Xbindkeys
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Xbindkeys is a program that enables us to bind commands to certain keys or key combinations on the keyboard. Xbindkeys works with multimedia keys and is window manager / DE independent, so if you switch much, xbindkeys is very handy.
Contents
Installation
Install Xbindkeys with the package xbindkeys, available in the official repositories.
For those who prefer a GUI, there is the xbindkeys_config package in the AUR.
Configuration
Create a file named .xbindkeysrc
in your home directory:
$ touch ~/.xbindkeysrc
Alternatively, you can create a sample file by invoking
$ xbindkeys -d > ~/.xbindkeysrc
Now you can either edit ~/.xbindkeysrc
to set keybindings, or you can do that with the GUI.
Xbindkeysrc
To see the format of a configuration file entry, enter the following command:
$ xbindkeys -k
A blank window will pop up. Press the key(s) to which you wish to assign a command and xbindkeys will output a handy snippet that can be entered into ~/.xbindkeysrc
. For example, while the blank window is open, press Alt+o
to get the following output (results may vary):
"(Scheme function)" m:0x8 + c:32 Alt + o
The first line represents a command. The second contains the state (0x8) and keycode (32) as reported by xev
. The third line contains the keysyms associated with the given keycodes. To use this output, copy either one of the last two lines to ~/.xbindkeysrc
and replace "(Scheme function)" with the command you wish to perform. Here is an example configuration file that binds Fn key combos on a laptop to pamixer commands that adjust sound volume. Note that pound (#) symbols can be used to create comments.
# Increase volume "pamixer --increase 5" XF86AudioRaiseVolume
# Decrease volume "pamixer --decrease 5" m:0x0 + c:122
or
"pamixer --decrease 5" XF86AudioLowerVolume
Alternatively, instead of pamixer it is also possible to use pactl to control a running PulseAudio and to change volume level (replace above pamixer command with the following):
pactl set-sink-volume 0 -- +2% pactl set-sink-volume 0 -- -2% pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle
Instead of setting forcefully sink number it is possible to use @DEFAULT_SINK@
:
pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -- +2% pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -- -2% pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle
Another possibilty is to use amixer (part of the alsa-utils package)
amixer -c 1 set Master 5+ amixer -c 1 set Master 5- amixer -c 1 set Master toggle
GUI method
If you installed the xbindkeys_config package (in the AUR), just run:
$ xbindkeys_config
Usage
Once you're done configuring your keys, edit your ~/.xinitrc
and place
xbindkeys
before the line that starts your window manager or DE.
Simulating multimedia keys
The XF86Audio* and other multimedia keys [1] are pretty-much well-recognized by the major DEs. For keyboards without such keys, you can simulate their effect with other keys
# Decrease volume on pressing Super-minus "amixer set Master playback 1-" m:0x50 + c:20 Mod2+Mod4 + minus
However, to actually call the keys themselves you can use tools like xdotool [2] (its in official repositories) and xmacro [3] (in the AUR). Unfortunately since you'd already be holding down some modifier key (Super or Shift, for example), X will see the result as Super-XF86AudioLowerVolume
which won't do anything useful. Here's a script based on xmacro and xmodmap from the xorg-server-utils package for doing this[4].
#!/bin/sh echo 'KeyStrRelease Super_L KeyStrRelease minus'
This works for calling XF86AudioLowerVolume once (assuming you are using Super+minus
), but repeatedly calling it without releasing the Super key (like tapping on a volume button) does not work. If you would like it to work that way, add the following line to the bottom of the script.
echo 'KeyStrPress Super_L' | xmacroplay :0
With this modified script, if you press the key combination fast enough your Super_L key will remain 'on' till the next time you hit it, which may result in some interesting side-effects. Just tap it again to remove that state, or use the original script if you want things to 'just work' and do not mind not multi-tapping on volume up/down.
These instructions are valid for pretty much any one of the XF86 multimedia keys (important ones would be XF86AudioRaiseVolume, XF86AudioLowerVolume, XF86AudioPlay, XF86AudioPrev, XF86AudioNext).
Troubleshooting
If, for any reason, a hotkey you already set in ~/.xbindkeysrc
doesn't work, open up a terminal and type the following:
$ xbindkeys -n
By pressing the non-working key, you will be able to see any error xbindkeys encounter (e.g: mistyped command/keycode,...).