dwm volume control with hardware multimedia keys (pipewire, pulseaudio, amixer and light as an extra)

dwm_config_pulseaudio.h

/**
 * dwmconfig.h 
 * Hardware multimedia keys
 */
/* Somewhere at the beginning of config.h include: */

/* 
 You obviously need the X11 development packages installed, X11proto in particular, but 
 here is the location of the keysyms header upstream copy if you can't bother 
 using the contents of your own hard drive. ;-P
 
 https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/proto/x11proto/tree/XF86keysym.h
*/

#include <X11/XF86keysym.h>

/* If you use pipewire add somewhere in your constants definition section. Use "wpctl status" to
   find out the real sink ID, 0 is a placeholder here. */
static const char *upvol[]      = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "0",      "5%+",      NULL };
static const char *downvol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "0",      "5%-",      NULL };
static const char *mutevol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-mute",   "0",      "toggle",   NULL };

/* czardien made it work with @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ */
static const char *upvol[]      = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "5%+",      NULL };
static const char *downvol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "5%-",      NULL };
static const char *mutevol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-mute",   "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "toggle",   NULL };

/* If you use pulsaudio add somewhere in your constants definition section instead. */
static const char *upvol[]      = { "/usr/bin/pactl",   "set-sink-volume", "0",      "+5%",      NULL };
static const char *downvol[]    = { "/usr/bin/pactl",   "set-sink-volume", "0",      "-5%",      NULL };
static const char *mutevol[]    = { "/usr/bin/pactl",   "set-sink-mute",   "0",      "toggle",   NULL };

/* AidenThing suggests using this general solution for dynamically changing outputs. */
static const char *upvol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-volume", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "+5%", NULL };
static const char *downvol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-volume", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "-5%", NULL };
static const char *mutevol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-mute", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "toggle", NULL };

/* If you use amixer, use this instead. Thanks go to DaniOrt3ga. */
static const char *upvol[]      = { "/usr/bin/amixer",  "set", "Master", "5%+", NULL };
static const char *downvol[]    = { "/usr/bin/amixer",  "set", "Master", "5%-", NULL };
static const char *mutevol[]    = { "/usr/bin/amixerl", "set", "Master", "toggle", NULL };

/* To use light add this to the constant definition section. Thanks Hritik14. */
static const char *light_up[]   = { "/usr/bin/light",   "-A", "5", NULL };
static const char *light_down[] = { "/usr/bin/light",   "-U", "5", NULL };


/* Add to keys[] array. With 0 as modifier, you are able to use the keys directly. */
static Key keys[] = {
	{ 0,                       XF86XK_AudioLowerVolume, spawn, {.v = downvol } },
	{ 0,                       XF86XK_AudioMute, spawn, {.v = mutevol } },
	{ 0,                       XF86XK_AudioRaiseVolume, spawn, {.v = upvol   } },
};

/* If you have a small laptop keyboard or don't want to spring your fingers too far away. */
static Key keys[] = {
	{ MODKEY,                       XK_F11, spawn, {.v = downvol } },
	{ MODKEY,                       XK_F9,  spawn, {.v = mutevol } },
	{ MODKEY,                       XK_F12, spawn, {.v = upvol   } },
};

/* To use light add this to the keys[] array. Thanks Hritik14. */
static Key keys[] = {
	{ 0,				XF86XK_MonBrightnessUp,		spawn,	{.v = light_up} },
	{ 0,				XF86XK_MonBrightnessDown,	spawn,	{.v = light_down} },
};

Amazing! Thanks.

This works! Thanks.

PERFECT

That helped me. Thank you so much :-D

In case you use amixer:

static const char *upvol[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "5%+", NULL };
static const char *downvol[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "5%-", NULL };
static const char *mutevol[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "toggle", NULL };

Check the +/- position

i used amixer long time ago but thanks :)

how do i install the x11 dev thing on arch?

GOD BLESS YOU DUDE!

If you're using pulse and your default is not always the same, use:

static const char *upvol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-volume", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "+5%", NULL };
static const char *downvol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-volume", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "-5%", NULL };
static const char *mutevol[] = { "/usr/bin/pactl", "set-sink-mute", "@DEFAULT_SINK@", "toggle", NULL };

With pipewire I ended up using @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ so I didn't have to fetch the Audio sink ID with wpctl status; seems to be working:

static const char *upvol[]      = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "5%+",      NULL };
static const char *downvol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-volume", "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "5%-",      NULL };
static const char *mutevol[]    = { "/usr/bin/wpctl",   "set-mute",   "@DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@",      "toggle",   NULL };

Edit: and of course thanks a million for the gist

@czardien thank you for the contribution and you're very welcome. 😁

@AidenThing thank you for your contribution and my apologies for not seeing it before.

