Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

hello , I have a problem with the volume / mute buttons on the thinkpad t410 keyboard, do you know how to solve this problem? on easyos the buttons worked and I had the same keyboard set in the settings.

Hallo, @dantix .....and to the "kennels".

Well, for a start, it would help us all a lot to have some idea of what your hardware specs are. It will also help to know exactly which Puppy/Dog/whatever you're currently running; there are a LOT of them, and they're ALL slightly different. Also, it helps to know just how you're running this Puppy; LiveCD? USB? HDD?

Please remember for future reference that we only know what you actually tell us; we can only work with the information you give us. We're not there with you, looking over your shoulder.....and we're not very good with the old "crystal ball", either!

Over to you....

Mike.

thinkpad t410,keyboard PL,i5 m430,4gb ram,nvidia nvs 3100m.I do not know if this is the information it's about versions Ubuntu Focal 64 x86_64 64-bit FossaPup64 9.5. On ssd but usb didn't work either
,

See if what was found in this topic helps you.
viewtopic.php?t=5517

Edit: the below is a suggested solution for the wrong problem. The problem discussed on this thread relates to volume control. Not sure where I got the idea that it related to brightness. Note the time of the post: pre-2nd cup of coffee.

The impression I get from the discussion on the thread bigpup referenced is that the solution there was "hit or miss". The last post there, by Mike Walsh, generated this idea: maybe originally the buttons were a necessary work-around because there wasn't a software solution available at the time of manufacture. [Later retro-fitting a manufacturing plant not to do something which isn't a problem is a waste of money].

Perhaps a software solution now exists. I'd try installing and using either radky's JWMDesk-3.5.1, or just the screen tint and brightness application you'll find here, viewtopic.php?t=3561: The latter, sct-control is built-into JWMDesk-3.5.1 so only needed if you stick with an earlier version of JWMDesk. While radky suggests that sct-control is " similar to the much larger Redshift utility" I find it easier to use in order to obtain a satisfactory display.

the first way does not work and you could tell me how to set these buttons to work, what commands because I don't know anything about it.

Note the edit to my previous post. Well, it's a day later and please note that I'm still working on today's first cup of coffee.
But again examining the thread suggested by bigpup leads me in the same direction: it may not be possible to get the sound/mute hardware button to work: a software solution should be explored.

I also have a Thinkpad, but not the t410. hard-ware button also seems to be useless. Additionally, at its best, the sound it generates is challenging. I think the best sound I got out of it was running a Slacko. But as I keep my laptop in the den and divide my attention between what's on the TV and reading posts on the laptop, its sound quality is only occasionally important so I haven't accepted the challenge.

Puppys have two applications for managing sound, Alsa-Sound Wizard and retrovol; well three if you include the Multiple-Sound-Card Wizard. Not all three may be present; and even if present may not have a menu entry. For example, on Fossapup64 which I'm currently running the menu has a listing only for retrovol and that may be something I added. Retrovol is on the Multimedia Submenu while Alsa is on the Setup Submenu. Multiple Sound-Card Wizard has no menu listing. IIRC, in order to properly configure sound you first have to run Multiple Sound Card Wizard and select which sound card to use. As I'm currently on my Desktop I get three offerings, two of which are to HDMI devices and are completely useless. I have to choose the analog device. Multiple Sound Card Wizard is started by Right-Clicking the sound icon on the taskbar, then scrolling down to its listing.

There's a catch-22 to selecting the right sound-card. The wizard runs tests on each sound card selected by the user; but you have to hear the results to determine which is performing best. And if your volume --controlled by Alsa &/or retrovol-- is low you may not be able to hear the results.

At any rate, I have to break for breakfast. Perhaps someone else can advise dantix on how to configure sound. Or point him to a post providing the recipe. I think bigpup wrote one.

hello , I have a problem with the volume / mute buttons on the thinkpad t410 keyboard, do you know how to solve this problem? on easyos the buttons worked and I had the same keyboard set in the settings.

I also have ThinkPad, but from the EDGE series.

