MX keys, cannot set display brightness

[cristianlivella]

Information

• Solaar version: solaar 1.0.7
• Distribution: Fedora 33
• Kernel version: Linux 5.14.16-101.fc33.x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
• Output of solaar show:

Details

Unifying Receiver
  Device path  : /dev/hidraw1
  USB id       : [REDACTED]
  Serial       : [REDACTED]
    Firmware   : 24.11.B0036
    Bootloader : 02.09
    Other      : AA.AC
  Has 2 paired device(s) out of a maximum of 6.
  Notifications: wireless (0x000100)
  Device activity counters: 1=154, 2=88

  1: MX Keys Keyboard
     Device path  : /dev/hidraw2
     WPID         : 408A
     Codename     : MX Keys
     Kind         : keyboard
     Protocol     : HID++ 4.5
     Polling rate : 20 ms (50Hz)
     Serial number: [REDACTED]
     Model ID:      B35B408A0000
     Unit ID:       [REDACTED]
        Bootloader: BL1 08.00.B0011
          Firmware: MPK 12.00.B0011
             Other: 
     The power switch is located on the edge of top right corner.
     Supports 33 HID++ 2.0 features:
         0: ROOT                   {0000}   
         1: FEATURE SET            {0001}   
         2: DEVICE FW VERSION      {0003}   
            Firmware: Bootloader BL1 08.00.B0011 00008169E8BB
            Firmware: Firmware MPK 12.00.B0011 408A8169E8BB
            Firmware: Other   
            Unit ID: [REDACTED]  Model ID: B35B408A0000  Transport IDs: {'btleid': 'B35B', 'wpid': '408A'}
         3: DEVICE NAME            {0005}   
            Name: MX Keys Wireless Keyboard
            Kind: keyboard
         4: WIRELESS DEVICE STATUS {1D4B}   
         5: RESET                  {0020}   
         6: DEVICE FRIENDLY NAME   {0007}   
            Friendly Name: MX Keys
         7: BATTERY STATUS         {1000}   
            Battery: 50%, discharging, next level 20%.
         8: REPROG CONTROLS V4     {1B04}   
         9: CHANGE HOST            {1814}   
            Cambia Host        : 2:laptop
        10: HOSTS INFO             {1815}   
            Host 0 (paired): laptop
            Host 1 (paired): laptop
            Host 2 (paired): laptop
        11: BACKLIGHT2             {1982}   
            Retroilluminazione (saved): True
            Retroilluminazione        : True
        12: K375S FN INVERSION     {40A3}   
            Inverti funzioni Fx (saved): False
            Inverti funzioni Fx        : False
        13: ENCRYPTION             {4100}   
        14: LOCK KEY STATE         {4220}   
        15: KEYBOARD DISABLE KEYS  {4521}   
            Disabilita i pulsanti (saved): {'1': False, '16': False, '2': False, '4': False, '8': False}
            Disabilita i pulsanti        : {'1': False, '2': False, '4': False, '8': False, '16': False}
        16: MULTIPLATFORM          {4531}   
            Specifica il sistema operativo (saved): 0
            Specifica il sistema operativo        : Windows
        17: DFUCONTROL SIGNED      {00C2}   
        18: DEVICE RESET           {1802}   internal, hidden
        19: unknown:1803           {1803}   internal, hidden
        20: CONFIG DEVICE PROPS    {1806}   internal, hidden
        21: unknown:1813           {1813}   internal, hidden
        22: OOBSTATE               {1805}   internal, hidden
        23: unknown:1830           {1830}   internal, hidden
        24: unknown:1890           {1890}   internal, hidden
        25: unknown:1891           {1891}   internal, hidden
        26: unknown:18A1           {18A1}   internal, hidden
        27: unknown:1DF3           {1DF3}   internal, hidden
        28: unknown:1E00           {1E00}   hidden
        29: unknown:1EB0           {1EB0}   internal, hidden
        30: unknown:1861           {1861}   internal, hidden
        31: unknown:1A20           {1A20}   internal, hidden
        32: unknown:18B0           {18B0}   internal, hidden
     Has 24 reprogrammable keys:
         0: Host Switch Channel 1     , default: HostSwitch Channel 1        => HostSwitch Channel 1      
             nonstandard, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         1: Host Switch Channel 2     , default: HostSwitch Channel 2        => HostSwitch Channel 2      
             nonstandard, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         2: Host Switch Channel 3     , default: HostSwitch Channel 3        => HostSwitch Channel 3      
