Re: Adding a bleep - How do I?

["L. C. Robinson" <lcr cyberhighway net>]

Should the following be added to the FAQ?:

Question: How do I get a login prompt on my serial terminal (synth)?
Question: How do I get a bell or beep at the login prompt?

Answer: Put a line in /etc/inittab similar to the following (for
com2):

S1:12345:respawn:/usr/sbin/mgetty ttyS1

Then add the following to the /etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config
file:

# ***** start of mgetty.config entry *****
port ttyS1
  direct YES
	speed 9600
  # Make sure no escape sequences from vendor issue files will
  # interfere with the bell:
  issue-file \n\P @
  login-prompt Enter your login name: \g
  # login-time SECS
  toggle-dtr n
# ***** end of mgetty.config entry -- cut here ******

If you don't have mgetty installed, install it.  Note that the
login prompt and beep will not appear until you press enter.

Here's a simple solution for the default getty_ps package used on
RedHat (mgetty is also shipped with redhat): add the following line
to /etc/conf.getty (create it, if necessary):

ISSUE=\07

This replaces the /etc/issue file (or add the '\07' to the
/etc/issue file --  Warning: RedHat rewrites /etc/issue at each
bootup).

My testing showed that this worked on a serial terminal, but the
console visually prints a diamond shaped character on the main
monitor (mgetty works better in this respect).  I tried putting the
"\07" in the gettydefs file, in the issue file, and in
conf.getty.S1 -- all with the same result: it works on a serial
terminal, but not on the console.

Most of the more than 5 different getty programs in present use
have provisions for customization of the login prompt, including
adding a beep, possibly by using an escape sequence like "\07".
Check the documentation for your version of getty and gettydefs.

End of proposed FAQ entry.

Better yet, maybe listers with different versions of getty can
contribute the right strategy for their version of getty.

Effective clearing of the screen is terminal type dependent,
so a general solution for that is very tricky prior to login.

Best wishes, LCR

On Mon, 28 Jun 1999, Georgina Joyce wrote:

> The suse flavour doesn't clear the screen at the login prompt as
> RH does.  Therefore, I wondered if I could tell it to bleep, when
> the login prompt is displayed?

-- 
L. C. Robinson
reply to lcr cyberhighway net

People buy MicroShaft for compatibility, but get incompatibility and
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out how MS holds your data hostage with "The *Lens*"; see
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