How to change the global notification sound?

gadgetrants

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Sep 22, 2010
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Not sure how to change the default sound (we don't have a sound options setting, yet), but I have done it for Gmail: open Gmail -> Menu -> Settings. Under Notification Settings, in white it says "Select ringtone" which allows you to change your "You've got mail!" sound.

If you're rooted, and have an app like Root Explorer that allows you to change file permissions, you can also add new sounds (I added the "Drrrooooiiid" notification sound from my phone):

(1) Find the sound file you want (in OGG format) and put on your microSD card
(2) With the card in your NC, navigate to the sound file and using your file manager (e.g., Root Explorer) make a copy
(3) Navigate to /system/media/audio/notifications and mount the folder as R/W (in Root Explorer, just toggle the button at the top)
(4) Paste the file into the notifications folder
(5) Check the permissions on the file (long press -> Permissions with Root Explorer) and set them to: Read = User/Group/Others, Write = User, all others off
(6) Make sure to unmount the folder (turn off R/W access)

Now if you navigate in Gmail back to the Select ringtone option, your new sound will be there!

-Matt
 

rico2001

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2010
1,599
266
Until we have a working AOSP settings or a Custom rom notification sounds must be changed manually within the file system. To do this we must rename the default sound file to something else, then swap the notification file with the one we want.

Using Root Explorer or comparable file browser make your way to "/system/media/audio/notifications".

The default notification sound file is "OnTheHunt.ogg".

Rename this file to "OnTheHunt.ogg.old" and rename a different sound file to "OnTheHunt.ogg"

Enjoy!
[HOWTO] Change notification Sound - xda-developers
 

tigersgt

Member
Dec 9, 2010
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0
Thanks guys! This is so helpful. By the way, any idea where to download some "human voice" notification sounds?
 

gadgetrants

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Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
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Thanks guys! This is so helpful. By the way, any idea where to download some "human voice" notification sounds?
FWIW I'm a big fan of BonkEncoder, which I guess is now called fre:ac audio converter:

fre:ac - free audio converter

The reason why is--among other things--it will easily convert your sound files to OGG (ogg vorbis), which is apparently the format for Android system sounds. So one option is to record your own sounds and use those.

Now, regarding "human voice"...what exactly were you thinking of...? :rolleyes:

-Matt
 

gadgetrants

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
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Anyone know how to have the default notification sound changed?
Oh, kind of a minor footnote but: our NC is set up with two gmail accounts, and I noticed that if you go into settings and change the notification sound for one account, it has no effect on the other. So essentially our NC makes two different sounds when mail arrives, depending on whose account it is. :eek: It's like a nerd's dream come true.

-Matt
 
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