             nonstandard, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         3: Brightness Down           , default: Brightness Down             => Brightness Down           
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:1, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         4: Brightness Up             , default: Brightness Up               => Brightness Up             
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:2, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         5: Mission Control/Task View , default: Mission Control/Task View   => Mission Control/Task View 
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:3, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         6: Dashboard Launchpad/Action Center, default: Dashboard Launchpad/Action Center => Dashboard Launchpad/Action Center
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:4, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         7: Show Desktop              , default: Show Desktop                => Show Desktop              
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:5, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         8: Backlight Down            , default: Backlight Down              => Backlight Down            
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:6, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
         9: Backlight Up              , default: Backlight Up                => Backlight Up              
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:7, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        10: Previous Fn               , default: Previous                    => Previous                  
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:8, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        11: Play/Pause Fn             , default: Play/Pause                  => Play/Pause                
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:9, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        12: Next Fn                   , default: Next                        => Next                      
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:10, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        13: Mute Fn                   , default: Mute                        => Mute                      
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:11, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        14: Volume Down Fn            , default: Volume Down                 => Volume Down               
             is FN, FN sensitive, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:12, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        15: Volume Up Fn              , default: Volume Up                   => Volume Up                 
             nonstandard, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        16: Calculator                , default: Calculator                  => Calculator                
             nonstandard, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        17: Screen Capture/Print Screen, default: Screen Capture              => Screen Capture            
             nonstandard, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        18: App Contextual Menu/Right Click, default: Right Click/App Contextual Menu => Right Click/App Contextual Menu
             nonstandard, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        19: Lock PC                   , default: WindowsLock                 => WindowsLock               
             nonstandard, reprogrammable, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        20: Left Arrow                , default: Keyboard Left Arrow         => Keyboard Left Arrow       
             nonstandard, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        21: Right Arrow               , default: Keyboard Right Arrow        => Keyboard Right Arrow      
             nonstandard, divertable, persistently divertable, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        22: F Lock                    , default: Do Nothing One              => Do Nothing One            
             is FN, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
        23: unknown:0034              , default: Do Nothing One              => Do Nothing One            
             nonstandard, analytics key events, pos:0, group:0, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
     Battery: 50%, discharging, next level 20%.

