I don't have a multimedia keyboard. But, I am not seeing any issues with an emulated multimedia keyboard, in ubuntu/x11 20.04 LTS.
I did the following to emulate multimedia keyboard: Gnome -> Settings -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Sound and Media Mapped "Next track" to F8 Mapped "Pause playback" to F6 Mapped "Play (or play/pause)" to F5 Mapped "Previous track" to F7 Checked with Rhythmbox and Vlc. Works fine. See, if this emulation works for you. That should narrow down the issue. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1890494 Title: Closing Rhythmbox does not free the media keys To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rhythmbox/+bug/1890494/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs