How to run Puppy 5.2 with no system sounds, but audio on

[pupkb]

Puppy 5.2 is very cute to see but I need to boot and run it in a rather serious and silent working environment (without the barks etc.).
How can I do this?

(I'm tempted to delete the sound files in the shared directory, but I'm new to Linux, I would not want to cause malfunction through broken links/job commands etc.)

Could I replace the sound files with other "blank" files of the same name?

It seems to me there should be a system dialog box where you could mute system sounds, while keeping audio on, I just have not found it?

The sounds I need to silence are only the system sounds/alerts etc., I still want to keep audio functionality on for when needed (watching videos etc.).
[Btw I would like as well to load Puppy without the splash screen upon booting.]

[pa_mcclamrock]

I didn't even know Puppy had system sounds. That's because I keep my speakers turned off except when I'm actually going to play audio.

If that simple solution isn't available to you . . . probably the next best solution would be to mute the volume with a mixer program when you don't want sound, and turn the volume back up when you do. You can use Alsamixer which is built into Puppy, or sGmixer (attached to this message), which is even easier to use. Presumably it would also be possible to replace the sound files with blank ones that wouldn't do anything when invoked, but why bother if you don't have to?

As for the splash screen, that's in a file called "logo16" on your Puppy CD. You could see what happens if you just burn a CD that doesn't have "logo16" on it, or has a blank file substituted for the one with the big dog, and try to boot from that CD. I haven't tried it, though, so I don't know for sure what would happen. At worst, it wouldn't work and you'd have to put up with the big dog for a second or two at each boot.

Your questions, however, make me wonder whether you're trying to conceal the fact that you're using Puppy from someone. If that "someone" is a system administrator at work, the concealment probably won't work, and the system administrator will probably then become peeved, as system administrators tend to do when employees run unauthorized software on their systems. Plus, if you're using Puppy instead of doing the work you're supposed to be doing, your supervisor probably won't approve either, to say the least.

[pupkb]

The desktop clearly shows Puppy Lucid running, the boot splash screen is not needed.

I'm using Puppy for hardware work, so glad it has gparted.
I've installed it on a booting flashdrive, I'm waiting for a more decisive answer on the advisability of deleting/replacing the sound files before tampering with them. I don't have time or money for CD's, and don't have spare flashdrives either.

In Windows you can manage those sporadic, unintended system sounds/alerts totally separately from using audio at will for playing music when you want to. I'm looking only to permanently stop those barking alerts etc. which I do not need and don't compliment me when I'm working on a client computer. I remember seeing a dialog in Puppy where you could choose the system sounds, but it did not have the [none] option, and I'm not sure the booting sound was included, that one might come from the boot setup, unless I'm wrong and it only comes up when the auto-login is done, which then would make it part of the other OS/system sounds.

I don't want to disable sound all over. I need to hear the boot code beeps, for one thing! and to test the sound card etc.

Thanks for the mixer link. I'm not up there yet as for audio software, totally newbie Can it be used like Winamp in Windows, to listen to streaming music, like, online radio?

[bigpup]

This may be your answer
http://208.109.22.214/puppy/viewtopic.p ... 20017c9a75

[pa_mcclamrock]

Thanks for the mixer link. I'm not up there yet as for audio software, totally newbie Can it be used like Winamp in Windows, to listen to streaming music, like, online radio?

There's a multimedia app called PupRadio built into Puppy 5.2, which may be what you're looking for there (I haven't tried it, though).

[pupkb]

This may be your answer
http://208.109.22.214/puppy/viewtopic.p ... 20017c9a75

Thanks - I'm afraid the original participants in that post might no longer follow it, and also, actually my goal is somewhat different from the thread originator too. So I hope to get an answer here.

First I'll need to locate all the OS-sound-system files.
Kal wrote in the post you quoted:
"The location of the sound files are at /usr/share/audio".
I expect he meant the OS-sound-system files, not (or, in addition to,) one's own music files.

Then I'll need to change them.
Kal wrote:
"Just sym link another sound file there, replace the original one by renaming the new one to the original's name."
So the process of changing the target sound files would work.

Next, I'll need to make changes for events to use their changed target file.
Example: Kal wrote:
"For the trash sound file it's in /usr/local/apps/Trash, right click for menu and use "Look Inside", there is a symbolic link "systemmsg.wav" that points to the sound file you want played."

If all the events have a .wav symbolic link to the audio/sound files directory, i.e. all the target files for the symbolic links are there, I only need to have 1 dummy sound file placed there, "playing" a half-second silence, and then I need to edit all the links to point to it?
But how could I find all those .wav symlinks quickly? Is there a global search I can do in Puppy 5.2, that is equivalent to searching *.wav in Windows?

Or else, I could simply overwrite all the .wav files in the audio directory one by one with a copy-over/rename from the dummy file etc. so they would end up with their original name, but contain no sound.

Can anyone help me find a blank, silent, half-second long dummy .wav sound file?
Or, can I just rename a small .txt file with the .wav extension to create the dummy (now unplayable) target sound file, and the system will ignore the error of not being able to play it, and continue working OK?

[rjbrewer]

I have a few puppys on usb.
Used bootflash to install them.

On first bootup;

go to /usr/share/audio,
drag audio folder to trash,
r-click, empty trash.

Reboot, make a save file; the barks will be gone after reboot.

Does not affect normal sound operation, just removes the small
wav sound effects files.

Bios beep code sounds come from the motherboard beeper, not
the sound card.

[pupkb]

It was great to read a confirmation that simply deleting the sound files will not cause problems elsewhere in the system.
Sorry for being so new to this but I could not see what was meant by
"go to /usr/share/audio", i.e. how to do it as intended.?

