sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA (07/26/90)
Hiya,
For those of you who do not remember or have not read... A little
while ago I posted an article about some strange keyboard behaviour.
Namely, if you press the following combination of keys at the same
time (or to quickly) you get garbage generated :
u t space
m p comma
m minus comma
I asked what the problem was due to.
Well, it is the KEYBOARD, not anything else. I have isolated the
problem to the keybaord and can duplicated it on most machines (ci,
II, SE, SE/30).
The solution... My keboard is still under AppleCare, I took it in
to our microstore, and they are replacing it. If your keyboard is not
under AppleCare, I suggest you bug Apple to do a recall and
replacement.
I have found the problem in at least 2 keyboards, and others have
told me of the same problem. (Are you listening Apple ?)
maurice
Maurice Sharp MSc. Student (403) 220 7690
University of Calgary Computer Science Department
2500 University Drive N.W. sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 GEnie M.SHARP5Gavin_Eadie@um.cc.umich.edu (Gavin Eadie) (07/26/90)
In article <1990Jul25.193016.9109@calgary.uucp> sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA writes: > Well, it is the KEYBOARD, not anything else. I have isolated the > problem to the keybaord and can duplicated it on most machines (ci, > II, SE, SE/30). Does this mean that some keyboards exhibit the problem and some don't. I passed this problem to Mac Technical Support and they have verified it is real and submitted a bug report to whoever it is that fixes such things. At first glance it seems Maurice is saying it's hardware and Apple is saying it's software but, of course, with things like keyboards, it's a bit hard tell which is which!
mosemann@hoss.unl.edu (Russell Mosemann) (07/26/90)
In <1990Jul26.122045.2938@terminator.cc.umich.edu> Gavin_Eadie@um.cc.umich.edu (Gavin Eadie) writes: >In article <1990Jul25.193016.9109@calgary.uucp> sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA >writes: >> Well, it is the KEYBOARD, not anything else. I have isolated the >> problem to the keybaord and can duplicated it on most machines (ci, >> II, SE, SE/30). >Does this mean that some keyboards exhibit the problem and some don't. >I passed this problem to Mac Technical Support and they have verified it >is real and submitted a bug report to whoever it is that fixes such >things. I have experienced this problem not only with Apple's supplied keyboards, but also with my own I purchased from another vendor. I had my keyboard replaced (they were kind enough to do so) because I thought it was defective, but the problem did not go away. I can also repeat the errors on both types of keyboards. I wonder if it is the keyboard driver messing up or something strange about the ADB. Russell mosemann@hoss.unl.edu
jtn@potomac.ads.com (John T. Nelson) (08/01/90)
>Does this mean that some keyboards exhibit the problem and some don't. > >I passed this problem to Mac Technical Support and they have verified it >is real and submitted a bug report to whoever it is that fixes such >things. At first glance it seems Maurice is saying it's hardware and Apple >is saying it's software but, of course, with things like keyboards, it's a >bit hard tell which is which! I have the same problem on my Mac at work and at home. If I type the string ... outgoing the keyboard will actually type ouging or ou;oing. In fact it just happened! Notice that the letter "t" is the culprit much of the time Its strange that I CONSISTANTLY get a semi-colon supstituted for the "t" and "g". This indicates to me something more than a random error or dirt in the keyboard. According to one poster, Apple claims that the problem is due to "software." Yeah right. Apple has their SEP field (somebody else's problem) turned up full I see and it'll probably take another big stink like the quantum hard disk fiasco to get them to upgrade the quality of their products. -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ORGANIZATION: Advanced Decision Systems GEOGRAPHIC: Arlington, VA UUCP: kzin!speaker@mimsy.umd.edu INTERNET: jtn@potomac.ads.com SPOKEN: Yo... John! PHONE: (703) 243-1611 PROJECT: The Conrail Locomotive/Harpsichord Fusion Program =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
jhood@biar.UUCP (John Hood) (08/05/90)
In article <9005@potomac.ads.com> jtn@potomac.UUCP (John T. Nelson) writes: >>I passed this problem to Mac Technical Support and they have verified it >>is real and submitted a bug report to whoever it is that fixes such It's hardware. It's a design choice; keyboard manufacturers can design keyboards to accommodate any number of keys being held down at a time, or they can choose to only have the keyboard work properly with some small number of keys (usually 2) held down, which is a bit cheaper. I think all apple keyboards fall in the latter category. Some PC keyboards do, some don't. It's a bit amusing that the tech support people didn't know this and are treating it as a bug. --jh -- John Hood, Mann Library, Cornell University domain: jhood@albert.mannlib.cornell.edu bang: anywhere!uunet!biar!jhood
mah@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Michael Hoffhines) (08/07/90)
>In article <9005@potomac.ads.com> jtn@potomac.UUCP (John T. Nelson) writes: >>>I passed this problem to Mac Technical Support and they have verified it >>>is real and submitted a bug report to whoever it is that fixes such Having an interest in seeing this problem solved as I am bit by these problems on a daily basis, I would like to know if there is any new word from Apple on this problem. From my experience and from other postings there are at least two *very* replicable observations (not necessarily independent) that have been reported here before. In summary: 1. A minimun of 3-letter sequences that have 'oh', most frequently, as the last character if typed rapidly enough do not produce the 'oh' and seem to 'lock' out any further 'oh's from being typed until something else is typed. For example, I frequently get this behavior when I type the work 'problem'. Try typing 'pro' quicking on your keyboard. It shouldn't take too long before you generate only 'pr' and you can then try typing the 'oh' repeatedly with little success until you strike a different key. 2. Sometimes a ';' gets sent when the 'return' key is struck after a quick series of keys are struck, e.g. I see this most commonly when typing 'logout<return>'. I had for sometime thought that I just wasn't hitting the return key until someone else posted this problem and I went back and reproduced it on my keyboard (extended keyboard with SE/30). I realize that the above has appeared before, but I would like to see this problem resolved soon so I can have all my keyboard back. They create real for anyone that doesn't watch the screen when typing and I would think that they make up a sizable portion of Mac users. In article <1157@biar.UUCP> jhood@biar.UUCP (John Hood) writes: >It's hardware. It's a design choice; keyboard manufacturers can design >keyboards to accommodate any number of keys being held down at a time, >or they can choose to only have the keyboard work properly with some >small number of keys (usually 2) held down, which is a bit cheaper. This is an interesting proposal. It fits with the observation that the smallest key-stroke sequence I have found to generate the problems above is three. However, certainly the Mac keyboard handles more than two simultaneous keystrokes, otherwise we would miss out on all those fun command-option-shift 'key' combinations. Secondly, I wouldn't consider the key combination given in 1 above to be simultaneous. If the keys are struck simultaneously, only one character appears. If, however, the keys are struck in very quick succession, an inappropriate character appears, as in 2, or the keyboard gets very modal as in 1. This may well be the answer (I hope not), but it demands a little deeper explanation I think. >It's a bit amusing that the tech support people didn't know this and are >treating it as a bug. I don't find it at all amusing. I hope the problem will be resolved soon, whatever is underlying cause. > --jh > >-- >John Hood, Mann Library, Cornell University >domain: jhood@albert.mannlib.cornell.edu bang: anywhere!uunet!biar!jhood - Mike >---------------------------------------------------------------------------< > Michael Hoffhines | INTERNET: mah@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu < > ICS Department | < > University of Hawaii | Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. B. Banzai < >---------------------------------------------------------------------------<