Windows - Can console output inadvertently cause a system beep?

Question

I have a C# console application that logs a lot to the console (using Trace). Some of the stuff it logs is the compressed representation of a network message (so a lot of that is rendered as funky non-alphabetic characters).

I'm getting system beeps every so often while the application is running. Is it possible that some "text" I am writing to the console is causing them?

(By system beep, I mean from the low-tech speaker inside the PC case, not any kind of Windows sound scheme WAV)

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If so, is there any way to disable it for my application? I want to be able to output any possible text without the it being interpreted as a sound request.

Answer 1

That's usually caused by outputting character code 7, CTRL-G, which is the BEL (bell) character.

The first thing I normally do when buying a new computer or motherboard is to ensure the wire from the motherboard to the speaker is not connected. I haven't used the speaker since the days of Commander Keen (and removing that wire is the best OS-agnostic way of stopping the sound :-).

Answer 2

absolutely, if you output ASCII control code "Bell" (0x7) to a console, it beeps.

Answer 3

\b in output string will cause beep, if not disabled on the OS level.

Answer 4

If you don't want if to beep, you'll either have to replace the 0x7 character before outputting it, or disable the "Beep" device driver, which you'll find in the Non-Plug and Play Drivers section, visible if you turn on the Show Hidden Devices option. Or take the speaker out.

Answer 5

Thank you all for the confirmations - how can I avoid this without inspecting everything before it's logged?

Answer 6

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound

set the "Beep" key to "no".