i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

Enabling multimedia keys

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 23:20:48 +0000

Hi, How can I make multimedia keys work in i3? Is it possible to create a **user-contributed article** for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Comment by Adaephon for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 08:52:45 +0000

I agree, that this would help new users. That is probably why the [User's Guide](http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html) already covers this in the section [4.3 Keyboard Bindings](http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#keybindings). :)

Answer by Ghostfield for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:09:45 +0000

In my case I have to use bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 1 +5% #increase sound volume where the sink-volume value is changed to 1. To find the right value one can use pactl list sinks

Answer by TonyC for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Sat, 03 May 2014 19:24:00 +0000

In your **~/i3/config** add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script **toggletouchpad.sh** for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
	synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
	synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

[**Playerctl**](https://github.com/acrisci/playerctl) is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players. If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or `xev`, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Comment by fmasi for

In your ~/i3/config add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Tue, 10 Nov 2015 20:28:14 +0000

Any idea how to limit maximum volume that it could ever go to to say 100%? I have a das keyboard with a volume wheel and right now if i keep turning it clockwise it can easily boost the volume beyond 300% and introduce distortions.

Comment by hmln for

In your ~/i3/config add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Sat, 24 Oct 2015 08:59:55 +0000

Miro, just intall from Github then: https://github.com/acrisci/playerctl . If your key board has only one key to play and pause, playerctl has an option to toggle between play and pause.Use something like this: bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play-pause

Comment by Miro for

In your ~/i3/config add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Sat, 17 Oct 2015 06:32:33 +0000

Is there alternative to playerctl? My distro doesn't provide playerctl in its packages

Comment by Fabio Falci for

In your ~/i3/config add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:54:52 +0000

To me volumes worked only like this: # Pulse Audio controls bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume

Comment by Fabio Falci for

In your ~/i3/config add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work for you, you can see the available keysyms for your computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

(thanks to tieni for this answer)

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:58:16 +0000

Or # Pulse Audio controls bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec pactl -- set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec pactl -- set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume

i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

Enabling multimedia keys

Comment by Adaephon for Hi, How can I make multimedia keys work in i3? Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Answer by Ghostfield for Hi, How can I make multimedia keys work in i3? Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Answer by TonyC for Hi, How can I make multimedia keys work in i3? Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Comment by Adaephon for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Answer by Ghostfield for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)

Answer by TonyC for
Hi,

How can I make multimedia keys work in i3?

Is it possible to create a user-contributed article for this? I think it would be helpful for beginners :)