SteamOS volume control

[Pak0]

Hey guys,
I enjoy using SteamOS and there is a lot to like. Being dead simple is one of it.

Can there be volume controls in the BPM overlay menu druing gameplay? In the same overlay where resume/configure controller/exit game is?


Playing on a TV would be nice but as I am using my PC tower with speakers, it gets a bit irritating to stand up and change the volume every time in BPM on SteamOS. Do you guys observe serve the same thing as well?

[UnkendTech]

this has been asked for many times

[TinMan1325]

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/458604254447072217/

[NeptNutz]

Yeah, this one issue categorically sucks the wind!

What makes it extra frustrating is that the devices themselves are normally really, really, really good at plug-and-play, so when it doesn't work, it's a double-suck whammy for SteamOS!

[Mohandevir]

How I would like to see this happening!

If Valve's point of view hasn't changed, they won't do it because SteamOS is designed for console and sound should be dealt with via the TV's remote or the audio system's remote.

I use my 2.1 pc speaker system (no remote) on my TV and there is no way I will buy a complete and expensive TV audio system just to gain another remote control to deal with. My wireless keyboard can do this job easily and I prefer to keep my money to buy games. :)

Please Valve, give us the option to change that, even if we have to tweak it.
Edit: I mean a well supported workaround

At least I can adjust the volume with my bluetooth headset...

[Pak0]

I missed the other threads, thank you guys.

Mohandevir, I use my bluetooth headphones as well (MPOW with a little fiddling to remove crackling and latency) and is a nice workaround most of the time.

NepNutz, so far I'm on the same opinion- SteamOS makes great plug-and-play device!

There is something I haven't considered thus far. When connected to the TV, changing the system volume will certainly create situations where the user doesn't know which element is causing the unexpected volume output.
One solution would be to have a checkbox for "Enable manual System Volume control" tucked neatly into "System Audio Settings". Practically imitating the "Enable access to the Linux desktop" setting behaviour. It will be accessible. At the same it will not cause problems for the intended target audience by being ambiguous.

PS: And a volume button can be displayed on the main page in the same style as the music player, more so to keep them separate and with distinct functionality.

[Balderick]

Originally posted by Pak0:

One solution would be to have a checkbox for "Enable manual System Volume control" tucked neatly into "System Audio Settings". Practically imitating the "Enable access to the Linux desktop" setting behaviour. It will be accessible. At the same it will not cause problems for the intended target audience by being ambiguous.

ya just ike the windows client does http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611941354

A quick and easy fix to add media key functiionality in steamos big picture is by adding all gnome-settings-daemon services to steamos-session. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/146#issuecomment-39641974

[XÆЯO_Vince]

SteamOS's lack of fine grain volume control probably stems from the fact that its only designed for use with TVs in livingrooms. It isn't designed for users with headphones or PC speakers without volume control knobs. TVs have remotes with volume control buttons. Another workaround besides using gnome-settings-daemon is to add alsamixer as a non-steam shortcut with xterm. The volume has appears to have to be re-adjusted after each reboot but it seems to work.

A much better solution is to not use SteamOS but a different distribution, if you intend to use Steam on a PC or laptop or any usage scenerio that doesn't involve playing on a TV in the livingroom.

[Pak0]

Bladerick, I haven't used this solution since one of the early alpha releases. Will try it when there is more free time.

XÆЯO, I'm already using alsamixer but with different objective (only the green 3.5mm output is faulty). Thank you for suggesting another distro but there is no need in the particular usage. For the moment my 27" monitor will do the job and in due time I'm planing on changing the entire setup.

Regardless, I don't view volume control as breaking the usage scenario but more than welcome backup functionality.

[Balderick]

I been testing brewmaster for first time over the weekend and tbh the volume going to max every time i switch to big picture, the audio settings not sticking over reboots, wrong device being selected for audio as hdmi on gpu discrete card gets forced every reboot even though there is no device connected to that hdmi port at all; all add up to an unusable operating system for me. Being unable to get flash drm content to play in either big picture browser or desktop browser is the icing on the cake for me. SteamOS is not for me and am actualy growing to despise it due to its restrictiveness and lack of configurability built in.


tbh the suggestion of NOT using steamos is the best suggestion anyone can make and regardless of what kind of screen you are using.

[Mohandevir]

Ok... Bringing back this old thread to life again... Just figured out how to do it with Thor27 Steam Desktop project on Ubuntu 16.04 and xbindkeys. It's probably possible to adapt this "how-to" to do the same on SteamOS but I don't have an installation to test it.

First you need the UI startup script to load xbindkeys. With Thor27 Steam Desktop project it's in the "/usr/bin/steam-de" script where you modify the following section by adding the xbindkeys line (for SteamOS, see the edit section):

# Start basic window manager, video settings and audio control
xfwm4 --replace --daemon --compositor=off
which nvidia-settings && nvidia-settings -l
which gnome-settings-daemon && gnome-settings-daemon &
which xbindkeys && xbindkeys &

Then, in xbindkeys-config I added 3 keys:

Volume Up:
Key: Mod2 + XF86AudioRaiseVolume | m:0x10 + c:123
Command: amixer -D pulse sset Master 2%+

Volume Down:
Key: Mod2 + XF86AudioLowerVolume | m:0x10 + c:122
Command: amixer -D pulse sset Master 2%-

Mute/Unmute:
Key: Mod2 + XF86AudioMute | m:0x10 + c:121
Command: amixer -D pulse set Master Playback Switch toggle

http://butlerpc.net/blog/2011/01/using-xbindkeys-on-ubuntu-linux-to-remap-key-commands/

There is no fancy UI popup to show the volume variations but it gets the job done. Also I used 2%+/- because I like finer volume control than what Ubuntu offers ootb (5%+/-). May be adjusted to your tastes.


Edit (SteamOS):

Just tested with the SteamOS-Compositor and Modeswitch-Inhibitor and it works too. Since these are the tools used in SteamOS, it's highly probable that it will work on both platforms.

Just edit the /usr/bin/steamos-session script so it looks like this (add the gnome-settings-daemon and xbindkeys lines):
______

#!/bin/sh
export SDL_VIDEO_MINIMIZE_ON_FOCUS_LOSS=0

export HOMETEST_DESKTOP=1
export HOMETEST_USER=steam
export HOMETEST_DESKTOP_USER=desktop
export HOMETEST_DESKTOP_SESSION=gnome

/usr/bin/steamos/set_hd_mode.sh >> $HOME/set_hd_mode.log

export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libmodeswitch_inhibitor.so:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libmodeswitch_inhibitor.so

# Disable DPMS and screen blanking for now; it doesn't know about controller
# or Steam remote control events right now
xset -dpms
xset s off

steamcompmgr &
gnome-settings-daemon &
xbindkeys &

loadargb_cursor /usr/share/icons/steam/arrow.png

steam -tenfoot -steamos -enableremotecontrol"
______

Then all you need to do is to create your shortcuts with xbindkeys-config, as before, in the steam user account.

Unfortunately, you will have to re-edit the steamos-session script if ever guys at Valve overwrites it in an update... Didn't happen often, but still, keep that in mind.

Maybe ProfessorKaos64 will be able to make another miracle and create some automated install for this. ;)

It would be awesome if it could become a standard feature in SteamOS or an optional package... A checkbox in the BPM UI "Media Keyboard Support"... One may dream...

Many thanks to Thor27 repo maintainer for his quick answers and for putting me on the right track.