Your daily fix of iTunes Plugins, Tips and Scripts for Windows XP and Vista
mmKeys.dll – Use a multimedia keyboard with iTunes
Tags: Keyboard
Added On: 4th Jan 08
Links: [site] [download]
Makes your multimedia keyboard buttons work with iTunes when the program isn’t currently in focus, or is minimised.
It is common to find that, when it’s not maximised, iTunes will not recognise your media or gaming keyboard shortcuts as commands to play, pause, skip song, etc. This simple plugin fixes the problem in most cases. It saves you having to bring iTunes up on screen each time you want to use the keys.
To use this plugin, simply copy the mmKeys.dll file into your plugins folder.
- For XP Users, this is found in “C:\Program Files\iTunes\Plug-ins”
- For Vista Users, it’s “C:\Users\your_username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins” and you may have to show hidden files (or use the search) in order to see the AppData folder. One commenter also reported that it works when put in “C:\Users\your_username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins”.
- For Windows 7 Users: follow Vista instructions above.
- For linux+wine Users: This reportedly doesn’t work. Most likely a Wine bug though… what are you using iTunes for anyway?!
- In each case, you have to create this folder if it doesn’t already exist.
You also need to restart iTunes to load the dll. Some commenters have also reported a short delay after the button-press. I’m not sure why this could be..
Other Notes:
+ You still need to install the correct drivers for most keyboards in order to use the MultiMedia keys in the first place. This dll does NOT replace those drivers.
+ There’s also a reported glitch where the windows maximises, on both Windows 7 and Vista… anyone care to confirm this, or list what other apps they have running at the time? Also reportedly doesn’t work again until iTunes is restarted.. OR only pops up with PLAY and PAUSE, but not NEXT_TRACK… Please give more info in your comments!
+ This may be achievable using a registry hack. See this comment.
+ Some users have issues while playing full-screen games, where the keys no longer work. Please elaborate on this problem in the comments too.
+ If it’s not working, try killing “ituneshelper.exe” from within Task Manager. (press Ctrl+Alt+Delete)
+ If when you press a multimedia key, Windows Media Player (WMP) pops up, you need to make sure that iTunes is your default media player [how?].
+ Apparently the issue was fixed in an early version of iTunes 7, but with the later releases the problem has re-surfaced.
+ This plugin is great if you want your multi-media keyboard to be able to control iTunes when it’s behind another window or hidden in the system tray.
+ Apparently, this works in all flavours of Windows XP, Vista and 7, and both 32- and 64-bit varieties!
* Updated to reflect comments * – Please keep the comments rolling in!
Thanx, nice work ;P
Does it also works in other Multimedia Player as plug-in?
Greeze Stefan
works perfectly…. thanks SOOOOO much…
win 7 64x
itunes 9
ahhh! just what i needed!! thank you so much! i have vista and itunes 9! yay!
it worked perfectly untill i reinstalled windows…
now running win 7 64bit
works for a while after i start itunes and then stops…
help?
Works Great for me, Windows 7 Professional x64, iTunes 9
Ditto what Noam says.
Works for a while after starting Itunes then stops after about 2 minutes.
Windows 7, 64bit, dual monitors. Itunes 9.0.3.15
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Very frustrating because it was such a great fix.
thanks so much! Worked great for me on Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate.
Great! My friend told me to try it and it works perfect! Thanks Again.
I agree with comment 224: pressing play/pause brings iTunes to the front, but doesn’t play or pause whether or not iTunes is in the background. Next track, prev track, and stop all work, but only when iTunes is in the background.
Software:
Win7 x64 Professional
iTunes 9.0.3.15
Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia Keyboard
Intellitype 7.1
FANTASTIC! Works flawlessly, thank you very much.
Win 7
iTunes 9
Awesome! My hatred of iTunes has just reduced 10%.
[...] diversas opciones, pero me limito a la más eficiente. MmKeys.dll es un pequeño archivo que se agrega al folder de plugins y sólo con [...]
Hello, Josh again! I can confirm that the hotkeys don’t work when playing full screen games. But apart from that there are no issues.
EXCELLENT! It worked flawlessly!!!
Thank you so much !!!!!!!!!!!!
It workes GREAT! I am using Windows XP on a Dell Vostro 1520.
THANKS!
thanks it works great i tried everything new drivers etc. but this finally works :D
works perfect on win7 ultimate. thanks bro.
Hey, i was a bit skeptical downloading a file from a site i haven’t been on before, but it did actually work a treat. thanks heaps. now i dont have to switch over to wmp :):):)
Works beautiful in Win7 Professional x64
Oh yea, this works like a charm in Win7 Home Premium! Like others, I was kind of weary about downloading this from a site I hadn’t heard of, but it works perfectly!
Thanks a lot. :D
Perfect! Win 7 Ultimate x64, iTunes 9, SK-8135 Dell keyboard.
Works really perfect!
Thanks!
Dell Vostro 1400
Windows XP SP3
iTunes 9.0.1.8
Plug-in doesn’t works if the music library is placed not on disc C.
Win 7
iTunes 9
great except for the fact that when itunes is minimised it wont work which makes it complely pointless, now unlessed i stuffed something up i dont know can you help?
THANKS it worked PERFECTLY!§
i had to restart itunes :)
Worked perfect in win7 thanks!!!
Just letting you know that this is working under Windows 7 64bit running 9. Thanks a lot for this.
