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[Jamil]

I have a mouse with extra buttons that are programmable.  I have been trying to figure out why my two buttons I have programmed to increase and decrease volume stopped working under Windows 10.  It seems this latest update I have installed disables them while it is running.  When I close MC26, my mouse buttons work again as expected.

Was there mouse button behavior change added to this version?  It now has negative consequences for me.

[Jamil]

It may not have been the version change that is the cause, but I changed a setting that introduced it.  If I set MC26 for "Disabled Volume" it prevents my mouse volume buttons from working while it is running.  If I change it to "Internal Volume", the mouse buttons work again.

I am not sure why Disabled Volume is a system-wide change that impacts my mouse.  Any ideas?

[wer]

I have a Logitech mouse with a bunch of extra buttons, and don't have any such issue.  The internal volume vs disabled volume setting makes no difference for me.  I just tested.  Buttons work fine regardless.

[Jamil]

Something funky is going on.

Even when MC26 does not have focus, my mouse buttons change its volume.  MC26 somehow is taking volume focus away from the system while it is running.

[Jamil]

I just set it for System Volume, and now my mouse controls Windows again.  Volume change in MC makes no difference, because it does not change my amplified DAC at all.  This was the reason behind disabling it.

I will just keep it on System Volume.

[Jamil]

The next track in my playlist started and I lost system volume control again.

It returned briefly for the current playing song, but I lost it at the next song.

[wer]

Actually I didn't notice in your first post that you were programming the buttons to control volume.  It's not that MC is is messing with your button programming - that never happens.  MC is messing with volume, as it should. 

Volume changes are ignored when you're set to disabled volume. It's not the button presses that were disabled, it's the effect of what the buttons were doing. Do you understand the distinction?  I ask, because the subject of this thread is that you think MC is actually disabling mouse buttons, and that is not correct.

If you program your buttons to do something else, like Ctrl+Tab to switch tabs, you will see that the effect of those buttons is unaffected by anything MC does, or whether it's running or not.  MC doesn't mess with your button programming, it doesn't even know how.

[Jamil]

MC is doing it.

MC has special logic to take over system-wide media keys.  It has been doing this for a long time in many versions.  I used to be able to control an older version of MC with my old laptop's media playback keys.  The devs know about this, since they coded it.

My mouse volume change are most likely being handled as media control that MC is stealing from the system.

[wer]

So I guess not.    Like I said, it's handling the event not changing the actual button programming.  I just wanted to clarify for others reading the thread that MC isn't interfering with apps like X-Mouse Button Control or Logitech Setpoint, so other people aren't confused.

Good luck, I hope you're able to resolve your problem.

[Jamil]

I have a convoluted work-around for this issue.  The root cause is that JRiver Media Center is greedy with hardware and does not share while it is running.  There is absolutely no option to disable this.  This may be considered a flaw that either no one or not enough people have complained about in the past.

Here is a work-around that I am successfully using right now--

Run MC26 under a virtual machine and not on the host Windows operating system.  I am a licensed user for VMWare Workstation.  When you run MC26 on a VM, it still hogs your hardware in this regard; however, it only impacts the virtual machine and not your primary Windows operating system.  This means that my mouse buttons work as programmed within my main running Windows 10 as expected.  They will not work while MC26 is running under the virtual machine.  I can simply minimize the VM and control volume using my DAC.  This resolves the issue for me.

The downside to this approach is that it will require you have significant hardware to handle running a virtual machine.  If JRiver adds an option to disable its hooks into Windows media controls, this issue would not exist.

[RoderickGI]

Set "Options > General > Advanced > Media key mode" to Disabled. Also try "App commands" and "Hot keys (ignore volume)", because it is the combinations of settings in MC and Windows that effect how the mouse buttons work. Test each setting with MC in focus, and not in focus. See when it controls volume on your amplified DAC, and when it doesn't. Choose the best combinations of settings for you.

Naturally you got control back when you set MC to use System Volume, because your mouse is controlling System Volume, which MC is capturing and adjusting its volume, which is linked to the Windows System Volume.

Naturally MC26 still has control of of the volume even when it isn't in focus, because you set MC to control the volume, through the Media Keys setting.

Use Internal Volume in MC. If you want your mouse to control the Windows System Volume, fine. Disable the Media key mode. MC will only control volume when in focus and using the usual functions inside MC. i.e. The slider and the mouse scroll wheel, when hovering in the correct spot.

Media Key controls in Windows are just a little bit dodgy and unreliable, I find, for some hardware. Or if they have their own drivers. JRiver can only do what Windows allows.


Finally, use the Release Notes. They have some interesting stuff in there, such as:
26.0.67 (4/22/2020)
2. NEW: Made mouse wheel volume over the player optional.

26.0.7 (11/21/2019)
18. NEW: Added the media key mode "Hot keys (ignore volume)" to leave volume commands for the operating system.

[Jamil]

Thanks for posting that option.  I never even knew it existed.

It was added not that long ago, so that explains why I did not know about it.