Arch Linux

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Hi all,

I bought a bluetooth keyboard that let me to switch between different devices.
When I switch from my llinux laptop to my work laptop, the audio on the linux one go in mute, so I have to manually unmute the audio.
Maybe it's a Gnome functionality (?) but I didn't managed how to disable it.

I'm writing in the newbie corner because I'm quite new on linux and especially on arch, thank you in advance to anyone will take care of my problem

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Hello Mr./Mrs. mcluke.
Welcome to Arch Linux world!

There are a lot reasons for your problem. Maybe you need to define your audio card for 'ALSA'.(Audio program)

You can install this tools (You've to use 'yay' package manager. If you don't know what is that, you can see https://www.makeuseof.com/install-and-u … rch-linux/. It's easy!):

yay -S asoundconf

For better management, you can use:

sudo pacman -S alsa-utils

Okay, now you are able to see your cards:

asoundconf list

Set your Card, using:

asoundconf set-default-card <your-card>

You can get information using 'amixer':

amixer sget Master

Unmute it!:

amixer sset Master unmute

For pulesaudio, You can edit '/etc/pulse/default.pa'. (I use 'vim', you can use 'nano' or whatever you like!):

sudo vim /etc/pulse/default.pa

Find this line in file:

# load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0

It's a comment. Remove '#' sign in the line.
And restart pulseaudio.

pulseaudio -k; pulseaudio -D

It usually works, but if it doesn't, tell us.

Use Arch and have fun !

Last edited by Paradoxer32 (2023-09-14 08:41:15)

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Hi, thanks for your welcome!

I followed your step but the issue is still there.
When I switch the keyboard to the other laptop (basically, the bluetooth device is disconnected), the audio goes into mute.

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Could you post output of:

arecord -l

And output of:

amixer

Last edited by Paradoxer32 (2023-09-14 09:08:46)

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

output of arecord -l

**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC255 Analog [ALC255 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

output of amixer

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 65536
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 30148 [46%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 30148 [46%] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch cswitch-joined
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 65536
  Front Left: Capture 17948 [27%] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 17948 [27%] [on]

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Output of:

cat /etc/pulse/default.pa | grep hw

Output of:

bluetoothctl show

Output of:

amixer | grep -i mute

Last edited by Paradoxer32 (2023-09-14 09:26:58)

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Output of cat /etc/pulse/default.pa | grep hw :

load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0

Output of bluetoothctl show:

Controller D4:6D:6D:59:9C:1D (public)
	Name: arch-swift3
	Alias: arch-swift3
	Class: 0x007c010c (8126732)
	Powered: yes
	Discoverable: no
	DiscoverableTimeout: 0x000000b4 (180)
	Pairable: no
	UUID: Message Notification Se.. (00001133-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: A/V Remote Control        (0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: OBEX Object Push          (00001105-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Message Access Server     (00001132-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: PnP Information           (00001200-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: IrMC Sync                 (00001104-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Vendor specific           (00005005-0000-1000-8000-0002ee000001)
	UUID: Headset                   (00001108-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: A/V Remote Control Target (0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Generic Attribute Profile (00001801-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Phonebook Access Server   (0000112f-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Audio Sink                (0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Device Information        (0000180a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Generic Access Profile    (00001800-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Handsfree Audio Gateway   (0000111f-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: Audio Source              (0000110a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	UUID: OBEX File Transfer        (00001106-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
	Modalias: usb:v1D6Bp0246d0545
	Discovering: no
	Roles: central
	Roles: peripheral
Advertising Features:
	ActiveInstances: 0x00 (0)
	SupportedInstances: 0x05 (5)
	SupportedIncludes: tx-power
	SupportedIncludes: appearance
	SupportedIncludes: local-name

No output from amixer | grep -i mute

Last edited by mcluke (2023-09-14 09:28:33)

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Sir/ma'am,
You said '...I have to manually unmute the audio...'.
How do you do that ?

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

I press on the function key on the laptop keyboard to turn up the volume and then the audio is unmuted

p.s. I'm a man

Last edited by mcluke (2023-09-14 09:36:31)

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

When is it mute, sir?
After boot?
After change monitor?
After connect to Keyboard?
After ...?

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

When I disconnect my bluetooth keyboard, audio goes in mute.
Actually, I just find out that when I disconnect the keyboard the audio change its state (if it was mute it goes unmute, if it was unmute it goes mute).

Nothing happens when I connect the bluetooth keyboard

Last edited by mcluke (2023-09-14 09:46:55)

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

A dumb solution!
You can use a shell script for auto disconnect and change audio mode!
It's fun.
Create a file called in '/usr/bin'. (I call it 'damnkeyboard'! But you can call it whatever you like!)

sudo touch /usr/bin/damnkeyboard

Now, let's code.

#!/bin/sh
echo "Disconnect keyboard..."
bluetoothctl disconnect <your-device>
echo "Setup again..."
amixer sset Master toggle 1> /dev/null
echo "Done!"

Make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/damnkeyboard

Now, you can disconnect your keyboard, with executing our script:

 [ Me@Host ~ ]$ damnkeyboard 

It's a unusual solution! Try it.

