Kinesis keyboard(s) stopped working properly after Ventura upgrade

I have 2 Macbook pros and they have both used the Kinesis Freestyle keyboard w/o issues for years. However, after upgrading both to Ventura 13.5.2 both keyboards are not configuring correctly. Specifically the command key(s) don't behave normally at all. Command-tab doesn't work, command-L, etc., etc. I've been using this keyboard brand for over a decade. Never had a single problem. Please tell me there is something I can do to fix this. I've gone through all the obvious steps: Change keyboard type and follow the instructions to press the keys inside the space bars, restarted, tried switching the two keyboards with the two Macs. Nothing at all works. I've been using Macs since the 90s and this is the most frustrating thing I've encountered. The only way I can use either machine is to use the keyboard on the Mac. Please help me out here.


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Posted on Nov 15, 2023 4:47 PM

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5 replies

Nov 15, 2023 5:44 PM in response to dialabrain

I haven't tried that, but that's a good idea and I will. However, nothing changed on the keyboards. I'm a software engineer (worked at Apple for 5 years) so I know the first question to ask is "what changed". It doesn't seem likely that it wasn't the upgrade to Ventura. And I posted here hoping maybe there were others encountering the same problem. I'll check with Kinesis now.


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Nov 16, 2023 4:18 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks Tom, I appreciate the response. I'll have a look at those options. FWIW - and in case it's useful to others - here is the reply I got from Kinesis support:


I have seen this off and on for the Fn key but I imagine it could also apply to the CMD key issue you are having. As it was intended, on a keyboard originally (and the way it still is) the Fn key would toggle the behavior of certain keys to get more functionality. This was relative to the keyboard, and completely agnostic of the PC/OS. Within the last few years, Apple, has given their keyboards proprietary functions that are recognized by the OS to perform specific MacOS functions. Why they did it this way makes no sense, but after speaking with Apple engineers, the intent was to drive users toward OEM options. Regardless, Apple is going against the grain, by giving the Fn key specific, proprietary, Mac-hardware differences that allow the Fn key to talk with the OS and toggle things like Dictation (hitting FN key twice). This is abnormal, and completely the opposite of the industry standard. In short, the Fn key, does what an Fn key is supposed to do, what it was originally designed to do; it toggles functions on the keyboard. It sends nothing, no signal to the PC/OS.




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Kinesis keyboard(s) stopped working properly after Ventura upgrade

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