Can't turn volume up/down while running full-screen programs

[Trancos]

Hi all! I did a quick search about this, and didn't find the answer. Please let me know if this has already been posted. If so, I'm really sorry!

Now to the issue at hand: I've downloaded Desura for linux, and, since I bought some Humble Indie Bundles, I've been playing Braid for a while.
But what I noticed is the following: Having a laptop, I find I can't use the volume keys (Fn + Function keys) while running a full screen program. This is somewhat bothering, since if I want to lower the volume down (because of something that happened or simply because it sounded a lot stronger than, say, the youtube video I was watching before) I have to quit the game, change the volume, and start running it again...
Does anyone know if there is a way to do this without the whole restarting ordeal? Thanks!

On a side note, how do I alt-tab out of a full-screen application, as well? If anyone knows, that'd help me, too.

Once again, I'm sorry if this was posted before. And, once again, again, thanks for the help in advance!

[DrHu]

Special keys for notebooks usually require some vendor style utilities and relates to keyboard setup
--you don't say that your volume up, down Function keys conbtrol volume while not using a game, do they
--you also don't indicate any of your hardware, such as the audio card being used (internal, one presumes)

Providing that data may help answer the qwuestion more directly

Code: Select all

inxi ??
--hardware info, there are various options that can be used with that command (in a terminal) 

[Trancos]

Special keys for notebooks usually require some vendor style utilities and relates to keyboard setup
--you don't say that your volume up, down Function keys conbtrol volume while not using a game, do they
--you also don't indicate any of your hardware, such as the audio card being used (internal, one presumes)

Providing that data may help answer the qwuestion more directly

Code: Select all

inxi ??
--hardware info, there are various options that can be used with that command (in a terminal) 

Hi, thanks for answering!

What I got from running inxi was:

CPU~Dual core Intel Core2 Duo CPU P8600 (-MCP-) clocked at 800.000 Mhz Kernel~3.2.0-23-generic x86_64 Up~4:44 Mem~1538.1/3008.3MB HDD~250.1GB(87.5% used) Procs~160 Client~Shell inxi~1.7.33

And yes, what I meant is that my volume keys DO work while not running any full-screen program (like a game), but they stop working when I do... And that they're not exclusive volume keys, but actually Function keys that need to be pressed with the 'Fn' key in order for them to act as volume keys.

Hope this helps!