corbet@stout.ucar.edu (Jonathan Corbet) (04/06/89)
The details: x11.3, patches 1-9, gcc, awm. Has anybody else ever seen this? Every now and then I'll be working away, and the X server decides that it is going to go into permanent "caps lock" mode. All keys become capital letters, and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. I can pound on the "caps" key until my fingers bleed, to no avail. Awm will only recognize button events with the shift modifier. There is nothing to be done but stop the server and begin from scratch. The problem is infrequent. I hadn't seen it for a few weeks, but it has happened twice this evening. Does anybody have an idea as to what is going on here? Is there a way to avoid this problem, or a way to recover when it strikes? Any help would be much appreciated. Jonathan Corbet National Center for Atmospheric Research, Field Observing Facility corbet@stout.ucar.edu
corbet@stout.ucar.edu (Jonathan Corbet) (04/06/89)
The details: x11.3, patches 1-9, gcc, awm. Has anybody else ever seen this? Every now and then I'll be working away, and the X server decides that it is going to go into permanent "caps lock" mode. All keys become capital letters, and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. I can pound on the "caps" key until my fingers bleed, to no avail. Awm will only recognize button events pasx shift modifier. There is nothing to be done but stop the server and begin from scratch. The problem is infrequent. I hadn't seen it for a few weeks, but it has happened twice this evening. Does anybody have an idea as to what is going on here? Is there a way to avoid this problem, or a way to recover when it strikes? Any help would be much appreciated. Jonathan Corbet National Center for Atmospheric Research, Field Observing Facility corbet@stout.ucar.edu #!
eap@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Eric Pearce) (04/06/89)
In article <2939@ncar.ucar.edu> corbet@stout.ucar.edu (Jonathan Corbet) says: >The details: x11.3, patches 1-9, gcc, awm. > >Has anybody else ever seen this? Every now and then I'll be working away, >and the X server decides that it is going to go into permanent "caps lock" >mode. All keys become capital letters, and there seems to be nothing I >can do about it. I can pound on the "caps" key until my fingers bleed, to >no avail. Awm will only recognize button events with the shift modifier. >There is nothing to be done but stop the server and begin from scratch. > >The problem is infrequent. I hadn't seen it for a few weeks, but it has >happened twice this evening. > >Does anybody have an idea as to what is going on here? Is there a way to >avoid this problem, or a way to recover when it strikes? Any help would >be much appreciated. > >Jonathan Corbet >National Center for Atmospheric Research, Field Observing Facility >corbet@stout.ucar.edu I've had this happen a couple of times too. The trick seems to be to bang both shift keys in a rapid, random manner. Really. -e -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Pearce ARPANET eap@bu-it.bu.edu Boston University Information Technology CSNET eap%bu-it@bu-cs 111 Cummington Street JNET jnet%"ep@buenga" Boston MA 02215 UUCP !harvard!bu-cs!bu-it!eap 617-353-2780 voice 617-353-6260 fax BITNET ep@buenga
dheller@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Dan Heller) (04/06/89)
In article <2939@ncar.ucar.edu> corbet@stout.ucar.edu (Jonathan Corbet) writes: >The details: x11.3, patches 1-9, gcc, awm. >Has anybody else ever seen this? Every now and then I'll be working away, >and the X server decides that it is going to go into permanent "caps lock" It happened to me just as I was reading your article :-) Yes, it happens to me, too. What else seems to be true is that mouse buttons don't seem to register correctly. for what it's worth, I just type chars in an unimportant window and move the mouse around a lot till it restores its state. pretty scientific, huh? Dan Heller <island!argv@sun.com>
rlk@THINK.COM (Robert L. Krawitz) (04/06/89)
Are you sure it's the caps lock that's stuck? This happens to me fairly often, but it's actually the shift key that's stuck. I can verify this by typing keys that aren't shifted by capslock, and by clicking the mouse -- it acts as shift-click rather than caps-click. It happened under X10 as well, and it happens to me with uwm. The fix is to keep pounding on one and/or both shift keys while typing and clicking the mouse. Eventually whatever caused the problem in the first place seems to undo itself. ames >>>>>>>>> | Robert Krawitz <rlk@think.com> 245 First St. bloom-beacon > |think!rlk (postmaster) Cambridge, MA 02142 harvard >>>>>> . Thinking Machines Corp. (617)876-1111
taylor@THINK.COM (04/06/89)
<Date: Wed, 5 Apr 89 21:52:24 EDT <From: Robert L. Krawitz <rlk@Think.COM> <Are you sure it's the caps lock that's stuck? This happens to me <fairly often, but it's actually the shift key that's stuck. I can <verify this by typing keys that aren't shifted by capslock, and by <clicking the mouse -- it acts as shift-click rather than caps-click. <It happened under X10 as well, and it happens to me with uwm. < <The fix is to keep pounding on one and/or both shift keys while typing <and clicking the mouse. Eventually whatever caused the problem in the <first place seems to undo itself. Have you tried: hold down one shift key, while holding it down, press down on the other shift key, then release both shift keys, one after the other? It works for me. David
casey@gauss.llnl.gov (Casey Leedom) (04/14/89)
Are any of you using the new Type IV Sun keyboard? I had this problem when I got stuck with a Type IV and removed the Caps Lock key as is my habbit. [When will keyboard manufacturers realize that the correct place for a Caps Lock key is as far away from the central area of the keyboard as possible???] The new keyboard seems to use a completely different key switch which doesn't like being Naked To The Light Of Day. In any case, simply lifting the keyboard up, inverting it up side down, and then setting it back down right side up seemed to fix the problem. This was so annoying that I was forced to put the Caps Lock key back on. [When will keyboard manufacturers take new keyboard designs to people who actually use them before Standardizing them???? (sigh) I hate my new keyboard.]