Works fine, WIndows 7 and latest itunes! Dont forget to un-hide your folders to find “Appdata”, but dont forget to set them back too ;)
at first it works perfectly but after some time it only works with iTunes in focus again …
ah it´s win7 64bit, iTunes 9.0.3.15
ah it´s win7 64bit, iTunes 9.0.3.15
at first worked perfect but after some time only with iTunes in focus again
Win7, 64, iTunes 9.0.3.15
confused by comment system :S
Thank you for the post and link. Here is an install/uninstall batch file script. Place the setup.cmd and mmkeys.dll in the same directory (any directory other than the iTunes plugin directory) and run it from a command line (or double-click in Windows Explorer).
———- begin setup.cmd ———-
@echo off
setlocal
set _pluginDll=mmkeys.dll
set _tmpFile=”%TEMP%\%~n0.vbs”
::On XP, plugin is in program files …
set _plugin=”%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins\%_pluginDll%”
if exist “%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\Plug-ins” set _plugin=”%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\Plug-ins\%_pluginDll%”
::Install or uninstall based on existance of the plugin dll
set _action=Install
if exist %_plugin% set _action=Uninstall
::Let’s get started…
title %_action% iTunes Multimedia Keyboard Plugin
echo %_action% iTunes Multimedia Keyboard Plugin:
::Check if plugin can be found
if exist %_pluginDll% goto end_haveDll
echo ERROR: Plugin %_pluginDLL% not found.
goto EOJ
:end_haveDLL
::Check if setup was placed in the install directory
call :checkDir %_plugin%
if not %errorlevel% == 1 goto end_sameDir
echo ERROR: Install/uninstall script cannot be run from target plugin dir.
goto EOJ
:end_sameDir
::If iTunes is running, shut it down [and wait for it to completely exit]
set _restart=
tasklist /FI “IMAGENAME eq iTunes.exe” /FO CSV /NH |find /i “iTunes.exe” >nul
if not errorlevel 1 set _restart=1
if not defined _restart goto end_exit
echo Shutting down iTunes…
>%_tmpFile% echo Dim iTunes
>>%_tmpFile% echo Set iTunes = CreateObject(“iTunes.Application”)
>>%_tmpFile% echo iTunes.Quit
>>%_tmpFile% echo Set iTunes = Nothing
%_tmpFile%
:retry_exit
tasklist /FI “IMAGENAME eq iTunes.exe” /FO CSV /NH |find /i “iTunes.exe” >nul
if not errorlevel 1 echo Waiting for iTunes to end…&goto retry_exit
:end_exit
::Install or uninstall the plugin
echo %_action%ing plugin…
if %_action% == Install goto action_install
del /F /S %_plugin%>nul 2>nul
goto action_end
:action_install
copy /V /Y %_pluginDll% %_plugin%>nul 2>nul
goto action_end
:action_end
::If we shutdown iTunes, restart it [auto minimize and play]
if not defined _restart goto end_start
echo Restarting iTunes…
>%_tmpFile% echo Dim iTunes
>>%_tmpFile% echo Set iTunes = CreateObject(“iTunes.Application”)
>>%_tmpFile% echo iTunes.Windows.Item(1).Minimized = True
>>%_tmpFile% echo iTunes.PlayPause
>>%_tmpFile% echo Set iTunes = Nothing
tasklist /FI “IMAGENAME eq iTunes.exe” /FO CSV /NH |find /i “iTunes.exe” >nul
if not errorlevel 1 goto end_start
%_tmpFile%
:end_start
echo Done.
:EOJ
del /F /Q %_tmpFile% >nul 2>nul
endlocal
exit /b 0
:checkDir
set errorlevel=0
if /I “%~p1″ == “%~p0″ set errorlevel=1
:end_checkDir
goto :EOF
———- end setup.cmd ———-
Any news for iTunes 9.0.3.15?
Also, I’ve set itunes as my default media player but WMP still keeps popping up, any advice on this?
thanks brah.
Great! :D
Works with my G110 Keyboard now :D just had to put the dll file into the plug ins folder … never been easier to modify things on PC XD
Win7 64bit
iTunes 9
[...] but as soon as it lost focus it would stop. Well thanks to this nifty little iTunes plugin found at http://www.everythingitunes.com/os/windows/2008-01-04/mmkeysdll I can now control iTunes even when [...]
works great thanks a lot man
Hi!
I found out, if your music library not placed on your C partition, it wont work:(
and my library is on E..
how to fix this?
tnx!!!
This is such a great fix. Thank you so much.
You are my hero!
I’ve been looking for something like this on my bootcamp xp for a while now.
Works flawlessly!
windows 7 business 64-bit on a Dell Vostro 1500, works perfect, thanks so much!!
Worked great for me! Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with iTunes 9.0.3.15
No weird maximize issues. I do have the iPod Service and Bonjour service disabled, though.
My music files are not on my C drive. iTunes and all associated files are, but I do not let iTunes manage/organize my music. All mp3 files are stored on drive Y.
Works perfectly on iTunes and windows 7 professional (64 bit)
Thank you so much for solving the problems!
Many Many Thx !!!
Works just FINE !!!!!!
Win 7 Ultimate, x64!!!!!
Can this work for regular keyboards? Like can I make it so the Function keys act as media keys [play, stop, pause, next, previous?] Thank you!
Thank you very much for your effort! Works Great!
…was annoying when my keyboard worked for sometime then one day stopped and i thought i did something…well i guess it was me, i updated iTunes…that will teach me! LOL
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s all too complex. THIS is all you need to do:-
In iTunes 9.1, choose Edit > Preferences > Devices tab and tick “Allow iTunes control from Remote Speakers”
No special programs needed. No fancy plug-ins. All you need is the media buttons on your keyboard/laptop and you’re in control :)
Let me know how you go.
Brent’s solution of changing iTunes 9.1 preferences did not work for me…. but the dll worked great.
Awesome!