For wpctl it's wise to set a maximum limit for set-volume; above 100% distortion will creep in, and just for safety too. Add "-l 1.0" to the wpctl command to increase volume to avoid that.

Awesome! Thank you so much.

In case someone wonders how to Play/Pause/Skip/GoBack on your fav media player:

static const char *playpause[]  = { "/usr/bin/playerctl", "play-pause", NULL };
static const char *play_next[]  = { "/usr/bin/playerctl", "next", NULL };
static const char *play_prev[]  = { "/usr/bin/playerctl", "previous", NULL};

static Key keys[] = {
	{ 0,					   XF86XK_AudioPlay, spawn, {.v = playpause } },
	{ 0,					   XF86XK_AudioPrev, spawn, {.v = play_prev } },
	{ 0,					   XF86XK_AudioNext, spawn, {.v = play_next } },
};

Also install playerctl.

For the Back, Forward, and Reload buttons on your keyboard add this to your config.h

/* commands */
static const char *browserback[]    = { "xdotool", "key", "Alt+Left", NULL };
static const char *browserforward[] = { "xdotool", "key", "Alt+Right", NULL };
static const char *browserreload[]  = { "xdotool", "key", "Ctrl+r", NULL };

static Key keys[] = {
    { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessUp,   spawn, {.v = brightup } },
    { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessDown, spawn, {.v = brightdown } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Back,              spawn, {.v = browserback } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Forward,           spawn, {.v = browserforward } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Refresh,           spawn, {.v = browserreload } },
};

If you need a dedicated notification for volume/brightness increase/decrease, you can use dunst and libnotify to show that.

Create shell scripts with the name dwm-volume.sh and dwm-brightness.sh and put them somewhere. You could also incorporate what the scripts do in C inside the config.h if you wish.

In dwm-volume.sh put this:

#!/bin/bash

# 1. Change the actual PulseAudio system volume stream
if [ "$1" == "mute" ]; then

    /* 
     For amixer, adjust command 
     */

    pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle
else
    pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ "$1"
fi

# 2. Extract the exact current volume percentage and mute state
VOLUME=$(pactl get-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ | awk '{print $5}' | head -n 1 | sed 's/[^0-9%]//g')
MUTE=$(pactl get-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ | awk '{print $2}')

# 3. Trigger the Dunst notification with an explicit 1-second timeout (1000 milliseconds)
if [ "$MUTE" == "yes" ]; then
    notify-send -t 1000 -h string:x-canonical-private-synchronous:volume "Muted" -i notification-audio-volume-muted
else
    notify-send -t 1000 -h string:x-canonical-private-synchronous:volume "Volume: $VOLUME" -h int:value:"${VOLUME%\%}" -i notification-audio-volume-high
fi

and in dwm-brightness.sh, this:

#!/bin/bash

# You can use any command, but ```brightnessctl``` is used as an _example_ here

# 1. Change the hardware screen brightness
brightnessctl set "$1"

# 2. Extract the current brightness percentage math
CURRENT=$(brightnessctl get)
MAX=$(brightnessctl max)
PERCENT=$(( 100 * CURRENT / MAX ))

# 3. Trigger a Dunst notification bar that times out in 1 second
notify-send -t 1000 -h string:x-canonical-private-synchronous:brightness "Brightness: ${PERCENT}%" -h int:value:"$PERCENT" -i notification-display-brightness

And adjust config.h accordingly like this:

/* commands */
static const char *volup[]   = { "/location/of/script/dwm-volume.sh", "+5%",  NULL };
static const char *voldown[] = { "/location/of/script/dwm-volume.sh", "-5%",  NULL };
static const char *volmute[] = { "/home/location/of/script/dwm-volume.sh", "mute", NULL };

static const char *brightup[]   = { "/location/of/dwm-brightness.sh", "+10%", NULL };
static const char *brightdown[] = { "/location/of/dwm-brightness.sh", "10%-", NULL };

static Key keys[] = {
    { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessUp,   spawn, {.v = brightup } },
    { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessDown, spawn, {.v = brightdown } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Back,              spawn, {.v = browserback } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Forward,           spawn, {.v = browserforward } },
    { 0, XF86XK_Refresh,           spawn, {.v = browserreload } },

}

Adjust -t 1000 To the time in milliseconds you want the notification to last.

Thats it :)