> From: David Coppa <dco...@gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 26 May 2014 13:23:21 +0200 > > On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 12:42 PM, Alexandre Ratchov <a...@caoua.org> wrote: > > On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 01:06:48AM +0200, Alexandre Ratchov wrote: > >> This diff attempts to "unify" volume keys; it makes pckbd and ukbd > >> volume keys behave like all other volume keys (acpithinkpad, > >> acpiasus, macppc/abtn and similar drivers): simply adjust the > >> hardware volume without passing keystroke events to upper layers > >> (i.e. "consume" the keystroke). > >> > >> If your volume keys tend to mess the volume while in X (example > >> mplayer), try this diff and see if it makes things better (or > >> worse). > > > > No test reports so far. To test this: start X, then: > > > > - press the "vol -" button many times (don't hold is pressed), > > until volume goes to zero. > > > > - start a movie in mplayer, there's no sound as volume is zero. > > > > - press the "vol +" button and hold it down; now mplayer indicates > > the volume reached the maximum. Still you don't hear anything. > > > > Confusing, isn't it? Then rebuild the kernel with this diff and > > retry. With the diff volume keys are simple and deterministic: they > > simply adjust the volume and don't trigger hot-keys or whatever. > > Tested on my laptop: it follows the principle of least astonishment, > thus I like it.
But as I said before, the problem is that this breaks the visual feedback feature in desktop environments and applications like Gnome. We really need a discussion about the desired behaviour of the volume keys that involves porters as well as a broader range of users. It is impossible to judge diffs like this one without having a clear picture of the desired end result. That said, I think that: 1. We need a kernel interface for toggling between the volume keys only directly manipulating the mixer and having them only generate events. This doesn't necessarily have to be a user knob; it could be something that applications that want to see events and manage the sound volume themselve would flip. 2. Mixer control needs to be integrated with sndio, such that applications that elect to receive events can act upon them by using a consistent API.
