# Brightness control keys not working on my i3WM install

**URL:** <https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064>\
**Category:** All WMs\
**Created:** [September 25, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064 "2021-09-25T13:49:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/1 "2021-09-25T13:49:43Z")

</div>

Hi,

I just recently got installed my first EnOS-i3WM on a laptop. I am taking my first steps to learn and figure out how things work in a WM, in this case i3.

I am facing some issues that I am hopeful to resolve with your guidance and help.

First off: I don’t seem to be able to adjust the screen brightness. Usually F5 and F6 (without pressing Fn-key) works for decreasing and increasing the brightness. However they don’t work in my install of i3.

I came across the following post in another thread:

> [@Fn keys not working](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/fn-keys-not-working/14930):
>
> Hi, I just installed EndeavourOS with i3 in my Thinkpad t495 and only the “airplane mode” fn key is working, but all of them worked in the installer. Anyone has had this happen and knows how to solve it? Thanks! EDIT: Just realized, the volume up and down keys (not the mute one) are working, it just doesn’t notify, and also the bookmarks one

Here is the output of the command:

```auto
$ grep -i xf86 ~/.config/i3/config
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight +10
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -10
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec amixer -D pulse sset Master 5%+ && pkill -RTMIN+1 i3blocks
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec amixer -D pulse sset Master 5%- && pkill -RTMIN+1 i3blocks
#bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec pamixer -i 5 --allow-boost && dunstify -h string:x-dunst-stack-tag:volume volume: $(pamixer --get-volume)%
#bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec pamixer -d 5 --allow-boost && dunstify -h string:x-dunst-stack-tag:volume volume: $(pamixer --get-volume)%
#bindsym XF86AudioMute exec pamixer -t && dunstify -h string:x-dunst-stack-tag:mute mute: $(pamixer --get-mute)!
bindsym $mod+XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec amixer -D pulse sset Master 1%+ && pkill -RTMIN+1 i3blocks
bindsym $mod+XF86AudioLowerVolume exec amixer -D pulse sset Master 1%- && pkill -RTMIN+1 i3blocks
#bindsym XF86AudioMute exec amixer sset Master toggle && killall -USR1 i3blocks
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec pamixer -t && notify-send "mute: $(pamixer --get-mute)"
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

```

I see the following lines related to brightness:

```auto
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight +10
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -10

```

but I don’t know which keys on the keyboard they refer to.

Update:

I tried running` xbacklight +10` in a terminal and got:  
`bash: xbacklight: command not found`

So I went ahead and installed `xorg-xbacklight`. Yet the keys are not functioning.

By the way, shouldn’t `xorg-xbacklight` be part of the packages to be installed since the CL to be executed is used in the config file?

Update 2:

I tried to set the brightness via terminal:

```auto
$ xbacklight -set 0.20
No outputs have backlight property

```

Something else seems to be lacking on my setup. I would appreciate any hints/pointers to resolve this.

Edit:

Some more output (fwiw):

```auto
$ sudo find /sys/ -type f -iname '*brightness*' 
[sudo] password for pebcak: 
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::numlock/brightness
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::numlock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::capslock/brightness
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::capslock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::scrolllock/brightness
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input3/input3::scrolllock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.3/PNP0C09:00/VPC2004:00/leds/platform::kbd_backlight/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.3/PNP0C09:00/VPC2004:00/leds/platform::kbd_backlight/brightness_hw_changed
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.3/PNP0C09:00/VPC2004:00/leds/platform::kbd_backlight/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.0/backlight/amdgpu_bl0/actual_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.0/backlight/amdgpu_bl0/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.0/backlight/amdgpu_bl0/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::scrolllock/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::scrolllock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::numlock/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::numlock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::capslock/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.3/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/0003:062A:4101.0003/input/input13/input13::capslock/max_brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.2/0000:01:00.0/leds/phy0-led/brightness
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.2/0000:01:00.0/leds/phy0-led/max_brightness
/sys/module/video/parameters/hw_changes_brightness
/sys/module/video/parameters/brightness_switch_enabled

```

```auto
$ systemctl --all | grep backlight 
  sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:08.1-0000:03:00.0-backlight-amdgpu_bl0.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:03:00.0/backlight/amdgpu_bl0
  sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:14.3-PNP0C09:00-VPC2004:00-leds-platform::kbd_backlight.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.3/PNP0C09:00/VPC2004:00/leds/platform::kbd_backlight
  systemd-backlight@backlight:amdgpu_bl0.service loaded active exited Load/Save Screen Backlight Brightness of backlight:amdgpu_bl0
  systemd-backlight@leds:platform::kbd_backlight.service loaded active exited Load/Save Screen Backlight Brightness of leds:platform::kbd_backlight
  system-systemd\x2dbacklight.slice loaded active active Slice /system/systemd-backlight

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/anon75994754)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/2 "2021-09-25T14:43:20Z")

</div>

on Pinebook pro no work … brightnessctl work

so could try

```auto
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightnessctl set 5%-
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec brightnessctl set +5%

```

check

```auto
pacman -Qi brightnessctl

```

my Fn+f1 down… Fn+F2 up

EDit i check my sway ( use now ) this in config

```auto
# Backlight
#
    bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec brightnessctl -c backlight set +5%
    bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightnessctl -c backlight set 5%-
#

```

EDit 2

```auto
Usage: brightnessctl [options] [operation] [value]

Options:
  -l, --list list devices with available brightness controls.
  -q, --quiet suppress output.
  -p, --pretend do not perform write operations.
  -m, --machine-readable	produce machine-readable output.
  -n, --min-value set minimum brightness, defaults to 1.
  -e, --exponent[=K] changes percentage curve to exponential.
  -s, --save save previous state in a temporary file.
  -r, --restore restore previous saved state.
  -h, --help print this help.
  -d, --device=DEVICE specify device name (can be a wildcard).
  -c, --class=CLASS specify device class.
  -V, --version print version and exit.

