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Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound System
It's possible to create an alert sound that flashes the screen instead of making an actual sound. This earlier hint advises using mute and Universal Access' flash screen feature. However, it is possible set up flash screen as an alert, which then becomes selectable in the System Preferences -> Sound -> Sound Effects tab. When done in this manner, sound can stay on for music, movies, etc.

All one has to do is make a broken alias, and Mac OS X will flash the screen when it would have played the sound. The flash is the same as in Universal Access -- I imagine this inadvertent feature is the result of defensive programming on Apple's part.

A walkthru:
  1. Open a new Finder window, pointing to ~/Library/Sounds (create the Sounds folder if necessary).
  2. Open another Finder window, pointing to /System/Library/Sounds.
  3. Select Sosumi.aiff from the System folder and drag into the Sounds folder window. This will automatically make a copy, as you don't have permission to move items from the System folder.
  4. Close the /System/Library/Sounds window.
  5. In the ~/Library/Sounds window, select Sosumi.aiff, then choose Make Alias from the File menu. The default name for the alias will be Sosumi.aiff alias, and it will be selected and ready to rename. So, rename it to something appropriate like flash_screen.aiff or flash.aiff.
  6. Select the Sosumi.aiff file in ~/Library/Sounds and drag it into the trash.
  7. Empty the trash.
  8. Quit System Preferences if it's running, then start it and go to the Sound -> Sound Effects tab. You should now see Flash as a custom alert sound, and as a new mail sound in Mail.app, and other places).
Just in case it's necessary to say this, one should note that one should not be root when doing this.
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Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: metiure on Jan 24, '07 10:59:29AM

it works! Congrats!



[ Reply to This | # ]
No need for all those steps
Authored by: PCheese on Jan 24, '07 01:21:44PM

There's a much easier way to get this working. You don't specifically need a broken alias; any non-sound item in the Sounds folder will do it, such as a blank text file or even a folder. I would rewrite this hint like so:

1. Navigate to ~/Library/Sounds (create the folder if it does not yet exist).

2. Create a new folder within the Sounds folder and name it "Flash Screen.aiff"

3. Quit System Preferences if it's running, then start it and go to the Sound -> Sound Effects tab. You should now see Flash Screen as a custom alert sound, and as a new mail sound in Mail.app, and other places).

Note that when you re-enter the Sound preference pane, the Flash Screen option may no longer appear to be selected. However, your Flash Screen selection will stick unless, of course, you then select a different sound.

Also, I was unable to get the Flash Screen alert to work in Mail with either method. It shows up as an alert sound in Mail's preferences (only when the folder name ends with .aiff), but I get no auditory or visual feedback when new mail arrives.



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Re: No need for all those steps
Authored by: jiclark on Jan 24, '07 02:44:00PM

I can confirm that this works, and is a bit easier. I used TextEdit to save a plain text file, with one space in it, as Flash Screen.aiff. I got the usual dialog about the file extension not being recommended, but just hit "use .aiff" anyway, and it works like a charm.

It's a bit easier than the original hint, but very cool either way!



[ Reply to This | # ]
Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: garydr on Jan 25, '07 02:07:28PM

I tried this and while it flashes the screen in both System prefernces Alerts and iCal Alarm, iCal doesn't remember the setting for the alarm. After I set "flash" as my Alarm and observe the flash, when i come back later to look at the setting for this event, the alarm has switched to something else. Any ideas?



[ Reply to This | # ]
'flash screen' w/ iCal
Authored by: d.j.l. on Feb 03, '07 02:25:36AM

Actually, that's better than what happened when I tried, it crashed iCal.
And kept crashing it until I dragged the flash_screen.aiff out of the folder,
then it switched to funk.
If system alert is set to flash and alarm is set to open file, it can open
an applescript application that beeps. beep in applescript triggers the alert.
Maybe 3 beeps would be better == 3 flashes.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: eldonhenley on Jan 30, '07 03:59:57PM

it works for ichat, itunes, etc... but when i use it in Mail as my 'new mail sound', it doesn't work. Any thoughts? I've tried doing it the old way and the revised way, neither have worked w/ Mail.
(Please email me at eldonhenley@gmail.com w/ a reply if you don't mind.)

---
-Sammy



[ Reply to This | # ]
Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: d.j.l. on Feb 03, '07 01:27:58AM

Seems, I jumped the gun on whether it works in Mail.app, sorry about that. Mail shows it as an option, but it does nothing.

I discovered this more than a year ago, and only just now took the time to make a hint. I thought I had tried other things, but I guess I did not.
So, it does not have to be broken alias, creating an empty file called "flash_screen.aiff" via touch in terminal or text edit does the trick.
(Thanks to everyone who pointed that out.)

It also seems like when alert is set to flash this way, no sound is played when adjusting the volume slider in the menu bar or in preferences. This is something I noticed when walking through the steps again to make the hint. Sometimes it will play basso, but it seem to be fix itself after a logout/login.



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Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: aerodr on Sep 29, '08 12:59:28PM

I implemented this hint shortly after it was posted last year (thanks d.j.l.), but the functionality must have disappeared in a system update somewhere along the way and now I can't reproduce the functionality in 10.5.5. Has anyone gotten the flashes to work under the latest update?



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Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: Grum on Dec 16, '08 12:41:08PM

As a new mac user I'm unsure how the original screen flash looked like, yet I did find a similar option in: System Preferences > Universal Access > Hearing and then turn on 'Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs'.



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Create a custom 'flash screen' alert sound
Authored by: darndog on Dec 16, '08 05:03:21PM

Why not just set the alert volume to zero in the System Sound prefs and turn on screen flash in Universal Access?

Music, DVD's play normally, Alerts are silent with a flash, no hacking required.



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