When I started with BionicPup64 more than two years ago, it was not possible to use a functional keys for the volume or brightness.
In fact, I reconciled with it.
Later I examined another OS from the Puppy Linux family and found that, for example, in Fossapup64 function keys also do not work and, on the contrary, in FatDog, they work great.

I tried some recommendations when a similar problem was discussed.
But nothing helped, so I don't know how to solve it.

However, I'm thinking as follows:

I do not set the brightness so often, so I can use, for example, redshift-portable and set brightness using slider at any time.

As for the volume in Fossapup64, I often use a mouse wheel.
After clicking the volume setting icon on the bottom tray, the volume level indicator opens, which can remain visible even when playing video in full screen. By moving the cursor above it, the volume can be controlled by the mouse wheel.
The mouse wheel can be used in a similar way, for example, when you move the cursor over the VLC player window (or youTube when you move the cursor above the volume setting area).

EDIT:
Sorry, I realized later that a laptop is actually a portable device.
So the idea with mouse wheel probably doesn't make sense.

This is because I almost always use my laptop at home with a mouse and external keyboard connected .

FWIW, I also have a TP (a TP530) and I haven't yet found how to make the volume up/down rocker work either.

However, the "mute" button works fine.

One thing to note is that (at least on Bionic64), the rocker's action is "seen" by the OS.

So if you run "xev" in a terminal, then press the rocker + or - , you'll see that it is being recorded as a keystroke event.

In the following output, the first two blocks are the - side being pressed & released, the second two blocks the + side being pressed and released.

This offers the hope that it might be possible to catch & map these events to volume control (I just wishh I knew how to do this).

(Tho the TP overall volume is very low in Bionic64 despite everything (including alsamixer) being set to the meximum)

KeyPress event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x174, subw 0x0, time 15490299, (224,618), root:(284,691),
    state 0x0, keycode 122 (keysym 0x1008ff11, XF86AudioLowerVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x174, subw 0x0, time 15490434, (224,618), root:(284,691),
    state 0x0, keycode 122 (keysym 0x1008ff11, XF86AudioLowerVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x174, subw 0x0, time 15496205, (224,618), root:(284,691),
    state 0x0, keycode 123 (keysym 0x1008ff13, XF86AudioRaiseVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x174, subw 0x0, time 15496388, (224,618), root:(284,691),
    state 0x0, keycode 123 (keysym 0x1008ff13, XF86AudioRaiseVolume), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False
 

Ok I've found out a way to do this, albeit there may be easier ways which, if so, I hope someone will come along and tell us.

I found this information on the Arch wiki, which is often a goldmine for obscure stuf like this.

First, install the package xbindkeys (it should be available from the Puppy Package Manager)

Create a config file in /root called .xbindkeysrc with the following contents:

"amixer set Master 5%-"
   XF86AudioLowerVolume

"amixer set Master 5%+"
   XF86AudioRaiseVolume

Now run xbindkeys (you'll need to put that in one of your startup files to enable it after every boot)

The up/down vol keys should now work.

This tweak is for ALSA, if you're using something else (Jack or pulse maybe) then refer to the Arch wiki article linked below.

This worked perfectly for me in Bionic64 on a ThinkPad T530, ymmv of course on different hardware &/or distro.

For reference, the Arch wiki entry is here: Arch xbindkeys wiki

@courtage :-

That is a no doubt very useful 'workaround' for this kinda thing. Thanks for that.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who finds the Arch 'wiki' to be useful (for the most unexpected stuff). The amount of info I've found on there over the last several years is, frankly, quite astonishing.....despite frequently needing to be 'tweaked' for Puppy.

Even so, it almost always points me in the right direction.....

Mike.

This worked perfectly for me in Bionic64 on a ThinkPad T530, ymmv of course on different hardware &/or distro.

Works perfectly too in BionicPup64 on the ThinkPad edge E530.
thanks

Hello,

With JWMdesk, you can configure shortcuts like this ( the 3 lines at the bottom)
I works perfectly for me