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First, this is NOT a duplicate of this question!!!!

I am running Xubuntu, which is running on Ubuntu 21.10, on a Macbook. I am using the earbuds that shipped with my Macbook Pro 2015 - Apple EarPods. My earbuds have a little pill-shaped button thing on the right ear, which has three buttons - volume up, main button (play/pause), and volume down. However, on Ubuntu I can't use them to pause my music or change the volume - they just don't do anything. Is there anything I can do to make Ubuntu recognize my earbud buttons? I don't think I can install Cirrus Drivers or anything. I guess I could try to look for Apple's audio firmware, but would have zero idea where to start.

Running xev and spamming the headphone buttons has no effect.

Aaron
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    How is this not a duplicate? Aren't you asking the exact same question? Apple is notorious for making sure their hardware is incompatible outside of their ecosystem and additionally making sure that software and connectivity standards are closed source and proprietary. Apple expects their consumers to buy Apple products exclusively and use only their software. – Nmath Apr 17 '22 at 04:01
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    Voting to close, it's a duplicate. How to map volume buttons on Apple EarPods – Organic Marble Apr 17 '22 at 04:32
  • @Nmath I didn't think this was a duplicate, because the suggested duplicate didn't receive a satisfactory answer over how to actually get your earpods to work, neither did it receive any indication of exactly what was missing on Ubuntu to get earpod controls working or detected. I don't think "Apple stuff closed source" is a satisfactory answer to my question - the FaceTime HD camera on my laptop didn't work until I installed https://github.com/patjak/facetimehd-firmware. Just because Apple is closed source doesn't mean there's no solution. So is there one for my question above? – Aaron Apr 17 '22 at 18:12
  • @Nmath as I believe I clarified in my question, I am using a Macbook Pro which is running Ubuntu, so a mismatch in hardware would not explain my problem. – Aaron Apr 17 '22 at 19:14
  • Also in your question you hinted that you would need Apple software or firmware in order to use the hardware feature on Ubuntu. Unfortunately Apple uses proprietary closed source software which means that nobody knows how it works except Apple. This is in contrast to free open source software where anyone is able to read, study, or change the code. Your only hope is that someone has reverse engineered the software-- even though that puts them in legal jeopardy as Apple is litigious and has sued for reverse engineering their products. In any case, this question is still a duplicate... – Nmath Apr 17 '22 at 19:23
  • @Nmath I agree with you that Apple soft/firmware is propietary and closed source, making it difficult to find a solution. However, that doesn't make it impossible: https://askubuntu.com/questions/990218/camera-not-working-on-macbook-pro I wanted to create this question in hopes that someone with more expertise than me will be able to find a solution, but my Google searches look like this is a low priority problem with a very difficult solution and little gain. I guess this question can be closed then ;-; – Aaron Apr 17 '22 at 19:33

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