Sam Combs

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

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

 

The shortcuts don't work since upgrading to El Capitan on the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, but will work on an Apple keyboard.

 

I've used the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for years and like the keyboard and I'm used to it.  Any suggestions on other ergonomic keyboards would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 7, 2015 12:24 AM

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

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  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Oct 14, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Kirrilian
    Level 8 (37,994 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 14, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Kirrilian

    SIP is a very good idea, so I give credit to Apple for taking OS security very seriously, and not waiting until something major happens before doing anything about it.

     

    MS has twiddled their thumbs over this software for years. Now they have to do something about it so it works as it should and not the user having to juggle things around to get it to work. We were fortunate it worked at all.

     

    User VikingOSX actually kind of gave me the idea. He mentioned to someone else to try this little trick to get drivers installed for some expensive software that wouldn't work under El Capitan. And I thought, "Hey, I wonder if I can do that with IntelliType?"

     

    I installed El Capitan over Yosemite today for no reason other than to get a Recovery partition on the drive, then restored Yosemite back to that partition. In the process, El Capitan is supposed to (from what I've read) leave such older drivers installed and working. Wrong. IntelliType was dead after the install was complete. So I would expect that in the future if a user reinstalls El Capitan over itself, or applies the full installer of an update, like 10.11.1 when we see that, it may break IntelliType again. Then you'll have to go through this whole thing again to get it working. Or (HA HA!), MS will finally update this software so it installs the way it's supposed to.

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Oct 14, 2015 8:22 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 5 (5,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 14, 2015 8:22 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    ... Or (HA HA!), MS will finally update this software so it installs the way it's supposed to.

    I wouldn't expect it too soon (if ever) with all their other issues with the latest Office on Mac

    and their galaxy full of issues with Windows 10 and there lack of any idea of where

    they are really heading in the future.

  • by aaron reimann,

    aaron reimann aaron reimann Oct 15, 2015 6:27 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 6:27 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    Thanks Bill!  The screenshots helped a ton.

  • by userlookingforhelp,

    userlookingforhelp userlookingforhelp Oct 16, 2015 12:46 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 12:46 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    Yeah! It works for me now. Thanks for sharing.

  • by maheshone,

    maheshone maheshone Oct 17, 2015 1:50 AM in response to Sam Combs
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2015 1:50 AM in response to Sam Combs

    I'm using MS Desktop 3000 and I also became angry when I noticed that it was not compatible with El Capitan. But I found the solution. I switched to a 3rd party software. Try USB Overdrive http://www.usboverdrive.com/. It's a shareware and is free forever. The only limitation is a popup notification to upgrade when you start your computer.

     

    I hhaven't upgraded yet but it's something that I will consider if MS didn't solve the issue.

     

    And the good thing about USB Overdrive is that.. it was able to customize buttons that IntelliType didn't allow me to.. For example, now I can customize Number Lock Key (on the number keypad), Insert Button, and everything else. The only problem is.. it was not able to detect 5 special hotkeys. Otherwise, it's just perfect.

     

    Good luck!

  • by craigst2,

    craigst2 craigst2 Oct 17, 2015 10:49 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2015 10:49 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Kurt,

    I went through the whole process you outlined, but still doesn't work for me. The regular keys work but the other key assignments don't respond. I re-installed the 8.2 version of the software, but the preference pane shows my old assignments still there. Should it have done a "clean install" to make the keyboard work correctly?

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Oct 17, 2015 1:27 PM in response to craigst2
    Level 8 (37,994 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2015 1:27 PM in response to craigst2

    Sorry, forgot to add another link to this similar topic. Once you have IntelliType installed, you have to manually add a startup item to your account. See this post:

     

    Getting IntelliType for Microsoft keyboards and/or mice to load at startup in Mountain Lion

  • by NRnSB,

    NRnSB NRnSB Oct 17, 2015 5:01 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2015 5:01 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    This worked perfect to swap Windows/Alt keys. It doesn't do anything for the "Favorites" keys. I spoke with MS yesterday. They were useless. Took 4 re-routings through multiple countries to find out they know about the issue, but will promise no updates. Excellent..thanks MS.

  • by NRnSB,

    NRnSB NRnSB Oct 17, 2015 5:30 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2015 5:30 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Genius! Thank you so much for this fix. It works PERFECT! All of the previous settings I had for favorites, key swaps, etc. came back.

  • by craigst2,

    craigst2 craigst2 Oct 18, 2015 12:49 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 18, 2015 12:49 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Sorry, still doesn't work. On the other hand, it could be my keyboard. It's not the one you mentioned, mine is a MS "Wireless Comfort Keyboard for Mac" but it still uses the Intellitype 8.2 software so thought your fixes ought to work on my keyboard. But they don't.

     

    Does anyone else with my keyboard have a work-around?

  • by craisb,

    craisb craisb Oct 29, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    This did the trick for me also. Thanks.

  • by Adam Twardoch,

    Adam Twardoch Adam Twardoch Nov 16, 2015 9:28 PM in response to Sam Combs
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 16, 2015 9:28 PM in response to Sam Combs

    I have extended the Karabiner-provided mappings to also cover the right-side modifiers, i.e. make the Right Alt to be Command, and Application key to be Right Alt. Here's the code that you can use in the "private.xml" file of Karabiner: https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner/issues/516

  • by craigst2,

    craigst2 craigst2 Nov 17, 2015 6:44 AM in response to Adam Twardoch
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 17, 2015 6:44 AM in response to Adam Twardoch

    I need some help getting the buttons on the left side to work (browser, mail, iTunes, etc). Don't have a need to re-map the Alt key.

  • by kenmaryj,

    kenmaryj kenmaryj Dec 9, 2015 2:29 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 2:29 PM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    Thank you for this thread, Sam Combs, and for a solution, Bill. Just installed El Capitan, noticed right away that on my Microsoft 4000 the Alt and Windows keys no longer worked as Option and Command, despite the settings in Intellipoint 8.2. Downloaded Karabiner, followed Bill's diagram, and all is well.


    Ken

  • by Dave Kroske,

    Dave Kroske Dave Kroske Dec 21, 2015 9:25 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 21, 2015 9:25 AM in response to Bill (audio guy)

    I installed Karabiner 10.14.0 and selected the (3) items Bill showed and closed the Karabiner prefs window. Control & Alt buttons did not switch. I saw no button to apply. Was I supposed to do something after checking the boxes besides just closing the Karabiner prefs window? I also did a restart. No change.

     

    I have the MS Wireless Comfort Keyboard 5000, Intellitype 8.2, El Capitan on a Mac Mini 2012 i7.

     

    10 key pad & volume keys work, but not Hot Keys or Command/Control key swap.

    I've tried with System Prefs> MS Keyboard > Options  with  "Swap Windows & Alt Keys" selected and de-selected. No Change.

    Thanks for any help.

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