

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</authorgroup>
<date>2009-11-18</date>
<releaseinfo>4.4</releaseinfo>
<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>Bell</keyword>
<keyword>Systemsettings</keyword>
<keyword>Notifications</keyword>
</keywordset>
</articleinfo>

<para>The system bell or beep is a feature of the X server, which
attempts to make good use of the available hardware. </para>

<para>&kde; normally does not use the system bell; instead using its
own system notifications, which could include log entries, message
popups, or its own beep.  You can configure these in the
<guilabel>Manage Notifications</guilabel> &systemsettings; module.</para>

<note><para>It is not always possible for the X server to actually make
a beep sound with exactly the parameters selected due to hardware
limitations. For example, on most PCs, volume control is not very good
so the X server seems to fake low volume with a reduced duration of
the sound. Thus, if the settings do not seem to do anything, this is
because the X server and/or the hardware do not support anything
better.</para></note>

<para> Select <guilabel>Use system bell instead of system notification</guilabel>
then you are able to set the following parameters for the bell:</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Volume</guilabel> (percentage of <quote>maximum</quote> volume)</term>
<listitem><para>Here you can customize the volume of the system bell. For further 
customization of the bell, see the <guilabel>Accessibility</guilabel> &systemsettings; module.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pitch</guilabel> (in Hz)</term>
<listitem><para>Here you can customize the pitch of the system bell. For further 
customization of the bell, see the <guilabel>Accessibility</guilabel> &systemsettings; module.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Duration</guilabel> (in milliseconds)</term>
<listitem><para>Here you can customize the duration of the system bell. For further 
customization of the bell, see the <guilabel>Accessibility</guilabel> &systemsettings; module.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<para>You can use the <guibutton>Test</guibutton> button to hear how
the current settings will sound.</para>

</article>