powerbook g4 shift keys not working

S

smiles85

Registered
hi, for some unknown reason my powerbook g4 shift keys have just stopped working. i'm unable to make letters capital or access basic characters like the "@, ?, or _" keys (i'm having to use a USB keyboard to type those) in fact i cant seem to find those keys anywhere on the key board with any of the command keys held.

I just got it back from the Apple store for an unrelated problem but the guy said something about he changed the keyboard cos a key fell off while he was cleaning it.

I don't think its a hardware issue because both shift keys are not working.
I've been through the international settings menu, under system preferences and have altered my languages set to British or US (neither work).

also i used to use copy and paste short keys ctrl+c and ctrl+v, now ctrl has been replaced with the Apple key??

i'm using tiger 10.4
 
Also when I'm in keyboard viewer and pressing & holding the shift button manually (by cursor) then typing a letter it STILL doesn't change to a capital sometimes- its a lottery.

Yesterday I awoke my Mac from sleep mode and tried to type in my password however it failed because the entire top three rows of the keyboard neglected to respond when i
I pressed. I restarted, and the problem was gone again???

Something strange happened today, I was filling in some personal account details into a designated text box on the Apple site (the irony) when like magic the shift key started working fine again in all applications. An hour later it'd stopped working again.

By chance do you have any explanation to why this is, or what's wrong with my Mac?
 
smiles85 said:
I just got it back from the Apple store for an unrelated problem but the guy said something about he changed the keyboard cos a key fell off while he was cleaning it.

I don't think its a hardware issue ...
...also i used to use copy and paste short keys ctrl+c and ctrl+v, now ctrl has been replaced with the Apple key??
Click to expand...

I think you should take this back to the Apple store for a (hopefully better) fix.

Do your shift keys work from an external USB keyboard? Borrow one just to try it.
Check the operation of your internal keyboard in a different user account. Create a new one just for that purpose.
The default for copy or paste is Apple (command) + C or V
Did you change those defaults to something else?
 
smiles85 said:
hi, for some unknown reason my powerbook g4 shift keys have just stopped working. i'm unable to make letters capital or access basic characters like the "@, ?, or _" keys (i'm having to use a USB keyboard to type those) in fact i cant seem to find those keys anywhere on the key board with any of the command keys held.

I just got it back from the Apple store for an unrelated problem but the guy said something about he changed the keyboard cos a key fell off while he was cleaning it.

I don't think its a hardware issue because both shift keys are not working.
I've been through the international settings menu, under system preferences and have altered my languages set to British or US (neither work).

also i used to use copy and paste short keys ctrl+c and ctrl+v, now ctrl has been replaced with the Apple key??

i'm using tiger 10.4
Click to expand...
You said he was cleaning the keyboard?

My F2 Key doesn't work anymore, but that's because I accidentally cut through one of the threads with a screw driver when replacing my keys after cleaning it. Pop the key off carefully and check to see if there's any damage on the threads around the area. If there is damage, you'll need a new keyboard for it to work again.

New keyboards are about $50USD if you're lucky enough to find one on ebay. Apple sells them but they're way over priced. But if it's the Apple employees fault, then they should replace it for you.

Best of luck.
 
I have a a1095 that the shift does not effect any keyboard function.
I bought a newer keyboard/palmrest from ebay for it and still the 'no shift' problem exists after installing...
I tried the old keyboard on another a1095 and that keyboard works fine... so now I have a spare.
usb keyboard shift works fine...
looked very carefully at the system board and ribbon connector and all seems well...
wonder if there is a way to 'flash' the system board or reload the bios..?
explored with out success, remapping a key to be a shift key...
any in-site would be helpful thanks...
A
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top