HOWTO: Control volume without any tray mixer (i.e. kmix)

[mvdan]

Imagine you want to control your system's Master volume (or any other channel), as you would normally do it with gnome's ALSA mixer or Kmix, but you want to save RAM or you don't want to be running those processes on the background.

What we'll do is use two keyboard shortcuts to Rise and Lower the Master channel (general volume), making use of the amixer command-line tool.

Step 1: What DE do you use? Do you know how to add a new keyboard shortcut?

Gnome/KDE - In preferences (or in the Control Center) you'll find the Keyboard Shortcuts configuration GUI.

Xfce - In Settings > Keyboard > Application Shortcuts you'll find the GUI.

LXDE (openbox) - You can add a line in ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml - Run: (vi/vim text editor for experienced users)

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nano ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml

Fluxbox - You can add a line in ~/.fluxbox/keys - Run: (vi/vim text editor for experienced users)

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nano ~/.fluxbox/keys

Step 2: Which keys are we going to use?

If we're going to use Gnome, KDE or Xfce, we don't have to worry about it. The GUI will pick up the key combination when adding the keyboard shortcut.

If we're going to use Openbox (LXDE) or Fluxbox, we'll write the key combinations manually. If we want to use a special key (apart from letters, numbers, signs and combiantion keys like Control or Shift), we can use xev. How? Just run it:

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xev

And then press the button and look at the terminal output. Then look at the part that says "keycode XXX" and take note of the number.

We can also use the command showkey. More information in the Debian wiki page keyboard multimedia key codes. There's also some multimedia keys information in this tutorial.
(Note: keycodes for special keys has only been tested and proved under Fluxbox and Openbox this far; if anybody could test it under any other WM I would be very grateful)

Step 3: Adding the two new keyboard shortcuts

The two commands are going to be the same under any Desktop Environment or Window Manager.

To rise the volume (Master, by 5%)

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amixer set Master 5%+

To lower the volume (Master, by 5%)

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amixer set Master 5%-

Note: We can also use the Mute command with a keyboard shortcut:

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amixer set Master toggle

Now, to create the two new keyboard shortcuts:

Gnome/KDE/Xfce - Add two new keyboard shortcuts as shown in step 1 and paste the two commands to execute, respectively. Enter the key or key combination that you want, by doing it when asked to do so.

Openbox (LXDE) - We'll add the two keyboard shortcuts as stated in step 1:

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nano ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml

And we'll add the following: (this is the template, you'll change the keybind)

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<keybind key="keybind">
  <action name="Rise Master by 5%">
    <command>amixer set Master 5%+</command>
  </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="keybind">
  <action name="Lower Master by 5%">
    <command>amixer set Master 5%-</command>
  </action>
</keybind>

Note: Remember that CTRL is C, ALT is A, SHIFT is S, SUPER (or Windows) is W and to separate your keystrokes by a dash (-).

Here is an example:

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<keybind key="C-S-x">
  <action name="Rise Master by 5%">
    <command>amixer set Master 5%+</command>
  </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="C-S-z">
  <action name="Lower Master by 5%">
    <command>amixer set Master 5%-</command>
  </action>
</keybind>

More info about openbox keyboard shortcuts here.

Fluxbox - We'll add the two keyboard shortcuts as stated in step 1:

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nano ~/.fluxbox/keys

And we'll add the following: (this is the template, you'll change the keybind)

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Key1 Key2 Key3 :Exec amixer set Master 5%+
Key4 Key5 Key6 :Exec amixer set Master 5%-

Note: Remember that CTRL is Control, ALT is Mod1, SHIFT is Shift, SUPER (or Windows) is Mod4 and to separate your keystrokes by a space ( )
Here is an example:

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Mod4 r :Exec amixer set Master 5%+ ## Rise master volume by 5%
122 :Exec amixer set Master 5%- ## Lower master volume by 5% (special key - using xev)

Step 4: Reboot and try it

Frequently asked questions: (will be filled up with questions asked on comments)


That's it, guys. I hope you like it. So far, this has been fully tested under Fluxbox and Openbox. If you try it under any other DE/WM and it works, please let me know. I am also open to any suggestions or corrections and improvements upon my work.

[handheldCar]

Thanks, Daniel, this inspired me to see if I could use my keyboard volume knob to change the volume as it did in KDE, and I succeeded in Fluxbox. To reproduce, you'll need to know your keyboard multimedia key codes first. That page alone may work for you, but it didn't for me; so I went to the Fluxbox key file (~/.fluxbox/keys). I found a section for "volume settings, using common keycodes", and I put in my values for raise, lower, and mute. After I restarted Fluxbox, I was very happy to see them having an effect in alsamixer. I had to change "Master" to "PCM", too. I also have keycodes for HomePage, Mail, AudioNext, AudioPlay, AudioPrev and Sleep, but I didn't see a section for them in ~/.fluxbox/keys.

