Comment # 10 on bug 1200544 from GDPR Deletion

Something seems "unstable" if I may use that term. This morning I got
xbiff sound. Then I put these lines into my .xinit file:

# Set bell: 20% volume, 4000 Hz, 6 ms duration.
pactl upload-sample /usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/bell.oga \
                    bell-window-system
pactl load-module module-x11-bell display=$DISPLAY
xset b 20 4000 6

This evening, xbiff is dead silent. Not sure what made it work
once this morning (first try didn't seem to work, though now I'm
unsure if it was just retrying that made things work).

Sorry, this is not very helpful. Alsa, Pulse and Linux sound in 
general is rather complex.

Ole