Gnome and KDE seem to have the ability to flash the
screen instead of beeping the PC speaker. To achieve the same
without using Gnome or KDE, or to blink the IBM/Lenovo
ThinkLight, we use the xkebvd tool from X.org. Additionally, we abuse the
xrefresh utility. In Debian and Ubuntu Linux, these tools are contained
in the x11-xkb-utils and
x11-xserver-utils packages.
All that is necessary is to create a file
~/.xkb/xkbevd.cf with the the following content:
Bell() shell "xrefresh -solid white"
Now, make sure that "xset b off" and "xkbevd
-bg" are run at startup of your X session. The first command
deactivates the audible bell, the second command launches
xkbevd to activate the visual bell. Of course, instead
of xrefresh, any other command may be used to emit a
signal. For example, you might use the ThinkAlert tool to
blink the ThinkLight.
Bell() shell "thinkalert 1"
© 2010 René van Bevern. Last modified 2010-03-23.