  2: Wireless Mouse MX Master 2S
     Device path  : /dev/hidraw3
     WPID         : 4069
     Codename     : MX Master 2S
     Kind         : mouse
     Protocol     : HID++ 4.5
     Polling rate : 8 ms (125Hz)
     Serial number: [REDACTED]
     Model ID:      B01940690000
     Unit ID:       [REDACTED]
        Bootloader: BOT 56.01.B0006
          Firmware: MPM 12.01.B0006
          Firmware: MPM 12.01.B0006
             Other: 
     The power switch is located on the base.
     Supports 32 HID++ 2.0 features:
         0: ROOT                   {0000}   
         1: FEATURE SET            {0001}   
         2: DEVICE FW VERSION      {0003}   
            Firmware: Bootloader BOT 56.01.B0006 406916A9FC5401
            Firmware: Firmware MPM 12.01.B0006 B01916A9FC5401
            Firmware: Firmware MPM 12.01.B0006 406916A9FC5401
            Firmware: Other   
            Unit ID: [REDACTED]  Model ID: B01940690000  Transport IDs: {'btleid': 'B019', 'wpid': '4069'}
         3: DEVICE NAME            {0005}   
            Name: Wireless Mouse MX Master 2S
            Kind: mouse
         4: WIRELESS DEVICE STATUS {1D4B}   
         5: RESET                  {0020}   
         6: CRYPTO ID              {0021}   
         7: BATTERY STATUS         {1000}   
            Battery: 50%, discharging, next level 20%.
         8: CONFIG DEVICE PROPS    {1806}   internal, hidden
         9: CHANGE HOST            {1814}   
            Cambia Host        : 1:laptop
        10: REPROG CONTROLS V4     {1B04}   
            Azioni tasto/pulsante (saved): {'195': 195, '196': 196, '80': 80, '81': 81, '82': 82, '83': 83, '86': 86}
            Azioni tasto/pulsante        : {'80': 80, '81': 81, '82': 82, '83': 83, '86': 86, '195': 195, '196': 196}
        11: ADJUSTABLE DPI         {2201}   
            Sensibilità (DPI) (saved): 1900
            Sensibilità (DPI)        : 1900
        12: VERTICAL SCROLLING     {2100}   
            Roller type: 3G
            Ratchet per turn: 24
            Scroll lines: 0
        13: SMART SHIFT            {2110}   
            Scroll Wheel Rachet (saved): 50
            Scroll Wheel Rachet        : 50
        14: HIRES WHEEL            {2121}   
            Multiplier: 8
            Has invert: Normal wheel motion
            Has ratchet switch: Normal wheel mode
            High resolution mode
            HID notification
            Direzione di scorrimento con la rotella (saved): False
            Direzione di scorrimento con la rotella        : False
            Risoluzione dello scorrimento con la rotella (saved): True
            Risoluzione dello scorrimento con la rotella        : True
        15: GESTURE 2              {6501}   
            Gesti (saved): {'45': True, '46': True}
            Gesti        : {'46': True, '45': True}
        16: DFUCONTROL SIGNED      {00C2}   
        17: unknown:1813           {1813}   internal, hidden
        18: unknown:1830           {1830}   internal, hidden
        19: unknown:1890           {1890}   internal, hidden
        20: unknown:1891           {1891}   internal, hidden
        21: unknown:18A1           {18A1}   internal, hidden
        22: unknown:18C0           {18C0}   internal, hidden
        23: unknown:1DF3           {1DF3}   internal, hidden
        24: unknown:1E00           {1E00}   hidden
        25: unknown:1EB0           {1EB0}   internal, hidden
        26: unknown:1803           {1803}   internal, hidden
        27: unknown:1861           {1861}   internal, hidden
        28: unknown:9001           {9001}   internal, hidden
        29: unknown:9200           {9200}   internal, hidden
        30: unknown:9202           {9202}   internal, hidden
        31: OOBSTATE               {1805}   internal, hidden
     Has 8 reprogrammable keys:
         0: Left Button               , default: Left Click                  => Left Click                
             mse, pos:0, group:1, group mask:g1
             reporting: default
         1: Right Button              , default: Right Click                 => Right Click               
             mse, pos:0, group:1, group mask:g1
             reporting: default
         2: Middle Button             , default: Mouse Middle Button         => Mouse Middle Button       
             mse, reprogrammable, divertable, raw XY, pos:0, group:3, group mask:g1,g2,g3
             reporting: default
         3: Back Button               , default: Mouse Back Button           => Mouse Back Button         
             mse, reprogrammable, divertable, raw XY, pos:0, group:2, group mask:g1,g2
             reporting: default
         4: Forward Button            , default: Mouse Forward Button        => Mouse Forward Button      
             mse, reprogrammable, divertable, raw XY, pos:0, group:2, group mask:g1,g2
             reporting: default
         5: Mouse Gesture Button      , default: Gesture Button Navigation   => Gesture Button Navigation 
             mse, reprogrammable, divertable, raw XY, pos:0, group:3, group mask:g1,g2,g3
             reporting: default
         6: Smart Shift               , default: Smart Shift                 => Smart Shift               
             mse, reprogrammable, divertable, raw XY, pos:0, group:3, group mask:g1,g2,g3
             reporting: default
         7: Virtual Gesture Button    , default: Virtual Gesture Button      => Virtual Gesture Button    
             divertable, virtual, raw XY, force raw XY, pos:0, group:4, group mask:empty
             reporting: default
     Has 2 gesture(s), 0 param(s) and 4 spec(s):
        Thumbwheel                 Enabled (   0): True
        NaturalScrolling           Enabled (   1): True
        period unit                Spec    (   3): 800
        DVI field width            Spec    (   1): 8
        field widths               Spec    (   2): 8
        resolution                 Spec    (   4): 2048
     Battery: 50%, discharging, next level 20%.

