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View Full Version : [xubuntu] Problem with alarm functions



Esme Moore
December 29th, 2009, 07:33 AM
Hello! I hope this post is in the correct place, apologies if not. I use Xubuntu on both a zonbu desktop (running 8.10 currently - will be moving to 9.10 soon) and an Acer Aspire One netbook (running 9.10 I have tried the netbook desktop, but prefer the usual Xfce one).

One problem I find is that it seems to be very difficult to set an audible alarm that is guaranteed to work in what I'd regard as 'normal use'.

I quite often set a music player (I currently use rhythmbox) to play a little music as I go to sleep (I have a favourite ambient album that I tend to select). I'd then like an audible alarm to wake me up in the morning (I've been trying Orage recently)

Problems I've encountered in the past over the years (I was originally using Kubuntu on normal desktop PCs, then moved to Xubuntu for better performance; this has, of course, been a good choice for when I switched to low-power PCs like the zonbu and a netbook) have included things like the music application sending me off to sleep preventing the alarm program from playing sound, or the alarm volume being radically different from that of the music player, but in general I don;t know exactly what the problem was - all I know is that the only times I've ever been able to get an audible wake-up alarm to work is if there have been no sound-using applications already open prior to the alarm being invoked, and that volume control on alarms has been problematic (Orage could really use a 'sound test' and volume control!).

I really don't mind quite what the solution is, so long as it's a user-friendly one. Having an alarm function added to Rhythmbox perhaps? But whatever it is, it needs to allow for the fact that my PC is used for a variety of tasks, and that whilst setting something up once in a while via command line might be viable, doing so on a regular basis isn't.

My experience level is best described as 'mixed' - I've used Linux for years, and am not afraid of the command line (though I'm only at a basic level using it), but much prefer - and expect to use - the GUI in the same way as I can wire a mains plug, but I don't expect to have to do so every darned time I want to plug something into the mains. A solution that meant constant command-line usage would be one I'd regard as 'functional, but impractical, and not viable in everyday use'.