I've been having the same issue since 17.10 and now on 18.04 with Unity same problem again. As mentioned above toggling 'Commands' plugin in CCSM (enabled, then disabled) works for me also.
Whilst it isn't a perfect solution, but with the help of this post: https://askubuntu.com/questions/936644/configuring-compiz-window- manager-using-command-line-utilities I managed to put together a couple of command lines (one to enable, followed by one to disable 'Commands') that can be added to startup applications which works ok for me as a workaround. for my system (yours may vary, see later) the command lines in terminal are: (enable) gsettings set org.compiz.core:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/ active-plugins "['core', 'composite', 'opengl', 'place', 'regex', 'resize', 'session', 'snap', 'vpswitch', 'wall', 'animation', 'commands', 'compiztoolbox', 'fade', 'grid', 'imgpng', 'mousepoll', 'move', 'scale', 'workarounds', 'expo', 'ezoom', 'switcher', 'unityshell']" (disable) gsettings set org.compiz.core:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/ active-plugins "['core', 'composite', 'opengl', 'place', 'regex', 'resize', 'session', 'snap', 'vpswitch', 'wall', 'animation', 'compiztoolbox', 'fade', 'grid', 'imgpng', 'mousepoll', 'move', 'scale', 'workarounds', 'expo', 'ezoom', 'switcher', 'unityshell']" As i say above, your active plugins list may be different, if you issue the following command (with 'Command' enabled and then disabled in CCSM you will get the lists you need. Basically both lists are the same, just the enable includes 'commands' and the disable excludes 'commands': #dconf dump /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/ | grep active- plugins So add an ENABLE command to startup applications and a DISABLE command to startup applications. I did have a go a putting both commands into a bash script but with no luck, it isn't something i'm well versed with. Having the two commands as individual startup applications has worked for me though with multiple reboots and volume keys working everytime. This is my first post on these forums so i hope it helps someone! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1727842 Title: Volume and Mute buttons on keyboard not doing anything in Unity after upgrade to 17.10 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/1727842/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs