jfgaylord wrote:
If I type "Command-B" select the text and use the command, it produces the symbols shown in the screen shot. It also disables any further text entry (except for return/enter which only moves the cursor). It does not bring up the formatting menu. If I copy that weird text and enter it here, it appears normally (but not boldface).
You are going to have to be more specific on these things.
Here is what happens when I try to follow your steps to reproduce:
1) I don't know where to start. From your screenshot, it looks like you've opened a new TextEdit document. So I did that.
2) I type command-b. It does nothing except turn on boldface for any subsequent text I may type. I can tell this by the change in the toolbar for the boldface text indicator.
3) I can't select any text because I haven't typed any. Maybe I should type something then?
4) Use the command. What command? Command-B? That just turns off boldface. Should I type some specific text, select it, and then type command-b? Is there some specific text that causes this? If so, what is it?
Maybe you have some shortcut defined for command-b?
I can't reproduce anything like what you are describing. Unless you have some other way to reproduce, the only answer is that these documents are simply corrupt. If this happens on a new document, then something about your configuration is corrupt. Erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. What ever you did to setup the computer the first time - don't do that.