Hitting the accent key causes system beep

It sounds like you're also in the international keyboard mode, where the accent key places accents over vowel characters without needing to do anything special. So when you try to write "can't" the system attempts to put an accent over the 't', which obviously doesn't work.

The solution is to hit the accent key twice, and then continue typing. If this bothers you and you can't figure out how to change it in the settings, let us know and we'll reopen the bug. Thanks

I know this isn't the best argument, but why not do the same as Windows does? If the accent can't be placed (in international mode) it's written seperate.
There's the same for the ^ key, I've to hit it two times to get the char "^" which is annoying especially in instant messaging. And in this case the user is definitely used to pressing it twice.
I don't know if this is special to the international mode, I'm using a german keyboard.

I'm pretty sure the accent twice situation only occurs when you're not in international mode. I know that on my keyboard, I have to double-hit accents if I'm in international mode, but I'm also able to type accented characters, which I can't in normal mode.

I'm redirecting this bug to the kernel, since I think that's where keyboard presses are handled.

What do you mean with "international mode"? I just set up my keyboard to be an "international keyboard" with a german keymap. Perhaps this is also an X11-related issue.

International mode is what makes the accent key "special" on my keyboard. What's the output of `setxkbmap -print` on your system? Kubuntu makes the keyboard layout really easy to change with a little system tray applet.

I don't know if Ubuntu does the same.

xkb_keymap {
        xkb_keycodes { include "xfree86+aliases(qwertz)" };
        xkb_types { include "complete" };
        xkb_compat { include "complete" };
        xkb_symbols { include "pc(pc105)+de+level3(ralt_switch)" };
        xkb_geometry { include "pc(pc105)" };
};

I didn't change any settings. IMHO there's just a clear behaviour in almost any other OSses, including other linux distros and Windows.
Hitting the accent key with an unsupported key afterwards will print e.g. 't
Hitting the "^" key with an unsupported key afterwards will print e.g. ^e, or in my case ^^
Users who have worked with a computer before will expect this, since it's also very logical behaviour. Ubuntu shouldn't break with such standards.

I agree with you, I'm just not proficient enough in development to make this sort of change. Hopefully someone who is will be able to make such a change.

Cross your fingers!

I am assigning this bug to the 'ubuntu-kernel-team' per their bug policy. For future reference you can learn more about their bug policy at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies .

The 18 month support period for Edgy Eft 6.10 has reached it's end of life. As a result, we are closing the linux-source-2.6.17 Edgy Eft kernel task.

Hardy Heron 8.04 was recently released. It would be helpful if you could test the new release and verify if this is still an issue - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . You should be able to test your bug using the LiveCD. Please let us know your results. Thanks.

Yes, it does

Ubuntu (as well as other distros) still use the system speaker if something unexpected happens.
Why isn't this changed? The system speaker sounds "ugly", and people expect to hear sound from the speakers connected through the sound card.

Ok, set it as confirmed.
Please someone set "wishlist" as Importance.

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

Still the case with intrepid :(
I don't intend to sound rude or something, I really like ubuntu, but why do the developers don't see this "bug" by themselves?
I mean why does ubuntu use the system speaker which is so loud and ugly as a notification? Every time I want to shutdown it beeps, when I press backspace in an empty list box...and so on
It should play the selected "warning" or "error" sound through the sound card. This thing has been there for ages, and IMHO is no "wishlist-item" :(

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

SO what ever happened to this? I'm having the problem on 9.04 on my Pavilion notebook, what annoys me the most is that it makes this sound every time you shut down the computer (not sure why), but it's as loud as the system speaker is set.