---
name: "fm"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "fmtools"
version: "2.0.8+really2.0.7-3"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/fm"
---

# fm(1)

control frequency, volume, mute/unmute of FM radio card

## NAME

fm - control frequency, volume, mute/unmute of FM radio card

## SYNOPSIS

**fm** \[ **-h** \] \[ **-o** \] \[ **-q** \] \[ **-d** *device* \] \[ **-t** *tuner* \] \[ **-T** **none** \| **forever** \| *time* \] **on** \| **off** \| **+** \| **-** \| **freq** \[ *volume* \]

## DESCRIPTION

**fm** is a program to control the frequency, volume, and mute/unmute state of an FM radio card, using the video4linux interface introduced in 2.1.x series Linux kernels.

### OPTIONS

- **-h**

  Print a usage message to standard output, and exit.

- **-o**

  Ignore frequency range limits of card.  Use if you suspect that the card supports a wider frequency range than its driver believes.

- **-q**

  Quiet mode.  Keeps information on station and volume from being printed on standard output.

- **-d** *device*

  *Sets device* as the device to tune.  The default is **/dev/radio0**.

- **-t** *tuner*

  *Sets tuner* as the tuner on the selected device to adjust.  The default is tuner 0.  Most radio devices have only a single tuner.

- **-T none** \| **forever** \| *time*

  *After tuning, sleep for the time specified or forever.  Time is* *specified in seconds by default.  A suffix of* **m** *indicates minutes,* **h** *indicates hours, or* **d** *indicates days.*

-

  *The* **-T** *option is useful with radio card drivers that only maintain the tuner* *settings while the tuner's file descriptor remains open.  Try using* *this option if running* **fm** *ordinarily produces only a single "pop" from your speakers.*

- **freq**

  *Frequency to tune the radio to, in MHz.  For instance,* **88.9** specifies a frequency of 88.9 MHz.  AM tuner values are also specified in MHz; for instance, 530 kHz would be specified as **.530**.

- **on**

  Turn the radio on (unmute).

- **off**

  Turn the radio off (mute).

- **volume**

  Specify the desired volume, in percent.  Not all radio devices support volume control.

- **+**

  Increase the current volume.

- **-**

  Decrease the current volume.

## CONFIGURATION

**fm** reads *$HOME***/.fmrc**, if it exists, to obtain default settings. Each line may take one of the following forms:

- **VOL** percent

  Specifies default volume (default: 12.5%).

- **INCR** percent

  Volume increment used for **+** and **-** options (default: 10%).

- **TIME**

  Default sleep time (default: **none**).

All other lines are ignored.

## SEE ALSO

- Additional documentation:

  **/usr/share/doc/fmtools/README**

- The fmtools homepage:

  **http://benpfaff.org/fmtools**

## AUTHORS

Russell Kroll \<rkroll@exploits.org\>, now maintained by Ben Pfaff \<blp@cs.stanford.edu\>.  Sleep time feature contributed by Dave Ulrick \<d-ulrick@insightbb.com\>.  This manpage written by Ben Pfaff.