Keyboard functions

tn-morgen · #1 June 27th, 2007, 04:51 PM

Hi, I'm new, and trying to get the hang of mac along with all the other stuff I'm learning right now.

I'm curious why my home, end, page up and page down buttons don't seem to do what they say.

I have to use the arrow keys. I've checked preferences and can't see any settings that would affect the keyboard. Yes, this IS an apple keyboard.

Look, I'm still having problems with the dash and slash on the numpad being in (slightly) different locations!

Greg Reez · #2 June 27th, 2007, 07:02 PM

Sounds weird, is there a picture online somewhere of the exact keyboard you are using? I know I know... I believe you when you said its an apple keyboard, I just want you to check a second time

Also, my keyboard works just fine, I tried page up AND down, home, and end in firefox and Word and they work as they are supposed to. You said the buttons don't seem to do what they say... does this mean they are doing something else or is it not doing anything at all?

They only "natural" reason they won't work while viewing websites is if you are clicked in a form field (like if you are searching or filling out a form).

Let us know what programs they are or aren't working in (which browser, Word, Notepad, Powerpoint, Acrobat whatever), maybe we can still help you... I'm not going to say that you have a faulty keyboard yet... oh yeah, we can't help you with the "division" and "minus" signs being in slightly different places

tn-morgen · #3 June 28th, 2007, 07:13 AM

Thank you for responding. The page down acts like end of line, page up does nothing, home does nothing and end does nothing. This happens in all programs - odp text or calc, textwriter, textwrangler, emails in ff, safari or opera, and basically it just doesn't work. I finally tossed the box, but I'll get a photo/model # for you from the apple website.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...mice_keyboards

it's the apple keyboard in position #3 from left, top line. I wanted the wireless, but ended up with the wired keyboard. clear case, white keys. I got it at the apple store.

Greg Reez · #4 June 28th, 2007, 11:26 AM

Yup, you have the standard apple keyboard it looks like, but I still don't want to say the keyboard is bad, and I think I may be in denial.

Try this troubleshooting: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300547

And in step 7, the Input(flag) menu is in the upper right near your volume settings and time, click Show Keyboard Viewer so you can see an onscreen representation of your keyboard. As you press keys on your keyboard, the keyboard onscreen should follow your actions. Give it a shot, then open a text processing program (example says TextEdit), and see if the keys are working... if not, then your keyboard is definitely shot.

CaribbeanOS-X · #5 June 30th, 2007, 03:00 PM

tn-morgen:

To get the full use of the KeyBoard, as Greg Reez advised, open up the Keyboard Viewer.

System Preferences> Keyboard & Mouse > show KeyBoard Viewer in the Menu Bar. (it's in the list of options)

For example: fn+ctrl will give you a numeric keypad (you will be able see all the various uses).

Try the different standard combinations to help you get up to speed with your new machine.

Good luck.

CaribbeanOS-X

tn-morgen · #6 July 4th, 2007, 04:15 PM

OK, keyboard viewer says the keys are working - at least it's reading the key presses. However, it is not behaving in text edit. Now, maybe something else is going on?
BTW- thank you for helping me with this. I appreciate it.

CaribbeanOS-X · #7 July 4th, 2007, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tn-morgen

OK, keyboard viewer says the keys are working - at least it's reading the key presses. However, it is not behaving in text edit. Now, maybe something else is going on?...

Similar thing happened to my MacBook, the delete, tab and space bar would not work. The keys did not register in the keyboard viewer but they worked when i clicked the respective keys in the Viewer.

Hardware defect... I just received a new keyboard for my MacBook, it was only 6 months old.

Did you try reseting the PRAM... that was one option i had tried! But i've had mixed reviews on it... there are strings in the forums on it!

Is it only TextEdit that is not behaving? What about Word, or entering an address in your browser?

**fryke** · #8 July 4th, 2007, 05:25 PM

his keys _do_ register in the viewer, so it's not the same thing...