I loaded Roxio, but no luck, I could not delete files.

I installed Wine as offered by Puppy, and deleted the files.
But I had to do them 1 by 1, isn't there an option to group them for deletion?
If not,
what file manager would be closest to the functionality of Windows Explorer?

In the meantime,
Thanks -- the distracting event-sounds are gone, I can work quietly.
I'm glad that all those thwarted event links did NOT raise their heads!
...

[rjbrewer]

It was great to read a confirmation that simply deleting the sound files will not cause problems elsewhere in the system.
Sorry for being so new to this but I could not see what was meant by
"go to /usr/share/audio", i.e. how to do it as intended.?

I loaded Roxio, but no luck, I could not delete files.

I installed Wine as offered by Puppy, and deleted the files.
But I had to do them 1 by 1, isn't there an option to group them for deletion?
If not,
what file manager would be closest to the functionality of Windows Explorer?

In the meantime,
Thanks -- the distracting event-sounds are gone, I can work quietly.
I'm glad that all those thwarted event links did NOT raise their heads!
...

Roxio? Explorer? Wine?

I thought you were trying to run Puppy???

In Puppy; click the little house in upper left corner (Roxfiler).
Click the green arrow; /usr/share/audio; follow my previous directions.

[pupkb]

>>> I could not see what was meant by
"go to /usr/share/audio", i.e. how to do it as intended.?

as I wrote above, I tried.
Yes I would rather learn how to use the kernel, but in this case,
not being able to,
I looked in the menu, and in the file utilities Roxio showed up.
I did not install it, it came in the distro.
I don't have to use wine,
can you
__show me how to do this: go to /usr/share/audio ?
__tell me which Puppy program makes it possible to delete a group of files all at once, without deleting the directory they are in?
If there isn't one, which Linux file explorer program can be installed?

[Indy]

Hi pupkb, try these steps:

Click on: Menu > Filesystem > File Managers > ROX-filer file manager (to run the ROX file manager)

In ROX-filer, click on the green up arrow (at top left. This brings you to the top of the directory tree, or "/")

Click on usr (to go to /usr)

Click on share (to go to /usr/share)

Click on audio (to go to /usr/share/audio. You're now at your target directory.)

Keypress: CTRL and a, together (this selects all the files within the /usr/share/audio directory)

Keypress: CTRL and x, together (this will bring up a Delete confirmation window)

Click on Quiet (bottom right. This will delete all the highlighted files, that is, all the files inside /usr/share/audio without deleting the directory itself).

All done.

[pupkb]

Hi pupkb, try these steps: ...
.

(P.S. I remembered wrong about Roxio, it was Rox indeed)

Thanks for very practical & detailed help, like being there!

Could you show me how to install a driver?
It's for a USB wifi NIC.
In Windows I have to run the setup file before I plug it in.
How do I proceed to install it in Linux, and when should I plug it in?
the driver filename for Linux ends in .tar.bz2
not sure what's inside, and whether there are several files in it or not.
If you can't answer in this thread, please let me know if I have to start a new thread.
Thanks!

[sfeeley]

I'd start with just plugging it in: once before booting. If that doesn't work, once after booting.
-- you would be surprised at how many drivers are already included.

If that doesn't work, its probably worth a new thread (since these also serve as references for other people later)

[nooby]

I agree with pupkb that when we who are used to Puppy give advice we need to see Puppy from the eyes of the new user. But that is not easy, not easy even to me who are a perennial nooby always forgetting how to do things.

I still struggle with the sound thing. Sure I got to silence them now in LHP but have no idea if I also silences something else

[pupkb]

I'd start with just plugging it in: once before booting. If that doesn't work, once after booting.
-- you would be surprised at how many drivers are already included.

If that doesn't work, its probably worth a new thread (since these also serve as references for other people later)

You were right.
I plugged it in before booting.
Then I clicked the connect icon and the device showed up.
I clicked on it and it connected OK to the internet.
There was something weird though in the device list but I'll pursue it in another thread.

[pupkb]

I still struggle with the sound thing. Sure I got to silence them now in LHP but have no idea if I also silences something else

In my experience, deleting all the sound files in the usr/share/audiio directory did not prevent me from hearing streaming music.
If you want to check streaming audio here is a link provided earlier in this thread:

There's a multimedia app called PupRadio built into Puppy 5.2

I tried it, you can simply click on one of the stations arleady showing, in the list, like BBC, and if your hear it (after a possible lag of a few seconds), your installation and sound card are OK.

I do have a problem, unrelated to the sound files, where the sound only plays thru the internal speakers, I can't get it to play through the headpone jack (which works pefectly well in XP) .
It's on an old HP laptop, NC4000, the sound card is an ADI SoundMax.
Unless someone has a quick answer to this, I guess that may warrant another thread.
Btw, I do not intermix the 2 OS, I either boot from HDD in Windows, or, from a flashdrive in Puppy.

[pupkb]

I still struggle with the sound thing.

Do you mean that you can't hear music?
I was worried when I could hear streaming music only through the internal speaker, but then I installed Skype and got it to sound through the headset, so I guess one needs to choose the device to use within the software.
I haven't been able to do that though with the streaming software yet, but I was wondering if you might have tried to hear music through the wrong device, if you can't hear it?

[sfeeley]

try right clicking the speaker icon (bottom right) and then click full window.

There are different volume sliders there and check boxes to turn different speakers, inputs, and outputs on and off. You might experiment with that and see if you get your desired result.

[increa]

Is there a configuration option to turn off the audio bark that happens whenever I delete a file to the trash icon on the desktop?