XFCE change brightness steps and/or change brightness key behavior
I'm trying to change the brightness steps in XFCE from 10 to 20. I'd like the ability to gradually change the laptop's brightness by 5% instead of 10%. Is there a way to set this up with a config file for XFCE?
If that is not an option, I have thought of another way: I know that I can disable XFCE's power settings from handling brightness keys, but setting up a shortcut in keyboard preferences does not seem to be able to override this.
Is there another way I can remap what XF86MonBrightnessUp
and XF86MonBrightnessDown
do when pressed? Specifically, I'd like Up
to use the command lumeus +5%
and Down
to use the command lumeus -5%
.
Can either idea be done while using XFCE with its XFWM?
Solution 1:
No need to recompile the xfce4-power-manager
There really is no need to recompile xfce4-power-manager
.
Firstly, install xbacklight
$ sudo apt install xbacklight
Secondly, check whether you have control over the backlight.
$ xbacklight -1
$ xbacklight +5
Should these commands result in a No outputs have backlight property
error,
then follow these remediating steps before proceeding.
Once xbacklight -1
and xbacklight +1
work from the command line, proceed with assigning these commands to respectively the XF86MonBrightnessDown
and XF86MonBrightnessUp
keys. This is done by hitting those keys when asked by the Settings → Keyboard → Application Shortcuts application.
Finally, reboot for these changes to take effect.
Solution 2:
Another year passes and another year of no progress on this issue despite easy solutions posted online (e.g., How to obtain more brightness levels using Fn+keys in Xfce?).
You need to recompile Xfce Power Manager with minor changes in the code.
Download Power Manager from here: http://archive.xfce.org/xfce/4.12/src/xfce4-power-manager-1.4.3.tar.bz2
Unpack it and
cd
into the folder.Open
common/xfpm-brightness.c
in a text editor: (e.g.,gvim common/xfpm-brightness.c
).-
Change line 515:
set_level = MAX (hw_level/1.5, brightness->priv->min_level);
-
Change line 475:
set_level = MIN (hw_level*2 + (hw_level==0), brightness->priv->max_level );
Save and close.
-
Type
./configure
at the command prompt. You're kind of on your own here... there will be errors and you need to fix them. E.g., on Xubuntu 18.04 I needed to install several things:sudo apt-get install libdbus-glib-1-dev sudo apt-get install libxfce4ui-1-dev sudo apt-get install libnotify-dev sudo apt-get install libupower-glib-dev
Once configure is complete, type
make
.Once make completes, type
sudo make install
.Logout and login. Voilà! You have smaller backlight increments.
Solution 3:
Before downloading (step 1 above), check the version number:
xfce4-power-manager --version
Then download the correct version from here:
https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-power-manager
Last issue, I seem to run into a polkit error when running the custom xfce4 power manager (related to [this][1] but no fix).
[1]: Authentication needed to run xfpm-power-backlight-helper as super user https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=11190