Cannot change volume while on logon screen

I have the same problem with Gutsy. It was ok with Feisty.

Hi Chris
Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue for you? Can you try with the development version of Ubuntu, Hardy Heron?

Thanks in advance.

Still confirmed as a bug in the latest Hardy Beta.

Quoting Basilio Kublik <email address hidden>:

> Hi Chris
> Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make
> Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't
> been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an
> issue for you? Can you try with the development version of Ubuntu,
> Hardy Heron?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> ** Changed in: gdm (Ubuntu)
> Importance: Undecided => Low
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Basilio Kublik (sourcercito)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> Cannot change volume while on logon screen
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/156169
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

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I've done a little bit of research and it seems that mixer_applet2 controls the volume from the keyboard shortcuts. I don't know enough about global shortcuts, but is it right to say that if mixer_applet2 was loaded with the GDM that the volume would change, is it that easy? Or should there be a very small app which just grabs the volume keys from X and changes the master ALSA volume built into the GDM?

Any news on how to go about solving this bug?

Try the following:

Set the desired default volume with gnome-volume-control and store that state as the default by running:

$ sudo alsactl store

To reset the volume to the default when the user logs out:

Create a shell script named alsa with the following content:

#!/bin/sh
/sbin/alsactl restore
exit 0

Put it in /etc/gdm/PostSession

Oops, I posted too fast.

Disregard what I said about creating script named alsa. Simply add the following line:

/sbin/alsactl restore

to

/etc/gdm/PostSession/Default

near the bottom on the line previous to the one with "exit 0"

Sorry about the confusion.

This does not really solve the issue. A simple solution would be to enable the gnome keyboard shortcuts at the login screen. Is there a daemon that can be run in order to do this?

This has been discussed elsewhere such as here: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2148/

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

This has annoyed me for a long time, also. It particularly affects first startup of the computer.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Set your volume up reasonably high before shutdown, or otherwise ensure the volume levels are high in alsa at boot time
2. Reboot the machine
3. Log in
4. Arggh! The ubuntu login sound is breaking my brain! Smash the volume down or mute key several times

Expected result: The volume should reduce or mute, softening or eliminating the din
Actual result: The volume controls have no effect while the sound is playing, or for several seconds afterwards.

By the time the volume keys work the desktop is already up. This affects volume and mute keys on keyboards, and also "soft" volume controls on laptops such at the toshiba model my wife uses.

This bug may be targeted at the wrong package as noted by an earlier commenter: mixer_applet2 may be the place where this can be fixed. It remains a bug in the 10.04 beta version.

don't reopen bugs closed for years because you have a similar issues, open a new bug rather you will not email spam users who opened the previous one your reopened and will create less confusion

@fuzzyBSc: thank you for the additional information on this bug.

@Sebastien Bacher: The problem never went away, so it should never have been closed. Creating a new bug just loses all the previous people interested in the problem. If you're not interested simply unsubscribe. I will re-open but of course if there are better reasons for closing it please point them out. Thanks.

The brainstorm issue is very closely related to this bug and with nearly 800 votes it would indicate that quite a few people would like this sorted out.

gdm has been rewritten since the bug was opened and closed, whatever issue you have on lucid is a different one...

I'm glad this bug has been reopened instead of a new one created. I subscribed to it to monitor it's progress.

You can change the volume with gdm in current Ubuntu releases.
Also the Ubuntu login sound has been disabled by default for a while now.