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Any way to control volume and brightness?

Caliber26

Caliber26

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 25, 2009
2,328
3,658
Orlando, FL
Hey y'all!

I bought a new mini today and I'm just now realizing that the keys for controlling the volume and brightness don't work on a third party display. Are there any shortcuts or apps that would allow my keyboard to control these two things the same way I do on my MBP?

Thanks!
 
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Ruggy said:
It has an On screen display and you bring that up to adjust brightness, contrast etc.
Page 12 of the manual
I doubt that is has speakers as monitors usually don't.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I did figure out the brightness and volume controls (it actually does have speakers) on the display itself but it’s kinda cumbersome to have to go into that menu, so I was hoping there was a way to control it from they keyboard itself like I do on my MacBook Pro.
 
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Stephen.R said:
Try https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases.

The manual linked above does mention DDC/CI control. It may be disabled by default (the manual says it's under "Management" in the on-screen display menu.
Click to expand...
So I downloaded Monitor Control but that's not working either. I did some googling and apparently people haven't gotten it to work on their M1 machines even though it's working for the Intel Macs. Thanks for the help, though.

Now I've found another issue. I can hear everything just fine through my monitor's speakers. YouTube, Apple Music, Zoom, and even Facebook video calls through Chrome. But I cannot hear my FaceTime calls. The person on the other end can see AND hear me just fine, but I cannot hear them at all. The only "solution" for this seems to be switching to the mini's speakers but that's not an ideal scenario. Any idea what's causing this?

I fee like I could avoided these issues had I gone with an iMac but I couldn't bring myself to buy one right now since I know newer ones are right around the corner. I needed this one for work so I had to buy now.
 
Cue up Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry:
"A man's got to know his limitations..."

One of "the limitations" of the Mini is that you're probably not going to be able to control the display through the keyboard or other controls from the Mini as you would with an iMac or Mac laptop.

Accept it as "the way things are".
And then... move on.
 
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I've always found it farcical that system volume can't be controlled when routing the sound through a third party display. On Windows, no problem. On macOS? "Should have bought an iMac." 😠
 
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The_Interloper said:
I've always found it farcical that system volume can't be controlled when routing the sound through a third party display. On Windows, no problem. On macOS? "Should have bought an iMac." 😠
Click to expand...
Yeah, that makes no sense whatsoever. I could see Apple gimping third party options in an effort to drive sales for the iMacs and their own displays. But seeing how the iMac is long overdue for a redesign, and that their only display costs $5,000, neither of those were an option for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
DogHouseDub said:
I've been using SoundSource - Rogue Amoeba | SoundSource: A Superior Sound Control

Let's you adjust volume via a menu bar dropdown
Click to expand...
I just installed it and it works like a charm. I even enabled the Super Volume Keys so that I'm able to control the volume with the volume keys (F9/F10/F11).

For $39 it's a tad pricey -- especially when you consider that this is something Apple could easily address with an OS update -- but it's worth it to not have to fuss with the monitor's controls. Thanks!
 
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My monitor has speakers. I never noticed that there is no volume control until you mentioned it. I've never used the monitor speakers because I use much nicer external speakers. My monitor has an audio input, so if I wanted to use the monitor speakers, I could just plug into that and have control. It's kind of weird that HP didn't include an audio-in port, so I wouldn't blame your situation totally on Apple. Maybe you should look at returning/swapping the monitor instead of paying for an app. I mean, how often do you adjust your brightness anyway?
 
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SpeQ said:
My monitor has speakers. I never noticed that there is no volume control until you mentioned it. I've never used the monitor speakers because I use much nicer external speakers. My monitor has an audio input, so if I wanted to use the monitor speakers, I could just plug into that and have control. It's kind of weird that HP didn't include an audio-in port, so I wouldn't blame your situation totally on Apple. Maybe you should look at returning/swapping the monitor instead of paying for an app. I mean, how often do you adjust your brightness anyway?
Click to expand...
My monitor does, in fact, have an audio-in jack. And your post actually made me realize that perhaps if I plug the monitor into the mini’s 3.5mm audio jack, and switch the system audio to “External Headphones” that will grant me control directly from the Mac, and… that actually fixed it! Now I can control the audio with the keyboard!
A4190CB3-9BCA-4D60-86BB-61B866831BFC.jpeg


However, this means now I’m stuck with another cable hooked from my monitor to the mini. I guess the point here is that if a third party app can solve this issue, and allow me to control the audio that’s being fed via HDMI, why can’t Apple natively do this? Window users apparently don’t have this issue when controlling their monitor speakers via HDMI. Hopefully it’s something they can address in a future OS update.

Thanks for the idea!
 
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Caliber26 said:
why can’t Apple natively do this? Window users apparently don’t have this issue when controlling their monitor speakers via HDMI. Hopefully it’s something they can address in a future OS update.
Click to expand...
I think you've got a valid question. I suppose it's possible it could be either software or hardware related.

EDIT: Although, are you sure a Windows machine doesn't need the audio cable too?
 
SpeQ said:
I think you've got a valid question. I suppose it's possible it could be either software or hardware related.

EDIT: Although, are you sure a Windows machine doesn't need the audio cable too?
Click to expand...
I can’t say speak from personal experience but having researched this issue I’ve seen countless people state that this is a non-issue for them on Windows computers. It looks like it’s because Mac computers don't support using CEC to control HDMI devices (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204388) and apparently Windows does.
 
I came here also looking for some volume control and had to add my 2-cent's worth. I'm on an Intel MacBook Pro and I'm surprised that the M27ha will have brightness control, but not volume control via the control menu. Also surprised that Mac won't do the same via HDMI but will through an audio cable. But I appreciate the ideas and tips for workarounds. btw, the M27ha has some pretty nice audio compared to the tiny speakers in the Mac! But when I'm at work, I would like the volume down a little, but still get the richer sound through the display's speakers.
 
The Lunar app enables volume control and brightness control for external displays. I thought it was a macOS Monterey feature but realized I had installed Lunar the other day too...
 
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Hi there - did anyone find an answer to the volume problem? Without wires or expensive apps? ...such an annoying issue! GRRRRR MAC!!!! ..I also have an HP mk24fwa monitor, with embedded speakers, that doesn't let me adjust the volume when plugged into M1 mini....
 
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