Logitech Bluetooth/Bolt keyboards messing up Keyboard Viewer (and more)

I just upgraded my Intel MacBook Pro (late 2018) to a new MacBook Pro M4 Pro and I'm having strange issues with my external Logitech MX Keys S keyboard (Spanish ISO layout). And I'm not alone; a colleague is having the same issues with his new MacBook Air M3 and his Logitech POP Keys.


I first noticed this when I tried to use VMWare Fusion virtual machines (Ubuntu and Windows 11) and got the wrong keyboard mapping in both. Then, I noticed the Keyboard Viewer was all messed up too.


The symptoms:


When I use the MacBook keyboard and open Keyboard Viewer, I see the expected ISO layout and the input on the Virtual Machines works as expected (notice the º symbol in the key below esc and < besides left shift):



However, when I use the external Logitech keyboard, the Keyboard Viewer changes (you have to close and open it again to notice), reflecting an ANSI layout. AND this is also what VMWare Fusion "sees" and sends to the guest OS.



Another symptom that something wrong is happening is the Keyboard settings dialog, which also changes when the last used keyboard is the external Logitech:



Other than this, the keyboard works just fine in MacOS and the layout is correct. It's only the VMs that don't see it right, making it unusable, and of course, the Keyboard Viewer is unusable too (I have to touch the Macbook keyboard for it to display correctly).


This happens using Bluetooth, but also using the included Bolt USB adapter. And this behavior replicates the same way in my colleague's computer, so I think it's a Logitech Bluetooth/Bolt + MacOS issue.


Bonus: if I connect an old, external, full size USB Magic Keyboard (Spanish ISO layout) it works as intended, the VMs get the correct input and Keyboard Viewer is also correct. But what's even stranger, if I connect a Logitech K270 Unifying wireless keyboard it also works as intended. It's the Bluetooth/Bolt ones that fail.


I've done a lot of reading and a lot of testing on this, and have come to no solution. I've tried unpairing, deleting the related .plist file, rebooting and re-pairing, which brings up the Keyboard Setup utility again. There, I've made sure I pressed the < key when prompted and selected ISO layout. No difference. Tried also selecting ANSI layout, or tricking it into thinking it's an ANSI keyboard (pressing z instead of <) and, as expected, VMs and Keyboard Layout show the same behavior but also MacOS receives the wrong keystrokes.


What I think that's happening is that the keyboard *IS* actually sending ANSI keystrokes, and it is MacOS which translates them to ISO when configured as such; but the Keyboard Viewer and VMWare Fusion get the keystrokes before the translation, and this causes the strange behavior.


Finally, I want to mention that I've been using this same keyboard for months in the Intel MacBook Pro I just replaced (running Sequoia too), and everything was working fine, VMs and all. Go figure.


Does anybody know if it's a bug introduced in the last Sequoia updates? Any solution for this?


P.S.: I think this message would be better posted on Logitech forums, where it could be seen by somebody at Logitech, but they don't seem to exist anymore...

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Dec 12, 2024 7:26 AM

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2 replies

Dec 12, 2024 5:40 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Hi, Tom.


Thank you for your comment, but before posting here I had already seen your messages here and there, and tried all your suggestions... nothing has worked. All I've managed is to troubleshoot the issue as much as possible, and it seems clear that it's a problem specific to Bluetooth Logitech keyboards.


What's more puzzling is that this was not happening with my previous Intel MacBook Pro and the same keyboard. Maybe it's some kind of bug introduced in the Apple Silicon driver... hopefully someone at Apple or Logitech reads my message and takes a look at the issue.

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Logitech Bluetooth/Bolt keyboards messing up Keyboard Viewer (and more)

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