Laptop Volume Wheel On Side Doen't Work

The volume wheel doesn't change the volume. I can't find any options in yast to even set it up.
Thanx for any assistance
Axion

I configures d my keyboard as Logitech Internet Navigator Keyboard (so that X recognizes the multimedia keys). This way the keys are available in X for you to use them with whatever you want (maybe another keyboard model might suit your needs better). (don't forget to restart X)

I use amixer with KHotkeys to control the volume using the side wheel of my laptop. To do that, I opened KDE Control Center, selected "Regional and Accebility", then KHotkeys. Now just add actions associated with keyboard shortcuts, where the keyboard shortcuts are your multimedia keys (including the volume wheel). I am currently using the following commands associated with keyboard shortcuts top control the volume:
- Control the microphone capture volume:
aumix -i -5
aumix -i +5
- PCM Volume
aumix -w -5
aumix -w +5
- Phones volume
aumix -W -5
aumix -W +5
- Master volume (laptop columns)
aumix -v -5
aumix -v +5

Make sure aumix is installed. The first argument is what you want to control and the second argument is how much you want to change the volume and it should be + or - and a number from 0 to 100.

Forgot to tell you that I have a Nec Versa S900.

And just a hint: after having X recognizing the multimedia keys, I wwnt to amarok and configured the Global Shortcuts to use the Stop, Play/Pause, SkipNext, SkipPrevious buttons and now I can control everything I ear in amarok with a touch of a button...

(I also configured the internet buttin to open konqueror and the mail button to open kmail, everything using KHotkeys)

Thank you for your response to my post about the volume wheel.* Unfortunately i couldn't get it working, to be honest, i didn't know where to start.* I got to Khotkeys and i got lost there.* Id appreciate any additional help

Thank You

The firts thing you need to make sure is if X is recognizing your multimedia keys (wich includes the volume wheel). You can check that in many ways, but one of them is to use "xev" from the console. While running "xev" you should see details about your keys and mouse that you press. Using the volume key should give a message similar to this:

KeyRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
root 0x48, subw 0x0, time 1531128, (-108,86), root570,111),
state 0x0, keycode 176 (keysym 0x1008ff13, XF86AudioRaiseVolume), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:

Is this what you got? Another simple way to see if your keys are being recognized is to go to any program wihtin KDE, open the "Keyboard Shortcuts" menu and see if you can use the wheel as a keyboard shortcut.

So, does using the wheel is recognized as a key event?

When i use xev (using the xterminal and not Konsole) i got this when i use my volume wheel:

KeyRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001,
root 0x3b, subw 0x0, time 776622, (94,158), root766,182),
state 0x0, keycode 176 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:

Originally posted by Axion@Jan 29 2005, 05:46 AM
When i use xev (using the xterminal and not Konsole) i got this when i use my volume wheel:

KeyRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001,
* * root 0x3b, subw 0x0, time 776622, (94,158), root766,182),
* * state 0x0, keycode 176 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
* * XLookupString gives 0 bytes:

[snapback]65262[/snapback]

So, if I'm not mistaken, your multimedia keys are not being recognized properly. You should select a keyboard that has multimedia keys. Open YAST --> Hardware --> Graphics Card and Monitor --> Change --> Input-Devices --> Keyboard
and change the keyboard. I selected "Logitech Internet Navigator Keyboard" for my laptop and the keys got recognized. After changing the keyboard, accept the configuration (you might need to restart X).

Try again to see you xev now gives a different output (don't forget that this test should be done in KDE, so you should open your terminal in KDE).

Hugo

OK, good news and bad news. When i selected a bunch of different types of keyboard formats, and i got the Dell Inspiron 8xxx to work halfway. i get this in xev

KeyRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2400001,
root 0x3b, subw 0x0, time 257003, (61,186), root883,210),
state 0x0, keycode 176 (keysym 0x1008ff13, XF86AudioRaiseVolume), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:

But.....it doesn't raise the volume or lower or mute. The good side is that now the scroll feature works on the touchpad.

Getting it to recognize the key isn't enough. You need know to configure KDE.
Open the KDE Control Center--> Regional & Accessibility --> KHotKeys

Here you can assign any kind of shortcut to any keys, combination of keys and/or mouse gestures. I ussinged some commands using aumix to the "wheel keys" by doing the following:
1. Create a "New Group" (for instance "Volume Keys")
2. Create a "New Action" with the following settings
- Action name: VolumeUp
- Action Type: Keyboard Shortcut->Command/URL (simple)
- Uncheck Disable
- Comment: Increase Master Volume
- Keyboard Shortcut: (use the wheel up)
- Command/URL to execute: aumix -v +5
(Of course you can use any name and comment you want)

As of now you should have the Volume Up working.
You can repeat the same process to control not just the Master Volume, but also other mixers. I'll indicate you a list of commands to control several volumes. My Laptop as 3 diferent mixers to control the sound output (Master, PCM and Phones), but yours might not be the same, so use them as needed. Each command uses +/- 5 to adjust up/down by 5% (you can use another value if you whish):
- Control the microphone capture volume:
aumix -i -5
aumix -i +5
- PCM Volume
aumix -w -5
aumix -w +5
- Phones volume
aumix -W -5
aumix -W +5
- Master volume (laptop columns)
aumix -v -5
aumix -v +5

Hope you get it working.

Hugo Costelha

I can't thank u enough for all the assistance. I got my speaker volume going, but for some reason, i can't get the headphones and the speakers to work at the same time. I'll set
aumix -v +5 and it will work, but when i do aumix -w +5, the headphone volume will work but not the -v +5 volume. I guess they don't work simultaneously, or do they?
Im happy the way it is now with just the speaker volume, but i wouldn't mind getting the both the headphones and the speaker volume to work at the same time.

Once again Thanx for the help, it is much appreciated, im one step closer to getting rid of my windoze partition

Well, I did not say, but I use different shortcut keys for the different volumes. I assigned the wheel up/down to the Master Volume, then the Alt Key + Wheel Up/Down to the Phones, then the Ctrl Key + Wheel up/down to the mic. The PCM I don't usually use it.

You cannot assign multiple commands (I think) to the same key shortcut, so you should choose combinations (as I did) to the various volumes.

And, since they are independent, I think it's good to be able to control them independently.

Glad to help.

Hugo