Keyboard Characters Have Changed!

Question

Level 1

8 points

Keyboard Characters Have Changed!

Somehow -- maybe by the cat walking over the keyboard?? -- a number of the keys are now producing the wrong result.

For example, if I press SHIFT/2 instead of @ I get "

The only way I can get the @ symbol is by going to a character map and inserting it.

Similar things have happened to a number of other keys...such as...
SHIFT 6 &
SHIFT 7 '
SHIFT 8 (
SHIFT 9 )
SHIFT 0 0
and so on...

What can I do to get back to what the keyboard is supposed to do?

iBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 11:20 AM

Reply

Answer 1

MGW

Level 7

27,053 points

Aug 10, 2009 11:54 AM in response to leepj

What keyboard layout are you using? Check in System Preferences>International>Input Menu and make sure you are using the US keyboard layout. Make sure English is at the top of the list of languages.

User uploaded file

Reply

Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,588 points

Aug 10, 2009 12:48 PM in response to leepj

Tom Gewecke asked *What do you get pressing the key for [ *

When I press that key I get @...how did you know?

It looks like your layout may have shifted to the JIS (Japanese) type.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#Japanese

If so, I think some people are able to get it back to normal by resetting the PMU. I assume you have already verified that only US is selected in system prefs/international/input menu?

Reply

Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,588 points

Aug 10, 2009 5:52 PM in response to leepj

Thanks to everyone who helped me out -- the procedure from the Apple Knowledge database gave me the instructions I needed. I didn't have to go to "the last resort" of the PMU reset.

Are you saying that a simple restart of your computer fixed the problem? Since this does come up here now and then, it would be helpful to know exactly what you did short of the pmu reset.

Reply

Answer 4

leepj Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2009 7:44 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Well, after your note, and before I saw the reference to the Apple Knowledge database, I did quite a few things out of desperation, such as actually turning Japanese on, and then off again, along with US Extended, and resetting defaults in some of what I thought were the appropriate places in System Preferences International. Then, after I saw the article, I did the forced shutdowns that Apple recommended, and when I rebooted -- behold! everything was "back to normal".

Reply

Answer 5

Aug 10, 2009 3:17 PM in response to leepj

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.

You can find the procedure for resetting the PMU in this Apple Knowledge Base article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431?viewlocale=en_US

Reply

Answer 6

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,588 points

Aug 10, 2009 12:09 PM in response to leepj

For example, if I press SHIFT/2 instead of @ I get "

The only way I can get the @ symbol is by going to a character map and inserting it.

What do you get pressing the key for [

Reply

Answer 7

leepj Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2009 12:22 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom Gewecke asked *What do you get pressing the key for [ *

When I press that key I get @...how did you know?

So, what:s going on here? How do I get back where I:m supposed to be?

Reply

Answer 8

leepj Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2009 1:33 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Yes, I have confirmed US as the only selection. And English appears at the top of the languages.

Reply

Answer 9

leepj Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2009 5:28 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Thanks to everyone who helped me out -- the procedure from the Apple Knowledge database gave me the instructions I needed. I didn't have to go to "the last resort" of the PMU reset.

Thanks again!

Reply