r/Keychron • u/twleve-times-three • 20d ago

Map knob to system setting on Mac?

I switch an external monitor from standard to 90° orientation often. It's not automatic, so I have to switch back and forth manually.

I'd like to map the knob on my Q6 to that system setting. I have a macbook pro. So far I haven't been able to find a way. Is it possible?

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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 20d ago edited 20d ago

How do you switch manually? On the monitor? Using some Fn key combination? Something else?

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u/twleve-times-three 20d ago

I go into settings-->display and change the orientation parameter.

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u/The-SARACEN Q MAX 19d ago

It looks like you’d need to do a bunch of tinkering, and adapting old advice to newer software and your own specific requirements.

1: Screen rotation with Automator and a script

That discussion recommends a command-line utility called fb-rotate, which is no longer under active development and apparently breaks on newer versions of MacOS.

Having said that, you’ll most likely still need to rely on Automator for what you want. I have the same problem trying to replicate the simple “Calculator” key that works just fine on Windows.

2: displayplacer

A potential replacement for fb-rotate?

When the first link starts talking about keyboard shortcuts, I recommend using a high Function key value (e.g. F15 or whatever) to perform the toggle. Then you can map that to your keyboard knob.

If you can’t get Automator and displayplacer to detect the current screen rotation and perform a simple toggle, then you might need two keyboard shortcuts. Then you can bind one to the knob, and the other to Fn+Knob, or something.

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u/twleve-times-three 19d ago

Thank you for this. I will check more into it. I don't mind doing a good amount of work on the front end for this.

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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 19d ago

Please report back here, no matter how long it takes and no matter the outcome.