Last edited by Paradoxer32 (2023-09-14 09:57:10)

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Your idea is good, I really appreciate your support.

I was thinking, is there a way to keep a script running that detects when the keyboard is disconnected and unmute the audio?

something like:

was_keyboard_connected = ""
while true:
   is_keyboard_connected = bluetoothctl info my_keyboard | grep -e "Connected: yes"
   if is_keyboard_connected != was_keyboard_connected then:
      was_keyboard_connected = is_keyboard_connected
      if is_keyboard_connected == "" then:
         amixer sset Master toggle 1> /dev/null
      endif
   endif
endwhile

P.S. I made the question but I just realized I can search how to do something like that, you can avoid to answer

Last edited by mcluke (2023-09-14 10:37:47)

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Hello again, sir.
I wrote a python script for you!
You need to write it in your file. (Do you remember '/usr/bin/damnkeyboard'?)
You need to add your keyboard address in 'keyboard_addrs' variable.

#!/usr/bin/env python

keyboad_addrs = "<your-address>"

from sys import stderr
from subprocess import check_output
from os import system

def GetnRun(cmd=''):
    try:
        return check_output(cmd.split(' ')).decode('utf-8')
    except:
        print(f"[ERROR] Something went wrong! Check script and try again!...\n Wrong command: '{cmd}'")
        exit()

def OnlyRun(cmd=''):
    return system(cmd)

print("[LOG] Check bluetooth connection...")
bluestatus = GetnRun('bluetoothctl show')

powered = [i for i in bluestatus.split('\n') if 'Powered' in i][0]

if 'yes' in powered:
    print("[PASS] Bluetooth has already started...")

elif 'no' in powered:
    print("[LOG] Bluetooth is off...")
    print("[LOG] Turn it on...")
    OnlyRun('bluetoothctl power on')

status = GetnRun(f'bluetoothctl info {keyboad_addrs}')

if 'Connected: yes' in status:
    print("[LOG] Keyboard is connected...")
    print("[LOG] Disconnect...")
    OnlyRun(f'bluetoothctl disconnect {keyboad_addrs}')
    print("[LOG] Set audio...")
    OnlyRun(f'amixer sset Master toggle')

else:
    print("[LOG] Keyboard isn't connected...")
    print("[LOG] Connect...")
    OnlyRun(f'bluetoothctl pair {keyboad_addrs}')
    print("[LOG] Trust...")
    OnlyRun(f'bluetoothctl trust {keyboad_addrs}')

Make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/damnkeyboard

So, you can run it, easily! (You need to install 'python'. Easy.)

It works like this:
-> Is bluetooth on? Pass.
-> Is bluetooth off? Turn it on!
-> Is keyboard connected? Disconnect!
-> Is keyboard disconnected? Connect!
Everything is automatic.

I don't have any keyboard for try it.
If  you like it, you can run it and tell me errors for improve it!

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Okay.
You write do what script you like.
I'm happy for helped you.
Have a nice time.
Bye.

Use Arch and have fun !

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

You helped me a lot!
Thank you very much for your effort.

The script is a workaround but doesn't properly solve the issue, I wanted to disable the feature where the audio toggle when the bluetooth keyboard is disconnected.
I keep the topic open

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Hello, again, Mr. mcluke.

I think I got what's your problem, actually.
I think when you disconnect your keyboard, your keyboard automatically presses 'F1'. (Which a function key for audio toggle!)
I don't know is it a bug in your keyboard, your linux-firmware or it's a usual configuration for your keyboard.

A solution is this:
You can disable your function keys. But, don't worry! I mean your 'action' of function keys.
For example:
'F1' means 'audio toggle'.
'F2' means 'volume down'.
'F3' means 'volume up'.
etc.

After disable their action, 'F1' only means 'F1',  'F2' only means 'F2', 'F3' only means 'F3'.
And you can't manage your monitor birghtness using 'F11' and 'F12', etc.

But it isn't really bad. You can use their alternatives.
For example, if you want to be pro, you can use your own shortcut keys for your actions. (I think you use 'Gnome'.)
Or you can use terminal or additional softwares. They can make you more professional than ever.
e.g. for manage your brightness you can use 'brightnessctl' in your terminal, etc.

After that, it depends what do you want to do with your keyboard?

Have a nice time.

mcluke

Member

Registered: 2021-05-19

Posts: 15

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

Actually you could be right.
To be sure what you're saying it's true, is there a way to make keyboard logging?
In order to understand if the keyboard send the mute signal when I disconnect it.

I'm using gnome 44.4 on wayland

Paradoxer32

Member

Registered: 2023-09-12

Posts: 17

Re: Audio going mute after bluetooth keyboard disconnecting on GNOME

I'm not sure about that. (Because I don't use Gnome or Wayland.)
But you can search about that.

We've two good tools for check keyboard keys.
-> Screenkey:
https://snapcraft.io/install/screenkey/arch
-> Key-mon:
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/key-mon?O=40
-> Useful forums:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1197651 … -real-time
https://superuser.com/questions/248517/ … d-in-linux