Arch Linux

colsandurz

Member

Registered: 2009-08-07

Posts: 11

Volume Keys on Laptop

I've got a Thinkpad X1 Carbon, the mute key works but the volume up and down keys don't.  I can adjust the volume from the system tray fine.

I can use xev to verify button presses work:

KeyRelease event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x4a00001,
    root 0x9e, subw 0x0, time 3274958, (166,-7), root:(1032,16),
    state 0x0, keycode 123 (keysym 0x1008ff13, XF86AudioRaiseVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x4a00001,
    root 0x9e, subw 0x0, time 3275814, (166,-7), root:(1032,16),
    state 0x0, keycode 122 (keysym 0x1008ff11, XF86AudioLowerVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

I have pulse audio and ALSA installed.  I'm using KDE with the phonon backend.  I suspect this issue is due to some package not being installed or some config issue.  Any tips?

Here's a relevant (?) list of package I have installed

alsa-lib 1.0.28-1
alsa-plugins 1.0.28-2
alsa-utils 1.0.28-1
pulseaudio-alsa 2-3
zita-alsa-pcmi 0.2.0-1
[dk-thinkpad devin ~]$ sudo pacman -Q | grep -i pulse
libpulse 5.0-1
pulseaudio 5.0-1
pulseaudio-alsa 2-3
pulseaudio-ctl 1.49-1
[dk-thinkpad devin ~]$ sudo pacman -Q | grep -i phonon
phonon-qt4 4.8.3-1
phonon-qt4-vlc 0.8.2-1
phonon-qt5 4.8.3-1
phonon-qt5-vlc 0.8.2-1

starbreaker

Member

From: Harrisburg, PA

Registered: 2014-11-30

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

Is your KDE environment configured to recognize your volume keys and do the right thing when you hit those keys?

---

Matthew Graybosch
matthewgraybosch.com (personal) | starbreakerseries.com (my epic SF series)
"I ain't got a drinking problem. I got a doing stupid shit when I'm drunk problem." --Edmund Cohen

colsandurz

Member

Registered: 2009-08-07

Posts: 11

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

Keybindings are set for KMix for Up/Down/Mute under "Global Keyboard Shortcuts."  I'm not sure if that means KDE is configured correctly though.  Is there anywhere else I can check that?

starbreaker

Member

From: Harrisburg, PA

Registered: 2014-11-30

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

Keybindings are set for KMix for Up/Down/Mute under "Global Keyboard Shortcuts."  I'm not sure if that means KDE is configured correctly though.  Is there anywhere else I can check that?

They might not be the right keybindings. Try changing them to your keys.

---

Matthew Graybosch
matthewgraybosch.com (personal) | starbreakerseries.com (my epic SF series)
"I ain't got a drinking problem. I got a doing stupid shit when I'm drunk problem." --Edmund Cohen

colsandurz

Member

Registered: 2009-08-07

Posts: 11

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

I already done that, I should have mentioned that.

starbreaker

Member

From: Harrisburg, PA

Registered: 2014-11-30

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

I already done that, I should have mentioned that.

Dumb question: Are you sure you've got phonon set up properly? KDE has this phonon library that sits on top of ALSA/PulseAudio. If it isn't set up properly, that might be why your volume keys aren't doing anything useful.

---

Matthew Graybosch
matthewgraybosch.com (personal) | starbreakerseries.com (my epic SF series)
"I ain't got a drinking problem. I got a doing stupid shit when I'm drunk problem." --Edmund Cohen

colsandurz

Member

Registered: 2009-08-07

Posts: 11

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

I have no idea... I can't figure out how to configure phonon.  The wiki doesn't have much info on configuring phonon.

These are the packages I have:

sudo pacman -sS phonon
[sudo] password for devin: 
extra/phonon-qt4 4.8.3-1 [installed]
    The multimedia framework for KDE4
extra/phonon-qt4-gstreamer 4.8.1-1
    Phonon GStreamer backend for Qt4
extra/phonon-qt4-vlc 0.8.2-1 [installed]
    Phonon VLC backend for Qt4
extra/phonon-qt5 4.8.3-1 [installed]
    The multimedia framework for KF5
extra/phonon-qt5-gstreamer 4.8.1-1
    Phonon GStreamer backend for Qt5
extra/phonon-qt5-vlc 0.8.2-1 [installed]
    Phonon VLC backend for Qt5

starbreaker

Member

From: Harrisburg, PA

Registered: 2014-11-30

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

Here's another dumb question: since you're using the phonon-qt5-vlc backend, did you also make sure to install vlc? If so, then maybe this link will help. You might have to remap XF86AudioLowerVolume, XF86AudioRaoseVolume, and XF86AudioMute.

Otherwise, I got nothing. Sorry if it doesn't work out.

---

Matthew Graybosch
matthewgraybosch.com (personal) | starbreakerseries.com (my epic SF series)
"I ain't got a drinking problem. I got a doing stupid shit when I'm drunk problem." --Edmund Cohen

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,104

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

Volume keys in kmix only affect the master channel, did you set kmix correctly so that it applies volume changes to the correct device? somewhere in kmix settings you can change which it should treat as your master (there are chances that it defaults to hdmi or the like instead of internal soundcard or vice versa), to configure phonon you can check KDE Systemsettings --> Multimedia (or smth) but that shouldn't have any bearing on volume, that's handled by kmix.

colsandurz

Member

Registered: 2009-08-07

Posts: 11

Re: Volume Keys on Laptop

OK, so I did have VLC installed and I tried remapping those keys without success.

I have two options for settings the master device, I tried each without luck.

I do have three playback devices listed "pulse", "alsa" and "jack" (in that order).  Does that mean anything?