MacBook Air :: 2011 - Brightness / Volume Keys Not Working
Aug 21, 2014
Really stumped by this. Recently (I think it was after a MacOS update but I'm not sure) my brightness and volume keys stopped working on my 2011 13" MacBook Air running MacOS 10.9.4. The F keys still work i.e. if I press Fn-F10, I get the expected effect from pressing F10, but if I just press F10, volume remains unchanged (should get muted). Mission Control, Launchpad, and media keys (rewind, play/pause, ff) all work.
Using Karabiner, I checked to make sure the keys generate correct events. They do. Pressing the brightness keys generates 0x3 and 0x2. Pressing the volume keys generates 0x7, 0x1, and 0x0, which are the expected key codes defined in ev_keymap.h, the header file for HID. I can also adjust volume and brightness using the sliders in the appropriate section of "System Preferences."
So volume and brightness itself can be changed. They keyboard keys themselves work and produce correct keycodes. But whatever operating system feature (HID?) that is supposed to read the keyboard input and translate it into commands to the display and sound drivers doesn't work.
I've tried all the obvious stuff (restart, safe mode, toggle the Function key option in System Preferences->Keyboard). I've reset SMC and PRAM. Nothing has worked so far.
The only other thing I can think of is that a while back (before this problem started occuring) I got annoyed by the power button in the top-right corner of the keyboard, which I would occasionally hit accidentally. I searched for a way to disable it, and I think I found something -- now it only does something if it's held for 2 seconds. A quick up-down strike does not do anything. Perhaps in tweaking some setting to achieve this behavior (I don't remember what I did), I screwed up something with the brightness/volume keys, but this screw up only became evident later.
I have a 2011 (?) macbook air and ever since my trip to the genius bar for a battery issue my function keys don't work after I wake it up (just opening screen). May also be related to last firmware update?
I have checked the function key mapping in settings and they are normal. The volume key launches Expose and the brightness keys (and others) don't do anything. A reboot helps but only untill the first time I put it to sleep (close/open lid).
I just purchased a new wired keyboard for imac and brightness and volume control keys not working . i have tried adjusting keyboard settings. I have software version 10.5.8. Do I need to upgrade software.
Whenever I press on the volume key or brightness, I have to hold it down for 3 seconds for it to change, it didn't do that before, I messed it up, can it be fixed?
I have recently put windows 7 professional on my aluminum macbook, installed all the drivers, and so forth. I hook up my macbook up to an external monitor, and use a logitech dinovo keyboard for a mac. However, when I am in windows 7, the function keys do not adjust volume, brightness, and any other of the functions.
I have a MBP with an apple wireless keyboard. The keyboard has brightness keys on it but they have recently stopped working. It is strange as the keys on the MBP still work but the ones on the bluetooth keyboard, placed exactly in the same spot (the wireless KB and the Macbook pro's KB are exactly the same), don't.
I cannot control my screen brightness using the F5 and F8 keys. The only way I can adjust it is through System Preferences. I tried just F5 fn F5, Control F5, Option F5 and Command F5 and non work.
My volume keys on my MacBook have stopped working. All otherkeys work fine. Tried re-setting the PRAM and nothing. Made sure the voiceovers and such were disabled as well.
The volume and other function keys aren't working as they used to. The brightness key doesn't do anything and the volume key isn't working either. I've tried to fix it on system preferences but it didn't work. They're not set to be used like normal function keys. I don't know what is happening they were working fine.
On my new 15inch mbp the volume keys have suddenly stopped working. I checked in system preferences that the use F1 keys as standard is not selected. When I plugged in speakers or headphones the volume keys work as normal. But with just internal the little picture on screen comes up so the keys work but it doesn't affect the volume?
The issue is with the brightness keys and the brightness slider controls. It appears that after the 10.4 upgrade the main LCD on some PBs and iBooks stops working. In my case the attached screen lost the ability to adjust brightness, but my external 20" LCD is fine. It looks like two things have happened. The association between the keys (F1 and F2) and the code for controlling brightness somehow got disconnected and/or the "capability" of the mac to adjust the brightness of the attached LCD got lost in the upgrade. We've tried repair permissions, rebooting, new users to no avail.
Up until recently, F1 - F5 have been Brightness and Volume controls, as they have been since I got the thing. I go to use the Volume, and it doesn't work. I then try the Brightness, and it doesn't work. F6 - F12 all work just fine, which leads me to believe that iBook had a brain fart.
