[SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 16:57:08

I just upgraded to BL RC2 and now my volume buttons on my Thinkpad T500 laptop do not work at all. They previously worked with RC1 - volume-up and volume-down worked fine on RC1 but are not working on RC2. Anyone else having this issue and have any solutions? Thank you!

Last edited by hilltopyodeler (2016-03-06 20:45:03)

damo · 2016-03-06 16:59:08

Lots of forum posts about volume buttons. Have you searched yet?

Sticky HowTo: Getting Sound working in BL

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 17:22:05

Yes, the search in this forum keeps turning up "Your search returned no hits" for all of my searches. I've searched for "volume buttons", "volume buttons not working", and "volume keys". I'm selecting both the Bug Reports and also the Basic Help & Support forums. No luck. I'm aware of the mute button issue, but have not experienced the volume-up/down issue before.

Thank you!

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 17:23:59

Also, my audio works fine. The graphical volume-slider control works fine. It's my volume buttons that don't work.

xaos52 · 2016-03-06 17:31:54

Search for 'keybinds and volume'

pvsage · 2016-03-06 18:44:47

If I may humbly recommend some of my keybindings:
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 2047#p2047

EDIT: If you have multimedia keys on your keyboard, it may be simply a matter of enabling the xf86* keys in the panel.

Last edited by pvsage (2016-03-06 18:46:12)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 18:58:18

You can place these keybinds in ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml just after line 321:
https://gist.github.com/Head-on-a-Stick … 8c59a3a273

Then save the file and run `openbox --reconfigure`

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 18:59:53

I added the XF86 lines to my rc.xml file and restarted Openbox without success - no luck.

<keybind key="XF86AudioRaiseVolume">
      <action name="Execute">
        <command>amixer sset Master,0 5+</command>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioLowerVolume">
      <action name="Execute">
        <command>amixer sset Master,0 5-</command>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioMute">
      <action name="Execute">
        <command>amixer sset Master,0 toggle</command>
      </action>
</keybind>

I also tried using "set" instead of "sset" with no luck.
Something else that's interesting is that if I have Terminator open at the time when I press on my volume buttons, all of the text within my terminal goes dim. I tried this with other applications open and it only seems to do it with Terminator. Weird.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 19:00:45

hilltopyodeler wrote:

I also tried using "set" instead of "sset" with no luck

Those commands don't work with PulseAudio, try my versions instead

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 19:12:40

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

You can place these keybinds in ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml just after line 321:
https://gist.github.com/Head-on-a-Stick … 8c59a3a273
Then save the file and run `openbox --reconfigure`

I tried your keybindings but with no success. I've posted my rc.xml file here: http://pastebin.com/kd5ge5JU

I also tried pvsage's version without success. Other than the addition of the volume keybindings, my rc.xml file is just the vanilla version from BL RC2.

Last edited by hilltopyodeler (2016-03-06 19:13:49)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 19:16:19

Do the `amixer` commands work as expected if you run them through a terminal window?

Perhaps try logging out & back in again.

Right-click on the volume icon in the systray and select "Preferences" → "Keyboard" → uncheck the "Enable multimedia keys" box.

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 19:35:37

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Do the `amixer` commands work as expected if you run them through a terminal window?
Perhaps try logging out & back in again.
Right-click on the volume icon in the systray and select "Preferences" → "Keyboard" → uncheck the "Enable multimedia keys" box.

I tried all of the above. Yes, the 'amixer' commands work as expected if run as terminal commands.

Logout/in did not do anything for me.

"Enable multimedia keys" was already unchecked to begin with. I tried checking the box to see if it would change anything (it didn't). I unchecked the box again and no changes.

I'm not sure where to go from here - this sure is strange...

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 19:38:37

Try:

sudo apt install x11-utils
xev

Then press your volume keys and see if there is any output in the terminal window.

My firmware ("BIOS") sometimes deactivates my multimedia keys and they don't show up in `xev`

Check your firmware menus for any function-key-related options.

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 19:51:19

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Try:
sudo apt install x11-utils
xev
Then press your volume keys and see if there is any output in the terminal window.
My firmware ("BIOS") sometimes deactivates my multimedia keys and they don't show up in `xev`
Check your firmware menus for any function-key-related options.