Operations:
  i, info get device info.
  g, get get current brightness of the device.
  m, max get maximum brightness of the device.
  s, set VALUE set brightness of the device.

Valid values:
  specific value Example: 500
  percentage value Example: 50%
  specific delta Example: 50- or +10
  percentage delta Example: 50%- or +10%

```

hope it help

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/3 "2021-09-25T15:11:46Z")

</div>

> [@anon75994754](#):
>
> on Pinebook pro no work … brightnessctl work
> 
> so could try
> 
> ```auto
> bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightnessctl set 5%-
> bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec brightnessctl set +5%
> 
> ```
> 
> check
> 
> ```auto
> pacman -Qi brightnessctl
> 
> ```
> 
> my Fn+f1 down… Fn+F2 up
> 
> EDit i check my sway ( use now ) this in config
> 
> ```auto
> # Backlight
> #
> bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec brightnessctl -c backlight set +5%
> bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightnessctl -c backlight set 5%-
> #
> 
> ```

> [@anon75994754](#):
>
> hope it help

Indeed, it did! Awesome, thank you so much!

I needed to install `brightnessctl` and add those lines to ~/.config/i3/config. I chose 1% as I like to have a more fine grained tuning.

PS- I’ll change the title of the topic and mark it solved. I will create other threads for my other questions/issues.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/anon75994754)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/4 "2021-09-25T15:34:39Z")

</div>

i happy you got fix … Hope it no stop you use wm! it learn curve . worth it in end 😉

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/5 "2021-09-25T15:40:32Z")

</div>

Thanks @anon75994754!

> [@anon75994754](#):
>
> Hope it no stop you use wm! it learn curve . worth it in end

No way! With the fantastic support I get from you guys, I think I’ll be fine taking on the learning curve. So far so good and it’s lot of fun learning new things. It’s just that my brain is wired to do things differently in a full DE environment. But I just have to rewire it little by little every day.  
🧠

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@anon75994754](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/anon75994754)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/6 "2021-09-25T15:44:53Z")

</div>

you welcome 👍

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pudge/32/17155_2.png) [@Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/Pudge)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/7 "2021-09-25T18:22:16Z")

</div>

> [@pebcak](#):
>
> But I just have to rewire it little by little every day.

One thing that helped me, is use a text editor and type in the keyboard shortcuts that you use most frequently. Print it out and put on your desk or keyboard as such.

 ![20210925_121337](https://forum.endeavouros.com/uploads/default/original/3X/2/2/22339621358d5d5c0f1a955c26d12e9a114a8548.jpeg)  
Sorry the pic is a little dark.

Then when some of these become second nature, remove the well known ones, and replace with new shortcuts as you run across them.

Pudge

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/8 "2021-09-25T18:28:15Z")

</div>

What a great tips!  
Thanks @pudge! I certainly will put your method in practice. Sounds like a very efficient way to learn all those shortcuts.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pudge/32/17155_2.png) [@Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/Pudge)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/9 "2021-09-25T18:56:33Z")

</div>

> [@pebcak](#):
>
> Sounds like a very efficient way to learn all those shortcuts.

When a person is seventy one years old and dyslexic, visual aids are crucial. 😣

Pudge

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![joekamprad](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/joekamprad/32/77608_2.png) [@joekamprad](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/joekamprad)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/10 "2021-09-25T18:58:49Z")

</div>

a very very nice keyboard!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/11 "2021-09-25T19:00:38Z")

</div>

Wish I will have your cognitive capabilities when I am 71.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/12 "2021-09-25T19:01:38Z")

</div>

> [@joekamprad](#):
>
> a very very nice keyboard!

True that!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pudge/32/17155_2.png) [@Pudge](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/Pudge)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/13 "2021-09-25T19:10:57Z")

</div>

The keyboard is made by Key Tronic. I don’t even think they are in business any more.

The first one I bought was a PS2 keyboard, it now sits in the closet.  
I have four USB Key Tronic. I have never found a keyboard I like better. Plus, these things last forever.

Pudge

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/pebcak/32/100472_2.png) [@pebcak](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/pebcak)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/14 "2021-09-25T19:14:11Z")

</div>

It certainly looks great just judging by the picture. I’m sure it’s a joy typing on such a keyboard.  
It seems that gone are the days that things were made to last. It’s quite sad given the state of the planet nowadays.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://forum.endeavouros.com/uploads/default/original/2X/9/9ea52f9fd5ef8e609e593c362d61a36295f48be8.png) [@system](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/brightness-control-keys-not-working-on-my-i3wm-install/18064/15 "2021-09-27T19:14:28Z")

</div>

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