9

I am using Windows XP, with an Apple aluminum keyboard (the full one). It has multimedia keys at the top, and those work just great under Linux, regardless of the multimedia player I use. But I can't seem to get them working under Windows with, say, Winamp.

I would want to be able to do simple things as previous, skip next, play/pause/stop and volume control.

Thanks :-)

jfmessier
  • 2,810

8 Answers8

11

There's no need for AutoHotKey or random tray tools – the Boot Camp driver meant for dual-booting on a Mac actually works just fine on PC hardware using Apple peripherals, too!

Just grab the latest version of the Boot Camp Support Software (5.1.5722 at the time of writing), and extract it somewhere. If the only thing you care about is the keyboard driver, copy out the BootCamp.msi and AppleKeyboardInstaller64.exe files to a separate directory. Then, from an administrator shell, just run

msiexec /i BootCamp.msi

The installer may throw some errors (presumably because the other drivers it wants to install aren't there), but the keyboard driver will end up installed. Just reboot and use the media keys to your heart's content!

Adrian Petrescu
  • 3,436
4

Install AutoHotkey and create a script on your Desktop named something like apple_keyboard_media_keys_fix.ahk with the following contents:

[Autohotkey v1]

F7::Send {Media_Prev}
F8::Send {Media_Play_Pause}
F9::Send {Media_Next}
F10::send {volume_mute}
F11::send {volume_down}
F12::send {volume_up}

[Autohotkey v2]

F7::Send '{Media_Prev}'
F8::Send '{Media_Play_Pause}'
F9::Send '{Media_Next}'
F10::Send '{Volume_Mute}'
F11::Send '{Volume_Down}'
F12::Send '{Volume_Up}'

Then double click on the script to run it. Now your Apple keyboard media keys work to control your Windows media applications!

Nathan
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Andy Ray
  • 360
2

I've been looking for the same thing and found a convenient little tray tool that does just that: http://uxsoft.cz/projects/applewirelesskeyboard/

  • Maps iTunes keys to media bindings
  • Maps volume keys to volume control
  • Displays OSX media action overlays

Despite the name it works flawlessly on the wired version of the Apple Keyboard

ale
  • 3,410
perelin
  • 121
1

Enabling Buttons on Apple Keyboard in Windows:

I recently picked up, and am liking, the new “wafer thin” aluminum keyboard from Apple. Its very small, I like the key action and it’s very solid considering it’s size and thickness. But, I use it on Windows, and there’s no driver available other than the standard keyboard one, so the extra keys like media controls aren’t enabled. I came across a freeware macro program called AutoHotKey that works very nicely, and wrote up a few little scripts for it. You can download AutoHotKey and run the scripts yourself, or you can download the compiled version here and just pop it into your Startup folder.

Diogo
  • 30,792
grey
  • 34
0

The application by UXSoft.cz seems promising but as of writing the download is down unfortunately. This fork does have an executable binary: https://github.com/gered/AppleWirelessKeyboard (also seems like an even more unmaintained repo tho)

Also works perfectly for my wired Apple keyboard (model A1243)

Felix Akkermans
  • 1
0

I got this to work by using brigadier and following the instructions in this guide to get the drivers downloaded and extracted. Then I ran BootCamp.msi from an admin command prompt and it installed just fine. It probably included some unnecessary drivers as well but at least the keyboard works.

jimmysofat6864
  • 1
0

magic keyboard utilities works quite out of the box with minimum setup, no matter if you don't have Apple computer, or even non-apple compatible one (AMD CPU). However, it's paid software. There is a 28 days trial where you can try it out.

gadelat
  • 294
-1

I downloaded the last Boot Camp Support Software using brigadier, removed everything but the keyboard driver and made a convenience script to install it. Here you can download it: https://ufile.io/6sipous1

You just have to run install.bat as admin

victor141516
  • 1