Stopping Ubuntu Beeps During Computer Shutdown

So sometimes, randomly, when I shut down my new Dell Vostro 1720 using Kubuntu 9.10 I would get about three seconds of non-stop beeping from the computer. I've found I wasn't alone. There are lots of people having this issue, and there are a handful of common suggestions that sometimes work and sometimes don't. They didn't work for me. So I had to dig deeper.

I finally noticed that when the beeping would start the screen would show an error from modem-manager, a "code 15". I don't have a modem or use a modem. So I ran the following command to remove modem-manager:

sudo apt-get purge modem-manager

So far, so good. I've rebooted about a dozen times with no beeping. I'll keep everyone up to date.