My volume balance has always altered itself. Balancing itself out of one speaker left or right as it so chooses. I know it's smart, but now it's just screwing with me. Settings go and change on their own, dock icons have switched, but this one has stumped me. How do I get those hardware function keys back to doing what they're there to do?
Also, I tried it with an App called Rowmote, that lets you control your Mac from your iPhone, with Apple Remote-like control, and the volume won't change using that either. Another symptom is that sometimes it makes clicking sounds, as if it were changing slowly and glitchy (which it did click sometimes anyhow) when using the Volume slider in the menu bar.
No, the options in System Preferences is not checked to use them as FN. Any ideas?
So everything's been fine on this Mac Book. Just about an hour ago, my volume keys stopped working. I tried re-setting the PRAM. That didn't work. Imade sure voice overs and such were disabled. Still nothing.
I just installed Windows 7 on my Windows partition and everything works fine (video, audio, etc.) except when I try to control the sound from my keyboard with F10, F11 and F12....nothing happens.
After the cat spilled a glass of water on my wireless keyboard I had to get a new one. I asked the folks at my local Apple store both over the phone and in person if the 10-key keyboard (non-wireless) they were going to sell me was compatible with Mac OS X version 10.5.8 (I think I'm Leopard) and they assured me it was. When I hit the volume keys, it initially used the assigned function of the F10, F11, and F12 keys (manipulated the windows and dashboard). I removed those key assignments through system preferences but now the volume keys do absolutely nothing. I tried looking for volume controls through the assignments but couldn't even find them to assign the F10, F11 and F12 keys to them.
Recently, my newer (last year) iMac probably running 10.5 started speaking and wont shut up... there is no obvious way to turn it off. I usually figure problems out myself but there are no system preferences that effect it. I even changed the voice in preferences as a test and it is still the same guy reading everything clicked in all applications except when I am in system preferences so far. Usually when I run into a dead end like this there is some mystery key command that works... anyone know?I also noticed that some of the top line (f) keys are not doing what they are supposed to any longer as well... volume up opens the window for expose & spaces it looks like and does not control the volume monitor brightness controls are not working either... I went to the key and mouse preferences and set the key strokes to default and still the same.
I'm having a custom keyboard connected to my mac, but I want to change the brightness keys to my preferences. I can't seem to find them though.where I have to change it?
When I wake my Mac up from sleep, and attempt to change the brightness using the function keys, I see the brightness "image" pop-up on the screen, but when I try to lower it, the brightness doesn't change. The boxes quickly go down, but instantly go right back up to the original brightness. Running Mac OS X 10.6.4
I'm a noob to the MBP. Just got it last month and still learning how to use it. Anyways, my volume and brightness button worked a few hours ago, now it doesn't work. When I tried lowering the volume it doesn't work. Then I tried using the play button to start my itunes and that doesn't work either. I don't know what I did wrong. How can I get it back?
It seems that the control keys for brightness (default F1 & F2 keys) and volume (default F3, F4 and F5 keys) have moved to another key combination. Don't ask me what I've done . I already tried Fn, but that did not help.
Does any know how to rearrange the keys to the default keys?
My volume and brightness (both display and keyboard) buttons stopped working. I deleted front row out of the Applications folder and CoreServices folder. I rebooted and they started working again. Then I went and started streaming a movie on Netflix and now they aren't working. Any ideas?
A few minutes ago I noticed that my MBA's keyboard was not lighting up as it's supposed to. A little experimenting and I found the solution (you may kick yourself, this is so simple): The F5 key decreases keyboard brightness. The F6 key increases keyboard brightness. The icons on these two keys are the clue.
I use my MBP hooked up to an NEC display with an Apple wired keyboard. Is there any way to have the F1/F2 keys still control the brightness on the MBP display? They currently don't do anything.
When you want to raise or lower the volume, as you raise or lower them, the accompanying volume that you're setting it to should raise and lower as you go along. Well, I've noticed that this hasn't been happening lately and some of my other sounds have disappeared too, such as in ichat, the sent message and received message sounds aren't occurring even though the settings are set for them to happen. Anyone else experienced this before? I just want to know how I can get my volume keys to work again so that I can hear them as I raise and lower the volume even if there's no sound coming
So I installed Vista 64 bit on my Macbook Pro (Santa Rosa), I installed most of the drivers I can find, but I cant get the screen brightness buttons to work (F1 and F2)
