Qmk_firmware: OSX System Keys

Created on 31 Jan 2016 · 13Comments · Source: qmk/qmk_firmware

Is it possible to emulate the system keys you find on Apple keyboards for things like screen brightness up/down? I haven't been able to find any info on how to emulate those special keys. Thanks!

Source

jeffsmohan

Most helpful comment

Some are supported!

KC_SLCK - Brightness up
KC_PAUS - Brightness down

jackhumbert on 1 Feb 2016

👍5

All 13 comments

Some are supported!

KC_SLCK - Brightness up
KC_PAUS - Brightness down

jackhumbert on 1 Feb 2016

👍5

Any idea if F14/F15 (also mentioned in that thread) will control the screen brightness in Windows 10, or what the keycodes to do that on Windows 10 might be?

wez on 1 Feb 2016

I'm not familiar with Windows machines, but something like that may be possible with Autohotkey!

jackhumbert on 1 Feb 2016

Was hoping for something native, but glad you pointed me to Autohotkey, thanks!

wez on 1 Feb 2016

Thanks so much for the help! Unfortunately, I've tried using those keycodes and they don't seem to be working for me. Have others had success with KC_SLCK and KC_PAUS? (I'm on OSX 10.11.2.) Or is it something off with my code? (I have no experience with C... https://github.com/jeffschenck/qmk_firmware/blob/61a3ac0/keyboard/ergodox_ez/keymaps/jeffschenck/keymap.c#L185)

Any additional direction would be much appreciated! Otherwise, I can go back to mapping those keys to KC_F13 and KC_F14, then using BetterTouchTool to map those to brightness adjustments. It'd be great to have it cleanly contained in the keyboard, though. :)

jeffsmohan on 2 Feb 2016

F14/F15 worked to control the brightness both on my macbook and on my apple display when connected

wez on 2 Feb 2016

@wez I definitely see those shortcuts set by default in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Display. However, they don't seem to work as advertised for me. Even when I set them to easier-to-press shortcuts (like Cmd+5) and hit the shortcut directly on my laptop's built-in keyboard, it doesn't trigger screen brightness. Perhaps it's just something off about my system...

jeffsmohan on 2 Feb 2016

👍1

At first KC_PAUS and KC_SLCK didn't work for me neither, but after un-pluging and pluging the USB cable it started working.

I have tried this with ErgoDox EZ on OS X 10.11.3 (15D21).

romanzolotarev on 19 Mar 2016

👍3

Thank you for following up here, @romanzolotarev! Too few people take the time to note when stuff works - super helpful. :)

ezuk on 20 Mar 2016

@ezuk Here is my layout https://github.com/jackhumbert/qmk_firmware/pull/205 :)
Note: I'm using KC_F14 and KC_F15 to control display brightness on OS X, because F14/F15 is concise, but KC_PAUS and KC_SLCK also work.

romanzolotarev on 21 Mar 2016

Awesome! Saw the Readme, too :)

ezuk on 21 Mar 2016

Folks, here is a possible solution https://github.com/jackhumbert/qmk_firmware/pull/207. Could you please check?

romanzolotarev on 22 Mar 2016

@jackhumbert’s solution worked for me, however it’s backwards (at least for me on Mojave) — KC_SLCK is bright down and KC_PAUS is brightness up.