[mvdan]

Thanks, Daniel, this inspired me to see if I could use my keyboard volume knob to change the volume as it did in KDE, and I succeeded in Fluxbox. To reproduce, you'll need to know your keyboard multimedia key codes first. That page alone may work for you, but it didn't for me; so I went to the Fluxbox key file (~/.fluxbox/keys). I found a section for "volume settings, using common keycodes", and I put in my values for raise, lower, and mute. After I restarted Fluxbox, I was very happy to see them having an effect in alsamixer. I had to change "Master" to "PCM", too. I also have keycodes for HomePage, Mail, AudioNext, AudioPlay, AudioPrev and Sleep, but I didn't see a section for them in ~/.fluxbox/keys.

Thanks for the heads up!

[handheldCar]

I just found this xbindkeys tutorial for other multimedia keys, and now I'm opening Icedove with the push of a button.

[secipolla]

It works fine with Openbox/LXDE.
http://openbox.org/wiki/Help:Bindings#Key_combination
For instance, mine:

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    <keybind key="W-KP_Divide">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>aumix -v -5</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-KP_Multiply">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>aumix -v +5</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>

There's also an app to edit keyboard shortcuts in Openbox at http://code.google.com/p/obkey/

[mvdan]

I just found this xbindkeys tutorial for other multimedia keys, and now I'm opening Icedove with the push of a button.

Thanks, added

It works fine with Openbox/LXDE.
http://openbox.org/wiki/Help:Bindings#Key_combination
For instance, mine:

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    <keybind key="W-KP_Divide">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>aumix -v -5</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-KP_Multiply">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>aumix -v +5</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>

There's also an app to edit keyboard shortcuts in Openbox at http://code.google.com/p/obkey/

Thanks for testing it and for the openbox tutos!

[handheldCar]

As seen on Arch Linux Forums, we can add a volume knob just by using its key name, i.e. XF86AudioLowerVolume, so this is how I did mine:

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    <!-- Keybindings for Volume -->
    <keybind key="XF86AudioMute">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>amixer set Headphone toggle</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioLowerVolume">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>amixer set Headphone 1.5dB-</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioRaiseVolume">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>amixer set Headphone 1.5dB+</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>

You might have to replace "Headphone" with "Master". As for the other multimedia keys such as previous, stop, play/pause and next, they are pretty straight-forward for each program and only take a few minutes to Scroogle unless you use VLC. Based on this CrunchBang Linux Forums post, I set up my keys like this:

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    <!-- Keybindings for Playback -->
    <keybind key="XF86AudioPlay">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>wget -q -t 1 -O - http://127.0.0.1:8080/?control=pause</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioPrev">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>wget -q -t 1 -O - http://127.0.0.1:8080/?control=previous</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioNext">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>wget -q -t 1 -O - http://127.0.0.1:8080/?control=next</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="XF86AudioStop">
      <action name="Execute">
        <execute>wget -q -t 1 -O - http://127.0.0.1:8080/?control=stop</execute>
      </action>
    </keybind>

Yes, you can control VLC through URLs, but first you have to set it up and restart VLC. That setting is at Tools, Preferences, All settings, Interface, Main Interfaces and HTTP remote control interface. The wget options mean quiet, one time, and write to standard output. The IP address, 127.0.0.1, is localhost of course, and the port, 8080, must be one that VLC listens on by default.

[mvdan]

You're right, vlc seems to show no play/pause command line option neither with -h, -H or man vlc. Thanks for the heads up!

[absitch]

[POST IN REFERENCE TO FLUXBOX]

I come from a position of being new to the fluxbox keys file, as the settings out of the box generally work for me, save for the default menu. In many ways I'm still new to the windows manager. Given that the issues I ran into and how well this thread helped me resolve them I thought I would share what I ran into. In the case that someone else out there is running into the issue too.

Firstly, what are Mod keys? For more info see this page: http://fluxbox-wiki.org/index.php/Keybo ... _keys_file

Secondly, after I added the changes to the keys file with the proper amixer commands, and finding the right key combo, I was having issues getting the key combination to work. So I started clicking the reconfigure and restart commands in the fluxbox menu. Safe to say that reconfigure does the trick, whatever that trick is (most likely reloading configurations), and I was able to use the amixer commands.

TLDR; If the newly edited keys file commands do not work, make sure you have saved the file (obviously), and then in the fluxbox menu click on reconfigure button. It's probably best to click on that anyway to make sure the settings, if any, are "written to the init" file.