volume on-screen-display for multimedia keys not working

bluesurfer

Hi,

i have a HP Compaq nc8430 Notebook with Gentoo installed.
I followed this howto to get my multimedia keys working:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Use_Multimedia_Keys

I created an Xmodmap file under my home directory which i load
at KDE startup.

The keys work, i can lower, higher or mute the volume with the keys in KDE.
The problem is the on-screen-display of kmix doesn't show up when
I change the volume.

I remember it did show up some time ago, but I didn't change anything
in the config. Perhaps it was caused by an software update.

Can anyone help me please?
_________________
"cat /boot/vmlinuz > /dev/dsp" and god speaks to you

baeksu · l33t Joined: 26 Sep 2004 Posts: 609 Location: Seoul, Korea

I believe the OSD is provided by the package 'kmilo'.
_________________
Gnome:
1. A legendary being.
2. A never ending quest to make unix friendly to people who don't want unix and excruciating for those that do.

bluesurfer · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:46 am Post subject:

yes that's true, but kmilo should be already included in kdeutils.
_________________
"cat /boot/vmlinuz > /dev/dsp" and god speaks to you

blakedude · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:07 pm Post subject:

I just got this working by doing the xmodmap change mentioned in the above MultiMedia Keys HOWTO. It worked for me, and I get a big progress bar display of the volume change and a Mute/Unmute message with the mute button.

I do not have kmilo installed, so it must be some other part of KDE that shows the volume up/down/mute message.

bluesurfer · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:27 pm Post subject:

blakedude · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject:

bluesurfer · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject:

thanks blakedude.
I tried your method, but still no luck for me.

It's still the same, I can use the buttons in KDE, but I
don't have a OSD

_________________
"cat /boot/vmlinuz > /dev/dsp" and god speaks to you

blakedude · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:57 am Post subject:

bluesurfer · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject:

I think I solved the problem now.
I set the multimedia keys as shortcuts in kmix.
If I remove these shortcuts, the keys still work fine AND I see the OSD.
No idea why this happens.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your help blakedude!
_________________
"cat /boot/vmlinuz > /dev/dsp" and god speaks to you

freifunk_connewitz · Apprentice Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 238

just for anybody who has a similar problem and did not found the solution in the postings above:

i run into it after switching from monolithic to split KDE ebuilds. the multimedia keys did not work any more. so i configured kmix in the "configure global shortcuts" menu to use them and so i got them working again, but without the OSD.

to get that working again as well i had to follow these exact steps:

- switch the global shortcuts in kmix back to defaults (that is: no global shortcuts)
- go to the service manager of the KDE control center as described above
- switch kmilo off and on again -> the multimedia keys for volume control work again AND the OSD, too.

reason? maybe its some small problem with the emerge order of kmix and kmilo? i don't know...

ljubo · Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Works lika a charm!
This thread should be marked as [SOLVED].

Regards, Ljubo

overkll · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:

Isn't there a default location one can place .xmodmaprc or xmodmaprc or even xmodmap so that it is run by default for all users? The man page for xmodmap doesn't mention any default file locations.

According to /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc, xinitrc will check first for xmodmap file in /etc/X11/Xmodmap, then $HOME/.Xmodmap. I'm running xdm to start kde, and neither of these work. Removing xdm from the default runlevel and executing "startx" _DOES_ work. The xmodmap file is found and executed with xmodmap.

So it seems xdm/kdm doesn't use /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc? How does one replicate the startx/xinitrc behavior when using xdm/kdm?

Digging through /usr/kde/3.5/bin/startkde reveals that any script located in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/ will be executed as system defaults. Currently on my setup, there is only 30-dbus. So if one adds an executable script that calls "xmodmap </path/to/Xmodmap>" to that dir, the keys are set correctly when kde starts and function correctly with OSD. YEAH!

So, I put Xmodmap in /etc/X11/ and made a simple script called Xmodmap, and chmod'd it to 755

Contents of /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/Xmodmap:

F-0_ICE · l33t Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 679

two questions: one i got the key and the osd working but is there a way to decrease the volume increase per key press? eg if my volume is at 0 it goes to 12% then 25% and then 38% and +13% so on till 100%. how can i set it to lets say +5% instead of 13%?

two: no a biggie but the osd has a gray background. can it be transparent?

TIA
_________________
~AMD64
AMD: Athlon64 X2 3800+
2G PC3200
ATI: RADEON HD 4350
Linksys: WMP54G

True Knowledge is Best Acquired Through Experience.

overkll · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject:

FO Ice,

Yes, you should be able to adjust the steping of the volume. I do remember seeing an option somewhere via the KDE Control Center. Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly where to find it since a) i don't use KDE and b) the laptop I was working on was a customer's.

F-0_ICE · l33t Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 679

i found what your talking about in the admin section of kcontrol for IBM thinkpad but it is grayed out. i am trying to use the osd for my desktop if it means anything.
_________________
~AMD64
AMD: Athlon64 X2 3800+
2G PC3200
ATI: RADEON HD 4350
Linksys: WMP54G

True Knowledge is Best Acquired Through Experience.