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person123

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 2, 2010
72
46
Hey, so I just got my new base MBA. Before this I was using a 2016 MPB. I connect my computer to a monitor in clamshell mode. with my MBP, I used MonitorControl which lets me control my monitors brightness using my external keyboard because my monitor supports DDC. But with the new M1 Mac, it isn't working. The app can't read the monitor. Anyone know how to fix this? or must we just wait for an update?
 

southerndoc

Contributor
May 15, 2006
1,851
522
USA
Has Lunar been updated to be compatible with M1 Macs? Was thinking of downloading it to control my Dell U3421WE monitor.
 

alinpanaitiu

macrumors member
May 29, 2021
42
45
Romania
Has Lunar been updated to be compatible with M1 Macs? Was thinking of downloading it to control my Dell U3421WE monitor.

Lunar developer here.

Lunar 4 has been released with support for M1.
You can read more about it here: https://lunar.fyi/#m1

DDC on M1 is still not possible though.
Lunar can work around that in two ways:
  • Simulating a brightness change in software using Gamma Tables (same thing that f.lux does for warmer colours)
  • Relaying DDC commands through a Raspberry Pi connected to a separate HDMI port of the monitor
I'll be around if you have any questions about Lunar.
 

alinpanaitiu

macrumors member
May 29, 2021
42
45
Romania
Unfortunately no, audio requires DDC.
Someone made a workaround for that too: https://github.com/briankendall/proxy-audio-device

It works like SoundSource, by creating a virtual audio device in front of the real audio device, and controlling the volume in software.

People are saying that the already compiled binary works through Rosetta, but when they compile it natively for M1 it doesn’t work anymore. So you could try the binary from the releases page.
 

alinpanaitiu

macrumors member
May 29, 2021
42
45
Romania
Lunar developer here.

Just chiming in to let you know that Lunar 4.5.1 was just released with full support for DDC on M1 Macs (except for the HDMI port of the Mac Mini, that port has never worked)

@southerndoc that means controlling monitor audio is now possible out of the box with Lunar as long as that monitor is not connected to the HDMI port of a Mac Mini.
 
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jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
Lunar developer here.

Just chiming in to let you know that Lunar 4.5.1 was just released with full support for DDC on M1 Macs (except for the HDMI port of the Mac Mini, that port has never worked)

@southerndoc that means controlling monitor audio is now possible out of the box with Lunar as long as that monitor is not connected to the HDMI port of a Mac Mini.
Monitor Control doesn't work through my USB-C dock. Does Lunar?
 

alinpanaitiu

macrumors member
May 29, 2021
42
45
Romania
Monitor Control doesn't work through my USB-C dock. Does Lunar?
It depends a lot on the dock. Some dock manufacturers don't bother to implement DDC forwarding for the command set that Lunar and MonitorControl are using. An app can't surpass that hardware limitation, but Lunar can work around it using Gamma controls for brightness and contrast only.

Please try Lunar and let us know if it works. If it doesn't, it would be helpful if you could mention which dock model is that so that I can write it in Lunar's FAQ as a non-compliant dock.
 
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jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
It depends a lot on the dock. Some dock manufacturers don't bother to implement DDC forwarding for the command set that Lunar and MonitorControl are using. An app can't surpass that hardware limitation, but Lunar can work around it using Gamma controls for brightness and contrast only.

Please try Lunar and let us know if it works. If it doesn't, it would be helpful if you could mention which dock model is that so that I can write it in Lunar's FAQ as a non-compliant dock.
It is the Caldigit USB-C SOHO dock. It doesn't seem to work unfortunately. I might look into your Raspberry Pi solution. That is quite clever and I have a RPi kicking around somewhere. The biggest problem is I would have to buy a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable.
 
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