Keyboard F7 F8 F9 keys not work

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Level 1

23 points

Keyboard F7 F8 F9 keys not work

Hello everyone!

I have a problem with my keyboard, but to be exact - with MacOS.
On my iMac 27" Mid 2011 not working 3 Keyboard keys: previous track (F7), play/pause (F8), next track (F9).

I thought it was a problem with a keyboard, but after creating a new user and login to them - these buttons work!

So the problem is in software/user settings.

Here are the steps I've done before the problem appears.

I had Mac OS Yosemite, created backup with Time Machine, after made a clean install of Mac OS High SIerra to the new SSD Drive.

Then I returned all user data from a time machine backup on the high sierra.

I tried this https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25295?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US not work for me.

I think after returning user preferences and system files from the backup something go wrong.

But how can I find which file in Mac OS is corrupted now? Or return user data from the backup without this issue?

Any Ideas?

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Apr 25, 2018 12:51 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MachTurtle

Level 1

13 points

May 21, 2018 1:29 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I was having this issue as well (all media player controls weren't responding), and I opened Activity Monitor to see what else I had running to do the test you mentioned. I saw that VLC wasn't responding, so I force quit out of that, and it fixed my problem immediately. Presumably VLC as a process was hogging the control keys' focus so they couldn't be used elsewhere, but once VLC was closed down they were freed up.

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Answer 2

Apr 25, 2018 2:18 PM in response to David_Wel

The behavior of the media keys changed slightly. Play/pause for example can work in more applications than before, and this can in some cases make it look like they are not working at all.

You didn’t say in what applications you are seeing the problem. Try first starting playback by pressing the space bar - in iTunes, say, or Quicktime Player. THEN press play/pause key. Does it work?

Do other keys like those for screen brightness or the volume up and down work? If not:

Did you make sure in System Preferences->Keyboard that the box that says “Use F1, F2 etc as regular function keys” is NOT checked?

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Answer 3

Apr 26, 2018 2:54 AM in response to David_Wel

My guess is that perhaps the keys are being sent to the wrong application.

Can you try a simple experiment?

Quit all other media applications, except for iTunes.

Press play/pause (F8). Nothing? Ok, press the space bar. Playback starts, right? NOW, press play/pause. It does pause, doesn't it? And afterwards, pressing it again should play, and so on. Not?

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