Debian Squeeze Fixes: Make Multimedia Keys Change PulseAudio Volume

Post date: 30-Dec-2009 18:57:34

Yet another one... Your multimedia keys on your keyboard probably stopped working after GNOME 2.28. Or at least the may work funnily e.g. increasing volume does in fact just unmute volume + increases it to maximum. If that is the case, then the problem is that your multimedia keys are not set to control the right mixer track. This was not an issue in GNOME 2.26 having the old Sound preferences applet where you could conveniently choose the default mixer and tracks you want to control but this is no more in 2.28. The good news is that it is still possible to manipulate that through Gconf-editor. Here is how:

  1. Hit Alt+F2 and type in:
    1. gconf-editor
  2. The magic key is:
    1. /desktop/gnome/sound/default_mixer_device
  3. The key is probably empty. Fill in:
    1. alsamixer
  4. Second magic key is right below:
    1. /desktop/gnome/sound/default_mixer_tracks
  5. Add a new value:
    1. Master

As soon as you finish the last step your multimedia keys should move the PulseAudio Playback slider.