Apparently x11-utils is already installed on my machine and I have the latest version. When I executed 'xev' and pressed the volume buttons (vol-up, vol-down, mute), I received the following output:

FocusOut event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

FocusIn event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor

KeymapNotify event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   2   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

FocusOut event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

FocusIn event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor

KeymapNotify event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   2   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

KeyRelease event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    root 0x85, subw 0x0, time 4895982, (-689,-112), root:(388,222),
    state 0x0, keycode 121 (keysym 0x1008ff12, XF86AudioMute), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 19:56:33

^ So your mute key is registering but the volume keys are not, very strange

Try killing the volume key daemon:

pkill xfce4-volumed

What happens if you check the "Enable multimedia keys" box in the volume icon preferences dialogue?

Do your keys work then?

hilltopyodeler · 2016-03-06 20:16:21

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

^ So your mute key is registering but the volume keys are not, very strange
Try killing the volume key daemon:
pkill xfce4-volumed
What happens if you check the "Enable multimedia keys" box in the volume icon preferences dialogue?
Do your keys work then?

THIS WORKED!

I rebooted and things are still working. I no longer get the opaque visual volume increase/decrease indicator that appears in the upper right corner in RC1 when the volume buttons are pressed, but that's ok. All three buttons now seem to be working properly.

RC2 has been interesting so far. Some apps like mplayer and ffmpeg don't want to install due to dependency issues. Seems like a step backwards in some ways. Hope I can work out the various issues.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND HELP!!!

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-03-06 20:30:10

hilltopyodeler wrote:

Some apps like mplayer and ffmpeg don't want to install due to dependency issues.

ffmpeg is now available from the Debian jessie-backports repository:
https://packages.debian.org/jessie-backports/ffmpeg

Run `bl-welcome` and answer "yes" when it asks if you want the official Debian jessie-backports to be added then install it with:

sudo apt install ffmpeg/jessie-backports

mplayer is in the regular Debian repositories and there should be no problems installing it.

Please open a new thread for this problem and include the output of the following command in the OP:

grep -v '^#\|^$' /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d/*};apt-cache policy

Please also include the full output of `apt install -s mplayer`

huuhaa · 2016-11-17 13:27:05

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

^ So your mute key is registering but the volume keys are not, very strange
Try killing the volume key daemon:
pkill xfce4-volumed
What happens if you check the "Enable multimedia keys" box in the volume icon preferences dialogue?
Do your keys work then?

I've got same problem. Same solution helps (killing xfce4-volumed and enabling volumekeys behind volume icon...). BUT after reboot I have to do that all over again. What is best way to keep this functions working after reboot?

PS. I've got latest updates installed so not exactly same version as in title I quess.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-11-17 20:50:39

huuhaa wrote:

Same solution helps (killing xfce4-volumed and enabling volumekeys behind volume icon...). BUT after reboot I have to do that all over again. What is best way to keep this functions working after reboot?

Try this guide to replace volti with volumeicon-alsa and remove xfce4-volumed completely:

https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=2266

This will be the stock setup for the next release.

huuhaa · 2016-11-21 12:57:09

Thanks!! That work like a charm!

#1 2016-03-06 16:57:08

[SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#2 2016-03-06 16:59:08

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#3 2016-03-06 17:22:05

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#4 2016-03-06 17:23:59

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#5 2016-03-06 17:31:54

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#6 2016-03-06 18:44:47

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#7 2016-03-06 18:58:18

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#8 2016-03-06 18:59:53

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#9 2016-03-06 19:00:45

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#10 2016-03-06 19:12:40

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#11 2016-03-06 19:16:19

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#12 2016-03-06 19:35:37

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#13 2016-03-06 19:38:37

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#14 2016-03-06 19:51:19

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#15 2016-03-06 19:56:33

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#16 2016-03-06 20:16:21

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#17 2016-03-06 20:30:10

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#18 2016-11-17 13:27:05

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#19 2016-11-17 20:50:39

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

#20 2016-11-21 12:57:09

Re: [SOLVED] Volume Buttons Not Working in RC2

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