Derek Mitchell

Q: some keys on the extended wired keyboard have stopped responding after upgrading to el capitan

I have a Mac Mini (late 2012)  with a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 and GB memory.  I recently upgraded to El Capitan.  The following keys have stopped responding on a wired extended apple keyboard (These are the ones that I have noticed so far).

 

     The shift key on the right of the keyboard

     The up arrow

     The 8 key on the top row of numbers

     The 4, 5 and 6 keys on the number pad

 

It has made touch typing very difficult and data entry into tables is near impossible.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 6, 2015 10:02 AM

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Q: some keys on the extended wired keyboard have stopped responding after upgrading to el capitan

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  • by norm123,

    norm123 norm123 Oct 6, 2015 2:21 PM in response to Derek Mitchell
    Community Specialists
    Oct 6, 2015 2:21 PM in response to Derek Mitchell

    Hey Derek,

    I understand that you have a few keys that are not responding. Let's see if we can get it sorted out.

    I would first start with taking a look at the troubleshooting below. Keep in mind that this help determine if you are seeing some additional key combinations are pressed or if the keys are mapped to a function. 

    One or more keys on the keyboard do not respond
    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203162

     

    Some keys don't work as expected

    1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
    2. From the View menu, choose Speech.
    3. Click the Text to Speech tab.
    4. If "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" is enabled, the key or key combination set to speak text cannot be used for other purposes or used to type text--click Set Key and change it to a less-commonly used key combination (try to use modifier keys such as Shift, Command, Option, and Control). Or, disable the "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" option.
    5. Click the Accessibilty or Universal Access pane in System Preferences, then click the Keyboard tab.
    6. Make sure that Slow Keys is turned off. With Slow Keys on, you need to press a key for a longer period of time for it to be recognized.
    7. In the Accessibilty or Universal Access pane, click the Mouse tab, and make sure Mouse Keys is turned off. With Mouse Keys enabled, you cannot use the Numeric Keypad to enter numbers--instead the keypad moves the pointer (cursor). (There is an option to enable Mouse Keys with five presses of the Option key; you may want to turn that option off to avoid accidentally enabling it.) If Mouse Keys is enabled and you are using a keyboard with no numeric keypad or Num Lock function, see Unable to type while Mouse Keys is enabled in Mac OS X.
    8. If the function keys on the top row of the keyboard are not working as expected, see Mac OS X: How to change the behavior of function keys.
    9. If the issue persists, use Keyboard Viewer to help isolate the issue: 
         
      1. Click the Language & Text pane (Mac OS X v10.6) or International pane (Mac OS X v10.5.8 or earlier) in System Preferences.
      2.  
      3. Click the Input Sources tab (or Input Menu tab in Mac OS X 10.5.8 or earlier).
      4.  
      5. Click the Keyboard & Character Viewer "On" checkbox to select it (click the Keyboard Viewer "On" checkbox in Mac OS X 10.5.8 or earlier).
      6.  
      7. From the Input (flag) menu, choose Show Keyboard Viewer.
         
      8.  
      9. If the keyboard is connected and detected by OS X, the keys you type will highlight in the Keyboard Viewer window. Open TextEdit (or any text application), and try to type something using the keys that were previously not responding to see if they highlight in Keyboard Viewer.
    10. Start from the Mac OS X Install Disc, choose Terminal from the Utilities menu and test the keys which were previously not working.  If the keys work while started from the Install disc, then the keyboard itself is working correctly.  Use How to troubleshoot a software issue to isolate the software issue that may be causing the keys to not respond.


    Take care 

  • by Derek Mitchell,

    Derek Mitchell Derek Mitchell Oct 6, 2015 4:39 PM in response to norm123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2015 4:39 PM in response to norm123

    Thanks for your interest. 

    I followed all the instructions except 10, since I have no CD/DVD drive.  I had none of 77those options selected. Now I have found that in addition to the keys noted to be inactive I must add the + on the numeric pad, and the esc keys as well.

    The keyboard was in perfect working order prior to the update, so it is not likely to be a hardware issue however.

  • by norm123,

    norm123 norm123 Oct 7, 2015 12:52 PM in response to Derek Mitchell
    Community Specialists
    Oct 7, 2015 12:52 PM in response to Derek Mitchell

    Hi Derek, 

    I can understand that you feel that it might not be a hardware issue. I would try a different keyboard if you have one to see if the issue carry over. Also it would be a good idea to contact Apple Support for further assistance. 

    Contact Apple Support
    http://www.apple.com/support/contact/


    Have a good day