Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 won't work on OS X El Capitan

I found a quick solution that does not involve installing any additional software that seems to work,

Yes, that's been mentioned in this topic, and in another longer one regarding these keyboards and the IntelliType software. The only problem with the System Preference approach is all it does is swap the Windows/Alt keys to the left of the spacebar, and the Alt/menu keys to the right of it so they are in the normal Mac position of the Command key next to the spacebar on both sides, followed by the Alt (Option) key. Basically, the same thing Karabiner does without using Karabiner.

The rest of the special keys simply don't work without the IntelliType kernel extension since none of them return a key code without it.

Here's some good news! In El Capitan with System Integrity Protection on (as I'm sure we've all figured out), you can't install the MS IntelliType software with SIP enabled. Well, you can install it, but the kernel extension is automatically blocked as it is an unsigned app, and such third party extensions are now supposed to go to the /Library/Extensions/ folder, not the System folder.

I installed the Sierra beta. Per normal when using a full installer, it turns SIP back on if you had it off (I've been using my Mac with it off). I ignored that to see if anything different would happen with the IntelliType software.

It did! Installed, restarted, and with the exception that you still have to manually add the helper to your Login Items, it worked without doing anything else! The extension is still in the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder, but it is active even with SIP enabled. Something that simply wouldn't happen under El Capitan.

So has Apple "okayed" some known, safe extensions under the hood? Or is it just a beta thing that may disappear with the official release. Can't say for sure yet.

works like a charm

Kurt-

Just out of curiosity, do your volume keys work under Sierra? I have everything working as I did under 10.11.6, except that under Sierra, I can't get the 2 volume buttons (and Mute) to work no matter what I try. Curious if others are experiencing the same issue?

Yup, all keys for my Ergo 4000 are working the same as always under Sierra.

If you upgraded Sierra over El Capitan or earlier, use the uninstaller in the Utilities folder to remove IntelliType, then reinstall it. A bit of a pain to sit through two restarts, but a fairly quick way to eliminate a possible cause.

Bizarre. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but that didn't fix the issue. That said, it couldn't have been a complete uninstall, as all my settings were retained from before after I reinstalled it—probably some preference file somewhere. In the meantime, I just wrote some AppleScripts to increase/decrease/mute the volume for those buttons. There's no visual feedback, but it works.

@JMcKee I have the same issue and uninstalling/reinstalling didn't do the trick either. I ended up doing the same thing as you and created AppleScripts for those buttons. Would be nice if there were a way to get things back to how they were though.

Hmmm. That's very interesting. Just saw Apple's sending out 10.12.1 betas. Will have to see if that fixes it. Unfortunately, even if reported, I'm guessing the likelihood of it getting fixed is small, considering all the hoops you have to go through just to install it (disabling SIP). I don't understand why Microsoft isn't supporting this keyboard any more...

Wondering if USB Overdrive is any better and handling all the options of this keyboard...?

And do you by chance know how to add visual feedback to the volume change?

That said, it couldn't have been a complete uninstall, as all my settings were retained from before after I reinstalled it—probably some preference file somewhere.

Yes, I've noticed that, too, with any complete uninstall/reinstall.

Open the Preferences folder in your user account and delete the file:

com.microsoft.keyboard.pref

Restart the Mac and it should be back to the defaults.

Also, did you add the keyboard helper file to your Login Items? That must be done manually.

What do you mean by "keyboard helper file"? I added the Microsoft Keyboard Preference Pane to my Login items, but if you mean a different file, I don't know which one that is.

We're likely talking about the same one, but you don't drop the preference pane itself into the Login Items. Just one item within that pane. The MicrosoftKeyboardHelper .

At least that's what I do, and is suggested on various web sites. I've never tried dropping the prefPane into the Login Items to see what it would do … And trying it just now, you don't get the correct result. It should look like this:

I was unable to figure out how to add the visual feedback to the applescripts but I just settled for adding the old "pop" sound when adjusting the volume. If you do figure out, I'd love to know.

Here are the example AppleScripts that I used:

Volume Up:

do shell script "afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Pop.aiff"

set vol to output volume of (get volume settings)

if vol > 90 then # 100 max

set volumeoutput volume 100

else

set volumeoutput volume (vol + 10)

end if

Volume Down:

do shell script "afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Pop.aiff"

set vol to output volume of (get volume settings)

if vol < 10 then # 0 is min

set volumeoutput volume 0

else

set volumeoutput volume (vol - 10)

end if

Mute:

set vol to output muted of (get volume settings)

if (vol = true) then

set volume without output muted

do shell script "afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Pop.aiff"

else

set volume with output muted

end if

Oh, #*%$@*! 😠

They're NOT working. They were in all beta versions of Sierra, and in the GM release. But in the official release, those keys don't work. Talk about a last minute change!

The really dumb part is the keys DO work if you're in the utility.

They'll pop up the settings when you press those keys, but as soon as you close the preference pane, they don't respond at all.

So is MS finally going to get off their butts and update this thing? They sure keep IntelliType up to date for Windows users, but all of we Mac users who've purchased their keyboards don't seem to matter. This utility hasn't changed since Lion.

What's ironic is that if you uninstall the IntelliType software, the media keys are the only keys that DO work.

Ahh, that's a shame Kurt. Apple obviously did something then to stop this from working. Very strange.