Monitorcontrol: Functions keys aren't working

[nekrasovdmitriy]

Thank you for your work, app is super cool, best looking monitor brightness manager on macOS nowdays. Working fine with my Viewsonic and Dell. App starts at login, but f1-f2 keys still don't work for changing brightness. Or maybe there is another shortcut?

Some suggestions:
Ability of changing order of displays in preferences. (now second display is first, first display is second in menu bar).
If function keys will work, let them listen for contrast change too.

[Amir-Hass]

I use Karabiner-Elements to map my tilde key (next to #1) to the "fn" key on a first-party Apple keyboard, so I can use them. Works flawlessly. However, I do wish to be able to change the order of displays as well because they did switch for me as well.

[nekrasovdmitriy]

I use Apple keyboard with numpad, so i have fn key. But fn+f1 or f2 don`t work too.

[the0neyouseek]

Hi @nekrasovdmitriy & @Amir-Hass ,

First, thanks for the feedback 😄 always nice to hear someone enjoy this.

I'll look into the function keys bug tomorrow if I have time or next weekend. My current setup is an Mbp with one external keyboard (from Apple) and one external monitor (Asus PB279Q) so it's a little bit tricky for me to test all cases but I'll try.

For me (without Karabiner installed) both function keys and native keys are working (so with or without the fn key pushed down). If it isn't for you please check that you have enabled the app in macOS Accessibility settings. If it's still not working, well…, I'll try to find what causes this and fix it in the next version.

Have a nice day

[nekrasovdmitriy]

Maybe it works for because you have native apple keyboard and display (built in your MBP) with native brightness control with f1/f2. In my case, i have Mac Pro with third party displays and didn't have ability to control their brightness by keyboard from the start.

[falcn]

I have Macbook, but F1/F2 keys are not working for me as well. MonitorControl is enabled in Accessibility panel. I've tried enabling/disabling "Use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys", and tried to press keys both with and without Fn, no luck.

Although app definitely highjacks these keys, because, with app running, I'm unable to control internal display brightness while I have a focus in a window on the external monitor (which is an intended behavior AFAIK)

[the0neyouseek]

Okay guys,

I've uploaded a new version v1.2.1 could you try it and see if it works better now, I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with my code…

[falcn]

Still not working for me.

[falcn]

One thing I noticed: MonitorControl hijacks F1-F2 (they stop working in other apps), while it should use Fn-F1 and Fn-F2, because I have "use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys". I have an app SoundControl which replaces built-in volume control, it interprets hotkeys correctly: Fn-F11 is reduce volume, F11 is unaffected. I can link apps here on github that use brightness control hotkeys correctly, and use native hud as well if it would help.

[Amir-Hass]

I'm having that issue too even when I have Function keys set to be standard in kraberiner. With my third party keyboard I set the tilde key to be Fn for the control but it's not working as F1 and F2 adjust brightness without the tilde key pressed

[the0neyouseek]

Okay, I think see where the problem is.

I use the standard keycodes for the function keys and capture the event directly from it. I did not test with karabiner but It may be what prevent your mapping from working, I'll look into that.

And, yes @falcn , MonitorControl hijacks those key because the lib I use is made to do that. It is the intended behavior as, for me, those key should only do that, but, you raise a good point being that it should work for you only if fn is pressed.

I'll correct that in the next version.

[nekrasovdmitriy]

Still not working for me. I have not Karabiner installed, app is allowed in security settings. Sliders controls works well for both displays but f1-f2 keys do nothing.

[the0neyouseek]

Hmm @nekrasovdmitriy,

Can you please tell me a bit more, what keyboard do you have ? Do you have the option "use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys" enabled ? What macOS version are you on ?

[nekrasovdmitriy]

Sure. I have wired Apple Magic Keyboard with numpad, macOS 10.13.3 on Mac Pro 5.1, option "use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys" is disabled. (i tried to turn it on, it did not help)

[the0neyouseek]

Okay thats weird, I have the exact same setup right in front of me and it works... What's your setup like ? Mbp + external screen(s) ? iMac + external screen(s) ? other ?

