Bug 418246 - Multimedia keys of keyboard not working in 5.17 and 5.18
Summary: Multimedia keys of keyboard not working in 5.17 and 5.18
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Media Player (show other bugs)
Version: 5.18.1
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Kai Uwe Broulik
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2020-02-27 09:20 UTC by Valso
Modified: 2021-03-26 04:33 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

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Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


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Description Valso 2020-02-27 09:20:38 UTC
SUMMARY
In the last two versions of KDE the multimedia keys of my keyboard stopped working. 4-5 days ago I installed KDE to test something and until testing it I wanted to listen to some music. But from all the multimedia keys only "Stop" and "Mute sound" worked. I tried manually setting them in the settings menu of KDE but nothing changed.
The last version I know for sure they worked was KDE Plasma 5.16.
Another user I asked confirmed that on his end only 3 keys (out of 7) work - volume up, volume down and play.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Install latest KDE.
2. Install Audacious.
3. Run it and try to manage it using the multimedia keys of the keyboard.

OBSERVED RESULT
When using "play/pause", "previous", "next", "volume up" and "volume down", nothing happens - as if they weren't pressed.

EXPECTED RESULT
When using "play/pause", "previous", "next", "volume up" and "volume down", they should execute their corresponding functions.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux: Arch 5.4.22-LTS
(available in About System)
KDE Plasma Version: 5.18
KDE Frameworks Version: IDK
Qt Version: IDK

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
My keyboard is A4Tech G800V X7. I'm mentioning this because I think it may be related, since this keyboard is a little "exotic" compared to others, so to speak. It's a gaming keyboard.
Comment 1 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 09:43:34 UTC
Same here. Just Volume Up, Volume Down and Play are working. Nothing happens pressing the other multimedia buttons.
Comment 2 Valso 2020-02-27 10:53:06 UTC
I  can't edit the original post, so I'll have to add here something I forgot to mention and which is important - in Cinnamon DE all multimedia keys work flawlessly.
Comment 3 Sadi 2020-02-27 14:00:10 UTC
(In reply to Valso from comment #0)

> SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
> Linux: Arch 5.4.22-LTS
> (available in About System)
> KDE Plasma Version: 5.18
> KDE Frameworks Version: IDK
> Qt Version: IDK
> ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
> My keyboard is A4Tech G800V X7

All multimedia keys are fully functional here:
Operating System: Kubuntu 19.10
KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.67.0
Qt Version: 5.12.4
Kernel Version: 5.3.0-40-generic
Keyboard: inca
Comment 4 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 14:47:00 UTC
The multimedia keys are handled by the Audio applet, either in the system tray, or as a standalone widget. Have you by any chance removed all instances of this widget, or disabled it in your System Tray, or switched from a System Tray applet to a standalone widget or vice versa?
Comment 5 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 18:14:07 UTC
Actually I use Win7 Mixer and the audio applet was disabled. Now I enabled the audio applet and disabled Win7 Mixer. Unfortunately this doen't help.
Comment 6 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 18:15:10 UTC
Try restarting plasmashell (`plasmashell --replace) or your whole system.
Comment 7 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 18:30:50 UTC
Just restarted, it doesn't help.

https://i.imgur.com/TxTAEJO.png
Comment 8 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 18:59:25 UTC
One last question: does it work if you add a standalone Audio widget on the desktop and then restart plasmashell?
Comment 9 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 19:05:47 UTC
Should I disable one on the panel?
Comment 10 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 19:06:52 UTC
Doesn't matter; try it both ways.
Comment 11 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 19:21:39 UTC
Unfortunately it doesn't work.

https://i.imgur.com/odpwGP4.png
Comment 12 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 21:55:33 UTC
Oh! My mistake. The volume keys are controlled by the audio applet, but the back/forward/etc keys are controlled by the Media Player applet. By any chance have you disabled that in your system tray too?
Comment 13 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 22:21:31 UTC
Yes, I enabled it now but no change...
Comment 14 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 22:22:53 UTC
Did you restart plasmashell or your system after re-enabling it?
Comment 15 Nick Stefanov 2020-02-27 22:25:27 UTC
Yes :)
Comment 16 Nate Graham 2020-02-27 22:36:09 UTC
Welp, I'm stumped then lol
Comment 17 Valso 2020-02-27 23:23:42 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #4)
> The multimedia keys are handled by the Audio applet, either in the system
> tray, or as a standalone widget. Have you by any chance removed all
> instances of this widget, or disabled it in your System Tray, or switched
> from a System Tray applet to a standalone widget or vice versa?

I've never disabled the audio applet - not even in any DE bc I know that applet is important. That's the only applet I never replace and always use the one that comes with the DE, no matter which DE it is.
Comment 18 Sadi 2020-02-28 07:29:33 UTC
I think you can also try (1) creating a new user and see what happens if log in to that fresh account, (2) booting a USB Live Session, and (3) using another keyboard.
Comment 19 Bug Janitor Service 2020-03-14 04:33:12 UTC
Dear Bug Submitter,

This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
15 days. Please provide the requested information as soon as
possible and set the bug status as REPORTED. Due to regular bug
tracker maintenance, if the bug is still in NEEDSINFO status with
no change in 30 days the bug will be closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

If you have already provided the requested information, please
mark the bug as REPORTED so that the KDE team knows that the bug is
ready to be confirmed.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 20 Valso 2020-03-14 07:22:02 UTC
IDK what other information the Janitor wants. All the information I could think of was already included in the first and the third post. Nick Stefanov confirmed that not all multimedia keys work on his end, so the bug should have been marked as reported already.
Comment 21 Pierpaolo Valerio 2020-04-03 09:26:16 UTC
I can maybe add more info on this.
I have a keyboard with a physical play/pause button, but it doesn't really matter because the behaviour is the same if you configure any shortcut to the media controller widget.

Basically my problem is that the media controller always tries to control its "choose player automatically" selection with its shortcuts. A lot of times the widget will fail to auto-select my media source (most times a youtube tab on chromium) so the "choose player automatically" won't show any media playing. If I select the source manually as "plasma browser integration", the widget can control the source correctly via its gui, but the shortcuts won't work. If it does manage to auto-select my browser as the source (and this doesn't happen often enough), then the shortcuts work as expected.
Comment 22 Pierpaolo Valerio 2020-04-03 09:36:14 UTC
Well, I looked into it a bit more and at least the automatic selection was caused by chromium's borked MPRIS interface, once that is blacklisted the plasma-integration works fine.

The original bug of the shortcuts not acting on the selected source still stands though.
Comment 23 Nate Graham 2021-02-24 19:46:23 UTC
So are people able to use the keyboard shortcuts if they manually specify which player is being controlled by the applet? The "choose player automatically" setting is known to be a bit buggy.
Comment 24 Bug Janitor Service 2021-03-11 04:33:34 UTC
Dear Bug Submitter,

This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
15 days. Please provide the requested information as soon as
possible and set the bug status as REPORTED. Due to regular bug
tracker maintenance, if the bug is still in NEEDSINFO status with
no change in 30 days the bug will be closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

If you have already provided the requested information, please
mark the bug as REPORTED so that the KDE team knows that the bug is
ready to be confirmed.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 25 Bug Janitor Service 2021-03-26 04:33:41 UTC
This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
30 days. The bug is now closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!