10-key White USB Apple Keyboard Error

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Level 1

0 points

10-key White USB Apple Keyboard Error

Greeting All,

I have a White Apple USB Keyboard (about 3 years-old) that the 10-key has stopped responding to my login ID. Only the 789-456+1230.enter keys are not working. Those above the 789 and to the right of them are working fine. If I login as anyone else on the system - everything works fine. So it doesn't appear to be hardware related.

Things already tried:
1. Keyboard/Mouse settings - reset to factory default (used button).
2. Checked International Keyboard configuration - Only English is selected and the radio button for all use the same configuration is checked.
3. Created a completely new ID and compared settings to my ID and made changes accordingly - no difference to my ID.
4. Tried the Clear key trick to "Num Lock" the keys - no change.

What else can I try? In the iMAC forum there was a post about creating a new ID and transferring all info from one ID to the New One, would this be a possibility?

On the UP SIDE of MAC ownership - this thing is GREAT! I've been using it daily for the past three years with this being the first error I've had, probably self inflicted at that. My wife has ditched WinXP for photo editing on the MACmini.

Thanks for any help provided.

63FalconGT

MiniMAC-G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Three Acomdata 500GB and One My Book 1 TB on Firewire

Posted on Jun 24, 2009 7:09 AM

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Answer 1

Boece

Level 5

6,264 points

Jun 24, 2009 7:21 AM in response to 63FalconGT

There is likely a keyboard preferences file in your account that needs to be removed, so that the system will re-create it afresh.

Since I don't know what that file is, you might try borrowing another usb keyboard and using it. The system will ask for confirmation of the keyboard and perhaps reset your preferences. If that keyboard works, then try again with the old keyboard.

As with any strange behavior on your Mac, you should probably run Utilities > DiskUtility and verify the hard drive and then repair permissions.

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Answer 2

63FalconGT Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 7, 2009 3:33 PM in response to 63FalconGT

Greetings,
I finally got another keyboard to test with a MacAlly 101 iKeySlim USB. But that didn't fix the problem either. So I went looking for drivers for this keyboard and ran across the following in their FAQ area:

Q: In Mac OS X, Numeric Keypad does not respond?

In Mac OS X, typing numbers using the numeric keypad does not work, but the Key Caps utility indicates that the keys are being pressed. Holding down the Shift key allows the numeric keypad to work correctly. Try the following steps to solve the problem:
1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
2. Choose Universal Access from the View menu.
3. Click the Mouse tab.
4. Turn off "Mouse Keys". If Mouse Keys is already off, turn it on and off again.
Note: Mouse Keys could be turned on inadvertently if certain programs (most notably games) make use of the Option key. Pressing Option five times in a row is the keyboard shortcut for turning on Mouse Keys. You can avoid this by deselecting the "Allow Universal Access Shortcuts" checkbox at the bottom of the Universal Access pane.

This fixed the problem!

So now I know.

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Answer 3

s byers

Level 1

6 points

Aug 19, 2009 4:55 PM in response to 63FalconGT

White Apple usb wired Kbd 9034 is not recognized after several hours of inactivity (monitor and Bluetooth mouse off, computer on). Must restart, and it works fine. At system preferences, I attempted to choose a different kbd. to find the problem. Message is 'kbd cannot be ID'd', then, 'press the key just to right of left shift key'. On doing this, message is 'kbd cannot be ID'd. You have pressed a key on your built-in kbd. Please press a key on your external kbd.' The only keyboard is external. The setup goes on to try to recognize the keyboard but never does, but kbd works anyway. This is the only keyboard I've ever used, it worked fine until a couple of weeks ago. Optimizing and clearing everything, as well as starting from OSX disk haven't helped. Kbd is plugged into a MicroNet minimate. Moving it elsewhere doesn't change things. I have found that if I leave an application open on the desktop, the drop doesn't occur. Coincidence? Where do I look for the problem?

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