Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Typing problem

Ever since I switched to OSX I have used 2 of those new white keyboards and I'm having all sorts of problems wiith getting double characters when typing.

Now I know I'm a very bad 3 or 4 finger typer, but I never had that problem before.

I type pretty fast for only using 2-4 fingers and I'm getting results like this:

whhy amm I gettting doublee characters?

What amm I doing wrong? I somehow can't fiigure out what triggers the double character prroblem.

I've played around with the key repeat ratee, but that doesn't change anything -- the problem seems to come from somewhere ellse.

Thanks for any pointers in whatt to change.

Posted on Sep 2, 2004 8:19 PM

Reply
170 replies

Oct 14, 2004 10:13 PM in response to Thomas Schaller

I am having the same problem with a brand new Power Macc G5 as you can see from some of the double ccharacters in this post. I have gone through the same adjustments in preferencces with the same poor result. I've tried moving USB connections around and no success.

I need some assistance. Apple assigned a case number but not much else was offered.

Oct 14, 2004 11:16 PM in response to Thomas Schaller

I have been having the same problems. Last night I set Key Repete Rate one notch to the left of center and Delay Until Repete to Off. Also, I reset my Open Firmware. It seems to be working better now. Let us know if Apple comes up with anything.

Open Firmware reset: Hold the Command Option+OF keys during startup.

At the '>' prompt type:

reset-nvram


Hit Return

set-defaults


Hit Return

reset-all


Hit Return

-Bmer
G5 Owners Support Group
Join Us @ G5support.com

Oct 17, 2004 7:12 AM in response to Thomas Schaller

I bring back to liife thhis old threadd.

I have a brannd nnew 15" Powerbook, and it has the problem (10.3.5), Also my iBook annd my Cube still suffers frrom this extremeely annnoyingg bbugg. I have to finish a report by tomoorrow, and it iis almost immpossibblle to do, givenn alll the errors that pops up from normall typing. It is not my typing, because I neveer hhave this problemm oon any of my PCs. The Macs are unusabblle with this bug. I am losing my minnd ovver this!!!

Have any oof you found a fix? At macfixit, some ssugggesteedd thhat it mmay be due to a corruppt postscript fonnt, but I don't know.

PLEASE HELP!!!! PLEASE...

NB: all the typos above is due to this bug, and comes from a normal typing. Playing with the delay and repeat rate for the keyboard does not help. I guess it has something to do with my prefs, or install, or some software culprit, since all my machines have the same programs installed. None of the machines are cloned, but my new Powerbook was set up with the "set up assistant", importing everything from my iBook. The bug thus seems to be inherited. It is system wide. Opening a new user account does not help.
Running on battery does not help either.

Sophus..

Oct 17, 2004 10:05 AM in response to Thomas Schaller

I've got exactly the same problem, and I existed on my old Dual 500 MHz G4 under OS X also. I always chalked it up to the actual kkeybooard rather than the software, but I haven't decided to bite the bullet yet and try a non-Apple keyboard. I use PC's at work all day and never have the problem, so I'm pretty sure it's not me. Lately I've been fighting kernel panics on my new G5 so I haven't spent any time on the typing thing. I guess it's good to knoow that I'm not alone...

(note - all the double letters in this post are a result of the problemm, just as mentioned in previous posts)

Oct 17, 2004 9:14 PM in response to djdawson

I have tried everythinng now, including a full reinstall from scratch.

The reinstall did noot help. I tested writing in Mail and Textedit before installing MS Office 2004 as the only additional software, but it seemed as if the problem was there still. The problem is most noticeabe when writing in Word, although the probblemms in Word seems slightly less bad after the reinstall. Probably just Placebo.

This is so very annoying! The Powerbook and iBook is close to worthless to me in this state. Should I calll Apple and ccomplain?

Sophus

Oct 17, 2004 10:11 PM in response to Mac-Medic

I know this seems sillly, but a guy at MacNN asked me to turn off duplicate fonts found in my Home folder using Fontbook. It seems to have helped, but it might be a random improvement.

Some widely used fonts were duplicated. Duplicate fonts are marked by a "." in the Fontbook list. Deactivate the duplicates found in your user Library folder... Give it a try and let me know if it improves the situation for you. Seems to have helped me, but you never know if it is an actual connection.

Oct 17, 2004 10:29 PM in response to Thomas Schaller

Well, I've disabled all the duplicate fonts in FontBook, and there were quite a few of them, mostly as a result of fonts in my old OS 9 System Folder (because of MS Office v.X, I think) but a few in my user folder for some reason. So far, so good - no repeated characters in this post so far. It kind of makes sense if you think about it, since the system has to do a bunch of font stuff as you type, so I suppose it could be seeing those duplicates and getting confused once in a while.

Thanks for the tip. I'll post a follow up if I notice the problem in any other apps, but the problem seems to be gone during this post, and usually this would be enough typing to cause it.

Thanks!!!

Oct 18, 2004 5:35 AM in response to djdawson

Update-problem still occurs after resolving duplicate fonts. I've allso rearrangedd the way my USB connectionss are pluggedd up. As you can see from this post, the problem appears from time to time. I'm going to take my keyboardd back to the authorized Apple service provider where I bought the macchine tomorrow. They are interested in testing the keyboardd to see whats going on. I'll upddate after that.

I'm interestedd in the post about the new tacctile keyboard that the poster iss getting. This problem is starting to encroach on my prodductivity. I switched my home based business to the Mac platform after serious research. Who would have guessed that a $5000 computer would be brought to its knees by a keyboardd issue.

Oct 18, 2004 5:52 AM in response to Andy H

I know how you feel! It is the most annoying bug ever. I am sorry the trick did not work out for you.

Whether it is the turning off duplicate fonts or some other unexplainable reason, my system now seems to work fairly well. I still have the issue, but not nearly as bad as it was. If this problem is tied to the fonts, could it possibly be a bug in the OSX equivalent to the X11 Font server which is responsible for serving up and drawing the correct font on screen??

I am thinking that it also may be related to some timing issues in the keyboard drivers or USB firmware or something. The problem affects all kinds of macs, iBooks, PowerBooks, G5s, eMacs, G4 PowerMacs and the lot. This makes me doubt that it has anything to do with the actual physical keyboard.

It must be a software issue. For your information, the problem is even present in Virtual PC 7.0, while writing in Word for Windows 2003. Beats me!

Please, let me know how it goes.

Typing problem

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.