How to use command line to change volume?

Question

I am trying to control the volume using my programming script. How can I do the following in Fedora 15, Ubuntu linux?

1. Mute/ Unmute
2. Volume up and volume down

Note: Please note that I use a web USB microphone/speaker and also Analogue microphone/speaker. I want to apply to all to be sure.

Answer 1

You can use amixer. It's in the alsa-utils package on ubuntu/debian.

Run it without parameters to get an overview about your devices.

amixer

Then use the set command to set the volumn. For example to set the master channel to 50%:

amixer set Master 50%

Note the "%" sign, without it it will treat the value as 0 - 65536 level.

Answer 2

To Mute:

amixer -D pulse sset Master mute

To Unmute:

amixer -D pulse sset Master unmute

To turn volume up 5%:

amixer -D pulse sset Master 5%+

To turn volume down 5%:

amixer -D pulse sset Master 5%-