Describe the bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Press the F1 or F2 button, nothing happens (even pressing the FN key together)

Additional context
Other FN function keys work without any issue (volume control, media player, etc...).
On my laptop keyboard I have the keys for set the display brightness, and these work.

[willemkempers]

Could definitely be wrong, but I doubt this will be supported by Solaar out of the box. Check out DDC/CI tools, such as ddcutil. Currently looking at this, hope to be able to assign a bash command to these buttons to execute ddcutil.

[cristianlivella]

Check out DDC/CI tools, such as ddcutil.

I am not trying to control an external display, but the built in on my laptop. As I said, the keys on the laptop keyboard work properly.

In the Solar rules I see the rule for brightness up and brightness down, so I would assume it should work out of the box.

[pfps]

The behaviour of these two keys should be the same as on the Craft. What this means is that they don't do anything out of the box under the Windows setting of the keyboard. I think that the Logitech driver does something special to set these keys up to work in Windows.

What you should be able to do is divert these keys, using the Key/Button Diversion setting in Solaar. Then Solaar rules can emulate appropriate button pushes for them. There are rules for this built into Solaar. But this only works under X11, not Wayland.

[pfps]

Has you been able to make the keys work?

[pfps]

Closing due to no response from submitter. As well, this is likely not a Solaar problem.

[johnl-m]

I had a similar issue and ended up solving it with ddcutil as willemkempers mentioned. These scripts might work for anyone with external displays: https://github.com/johnl-m/display-brightness-scripts

[pfps]

Solaar has two ways to fix this problem with the Brightness keys on the MX Keys and Craft keyboards. The problem arises because pressing these keys does not produce any keycodes from the keyboard, at least when the keyboard is using the Windows OS setting.

In Solaar you can divert these keys and then have Solaar rules that produce XF86_MonBrightnessUp/Down keypresses, which in most Linux window managers increase and decrease monitor brightness. The rules themselves are built into Solaar but you need to do the diversion. The problem with this method is that it requires Solaar to be running so that it can see the notifications for the diverted keys. This method also requires running X11 as Solaar has no way to simulate keypresses directly in Wayland. Or you could write scripts to do the brightness changing and have Solaar rules that execute these scripts. This would get around the Wayland problem except that Solaar turns off rule processing if X11 isn't available because a lot of the rule capabilities are not available under Wayland. (By the way, if anyone knows how to simulate keyboard input in Wayland without having root privileges please respond here. If anyone is willing to test Solaar rules under Wayland please respond in Issue #1020.)

PR #1407 adds support for persistently changing how keys are handled for devices that support this feature. (Craft keyboards do; MX Keys for Business doesn't.) In this PR all that should be needed is to bind the Persistent Key/Button Mapping for Brightness Up and Brightness Down to (the HID Consumer Codes) Brightness Up and Brightness Down. After this is done Solaar does not need to be running. The keyboard can even be moved to a different computer, as long as the binding is not reset. This PR needs more testing before it can be incorporated into Solaar, though.

To clone and use Solar from its GitHub repository

git clone https://github.com/pwr-Solaar/Solaar.git
cd Solaar

Run Solaar as bin/solaar from this directory.

To run PR #1407, first clone Solaar if you have not already done so and cd to the clone directory. The first time you download the pull request, fetch it into a new branch and checkout that branch, as in:

git fetch origin pull/1407/head:pull_1407
git checkout pull_1407

To download a new version of the pull request, fetch it and then set your pull branch
to the new fetch, as in:

git checkout pull_1407
git fetch origin pull/1407/head
git reset --hard FETCH_HEAD

[luixal]

Hi,

I'm also having this problem with brightness function keys. I've been playing around with Solaar and made some progress, it's not ideal, but it works:

1. I'm using this script I found somewhere else (don't recall where):

#!/bin/bash
# brightness: Change all monitors brightness in software.
# by hackerb9, 2019

# Examples:  brightness 75;  brightness -5; brightness +10
# Usage:
#       brightess [n] [+n] [-n]
#       n       An integer from 0 to 100 specifies a brightness level.
#       +n      Increase brightness by n.
#       -n      Decrease brightness by n.
#               No argument shows current brightness level.

b=$(xrandr --current --verbose | grep Brightness)
b=${b#*: }                      # Remove "Brightness: "
b=${b#0.}                       # 0.30 --> 30
[[ $b == "1.0" ]] && b="100"
case $1 in
    +*|-*)
        b=$((b $1))             # b=b+10,  b=b-10
        ;;
    [0-9]*)
        b=$1                    # b=75
        ;;
    *)
        echo $b; exit
        ;;
esac

[[ $b -lt 0 ]] && b=0
[[ $b -gt 100 ]] && b=100

if [[ $b -eq 100 ]]; then
    b=1.0
else
    b=0.$b
fi

outputs=$(xrandr --current | awk '$2 == "connected" {print $1}')
for o in $outputs; do
    xrandr --output $o --brightness $b
done 

2. I've placed it in /usr/local/bin for it to be accessible.
3. I've added two user rules in Solaar to call that script increasing and decreasing brigthness by 10% (it can be changed to 5 or whatever granularity you prefer). Those rules look like this:

I got an initial glitch on first brightness change, but it works quite well. Also, I have no idea why changing brightness this way is not reflected in settings brightness slider...

I have no clue why XF86_MonBrightnessUp/Down do not work on X11 + gnome.

[fasunna]

Hey guys, had same problem here with the brightness keys and with the host changing keys. I found a configuration in the Solaar that seems to fix the problem for me. Just enable "Key/Button Diversion" and set the key that is troubling you to "Diverted", that way it seems that the keystroke is properly sent to the OS.
Note: if you change the "Host Button" keep in mind that is necessary to configure its action, since the peripheral may not work properly with some tweak in the "Rule Editor".