[nekrasovdmitriy]

Mac Pro 5.1 + two external displays: Dell and ViewSonic. Pay attention, that my setup does not have native apple built-in display, as in iMac or Mbp, only third-party monitors. Maybe can it be a problem?

[the0neyouseek]

Okay, thanks @nekrasovdmitriy , I'll look into it asap.

[falcn]

@the0neyouseek my point was: it hijacks keys (meaning that this part is working as intended), but input is ignored (regardless of the state of "use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys"). Just trying to help to pinpoint the issue.

[Amir-Hass]

I'm on 10.12.6 with a corsair K70 keyboard. Two external monitors From ASUS.

[foyzur]

This does not work for me as well. I have a Macbook pro 14,1 with a non Apple USB keyboard and a DELL U3415W. Tested with both Karabiner-elements enabled and disabled. The slider works pretty well.
EDIT: another thing that I noticed: if I run monitor control, it takes away from Karabiner the volume control keys (F11 and F12) and those keys can no longer increase/decrease the volume (even for my headphone).
EDIT2: Used a bluetooth Apple wireless keyboard. Disabled Karabiner-elements and still see the same behavior. Even Apple keyboard volume key stops working as soon as I start Monitor Control. I am running Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1212).

[dzg]

First, @the0neyouseek, this is awesome, thanks!

Brightness keys aren't working for me either. I have an Apple large keyboard on a Hackintosh. Tried all kinds of combos of fn key, tried FunctionFlip, etc.

Ideally I'd like to be able to define my own keys, like F16/F17, separately for both brightness & contrast.

(Also the app shows as version 1.0 not 1.2.1 in my Finder.)

[reitermarkus]

The keys (neither with nor without Fn) are also not working for me on an Apple Magic Keyboard on a Hackintosh. It does however work with Fn if I use https://github.com/Bensge/NativeDisplayBrightness/releases/tag/v0.0.5, so maybe this could serve as a pointer towards the cause.

[nekrasovdmitriy]

I can also confirm that F1/F2 + Fn keys works for me in https://github.com/Bensge/NativeDisplayBrightness/releases/tag/v0.0.5

[falcn]

Function keys are working in https://github.com/the0neyouseek/MonitorControl/releases/tag/v1.1

Whatever broke it, it was a fairly recent change

[nekrasovdmitriy]

@falcn Not for me.

[bartekrutkowski]

I can confirm that 1.2.1 version doesn't work with Apple Keyboard (F1/F2 keys) for Dell U2718Q monitor, even though the volume keys (F10/F11/F12) are working and the brightness slider is working.

[reitermarkus]

For me with a Magic Keyboard, in 1.1, brightness using F1/F2 does not work, but volume using F11/F12 does.

Edit: Volume is also still working in 1.2, so it seems 1.2.1 broke this.

[waydabber]

I can confirm the same issue. Tested on a Mac Mini 2012 (+ Lenovo L24Q) a Macbook 2017 (+ LG L27UD88) both with an Apple Wireless Keyboard. Both running High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D102). Sliders are working fine. Neither the brightness (F1/F2) nor the volume (F11/F12) keys do work. The volume keys are properly hijacked by the app (since the standard F11/F12 volume keys are unresponsive when the app listens for "Both Brightness & Volume"), but the volume is not controlled and the volume level overlay is not shown.

[the0neyouseek]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your reports, I'll try to have a look quickly to fix this (annoying) bug ! (Hopefully by next week)

[reitermarkus]

I tried to look into this, and it seems that it's not storing the settings correctly by default. After I unchecked and re-checked my display in the “Display” tab, it started working. Weirdly, I cannot reproduce it by removing the .plist, so I'm not 100% sure that this is the problem.

Edit: I can reproduce it by restarting after deleting the .plist.

[waydabber]

@reitermarkus - thanks for the tip, this solved the issue for me! :)

[nekrasovdmitriy]

@reitermarkus Yes, after this tip function keys start working at last, big thanks.

[the0neyouseek]

Thanks @reitermarkus for looking into this, I've got to say I didn't really had the opportunity to 👍

New version is available now right here v1.3.0