Arch Linux

Lalabird

Member

Registered: 2026-02-19

Posts: 12

(SOLVED) xbindkeys stopped working, strange error with wpctl

Hello, I've added the following to my ~/.xbindkeysrc and it worked when I initially did it but now a few restarts later no more, and I'm unsure what to do. xbindkeys -s shows the keys as active. The commands that are bound work though I'm getting an unusual error. Posting ~/.xbindkeysrc and the errors. I'm less worried about the errors because they don't seem to stop the commands functioning. Thank you kindly.

[hexbeak@hex ~]$ wpctl set-volume -l 1.5 @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ .05+
W 01:00:32.843971             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:330:translate_error: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown
W 01:00:32.844001             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:995:do_rtkit_setup: RTKit does not give us MaxRealtimePriority, using 1
W 01:00:32.844041             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:330:translate_error: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown
W 01:00:32.844044             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:1000:do_rtkit_setup: RTKit does not give us MinNiceLevel, using 0
W 01:00:32.844081             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:330:translate_error: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown
W 01:00:32.844084             mod.rt ../pipewire/src/modules/module-rt.c:1005:do_rtkit_setup: RTKit does not give us RTTimeUSecMax, using -1

# volume keys user added
# increase volume
"wpctl set-volume -l 1.5 @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%+"
  XF86AudioRaiseVolume

# decrease volume
"wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%-"
  XF86AudioLowerVolume

# mute volume
"wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ toggle"
  XF86AudioMute

# mute microphone
"wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SOURCE@ toggle"
  XF86AudioMicMute

Last edited by Lalabird (2026-02-27 18:26:11)

seth

Member

From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,360

Re: (SOLVED) xbindkeys stopped working, strange error with wpctl

This hos nothing to do w/ the shortcut (as evidenced by the manual invocation) - you're either lacking https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/rtkit/ or the daemon fails to start (you'd have to lookup the service status and maybe journal for why)
Since realtime priorities are not critical (and esp. not for changing the volume) the command will still work. The main consequences would be audio artifacts (crackling) under load.

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

Lalabird

Member

Registered: 2026-02-19

Posts: 12

Re: (SOLVED) xbindkeys stopped working, strange error with wpctl

I did not have rtkit so I installed it and started the rtkit-daemon with "sudo systemctl enable --now rtkit-daemon" and using systemctl status I can verify that it's running. Then I got it added to startup and all works. Thank you kindly.