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l008com · Jun 28, 2003, 10:56 PM

Is there anyway you can map some other keys on your keyboard to emulate the volume keys that all newer macs have? Like I have a blue G3 running 10.2 and I have a generic usb keyboard hooked up becuase its one of those all rubber ones. What i wanna do is make the up and down arrows into volume up and down keys. I have a program that can map applescripts to keys but as far as I can tell i can't find any way to simulate adjusting the system wide volume. I'm sure theres some file somewhere i can hack to make the computer think the volume keys are infact other keys. Right?

tooki · Jul 5, 2003, 01:24 PM

I could have sworn that AppleScript supported setting system sound volume. I think that some of the voice recognition scripts included that function, even...

OK yep... here's the entire script for changing volume (alas, it only works with absolute numbers, not relative ones):

Code:
set volume 0

where 0 can be any number from 0 (silent) to 7 (maximum).

This service is provided by the Standard Additions suite, you can open its dictionary in Script Editor for more systemwide goodies.

Standard Additions doesn't seem to have a "get" call for volume, so I don't know how you could make a script that takes the current volume and adds/subtracts one level. But perhaps some other scriptable program (or some downloadable scripting addition) does...

Also, there is probably some way to crack Bezel Services, which is what provides the volume, brightness, etc. keys on Apple's laptops and LCD panels. Well, that is, Bezel Services provides the cool overlays.

Panther will recognize generic volume keys, but won't show the nice overlay. (I noticed this when I hooked up my MS Internet Keyboard Pro, and found that some of the multimedia keys worked even before I installed the drivers... it seems there's now an HID class for multimedia buttons.)

I hope this helps
tooki

l008com · Jul 6, 2003, 01:06 AM

I knew about the applescript set volume thing, its just not enough, and its only a 1 thru 7 setting, the volume keys divide it up to 15 i think levels. I've been looking and looking for a scripting addition and I haven't been able to find anything at all yet. Not even any macro programs that let you switch it.

Crimson · Jul 7, 2003, 05:48 PM

umm, I seem to remember that there was an option for 0-255 stepping? it's not in standard additions... It's in Jon's Commands, and there's an OS X version available at http://www.seanet.com/~jonpugh/ which contains a full description of all the commands he has rolled into it and a lot more... hope this helps...