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#1
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Keyboard question
Anyone got advice on this one?
....grandson has a new windows 8 pc on which he plays games..mostly Minecraft = plenty of repeated keyboard action I believe! The keyboard now does not function, but here is the unusual thing, he can type in his password to get into Windows but then once in the keys don't have any effect. So this am I swapped keyboards..same, tried plugging the keyboards in the various front and back usb outlets again without success. What could this be? Thanks. |
#2
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Keyboard question
On 1/14/2014 3:33 AM, John Smith wrote:
Anyone got advice on this one? ...grandson has a new windows 8 pc on which he plays games..mostly Minecraft = plenty of repeated keyboard action I believe! The keyboard now does not function, but here is the unusual thing, he can type in his password to get into Windows but then once in the keys don't have any effect. So this am I swapped keyboards..same, tried plugging the keyboards in the various front and back usb outlets again without success. What could this be? Thanks. Does the keyboard work in other applications besides Minecraft? Say, notepad, for example? |
#3
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Keyboard question
"John Smith" JohnSmith nospam.com wrote:
Anyone got advice on this one? ...grandson has a new windows 8 pc on which he plays games..mostly Minecraft = plenty of repeated keyboard action I believe! The keyboard now does not function, but here is the unusual thing, he can type in his password to get into Windows but then once in the keys don't have any effect. So this [AM] I swapped keyboards..same Then it's obviously not the keyboard. |
#4
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Keyboard question
On 1/14/2014 4:33 AM, John Smith wrote:
Anyone got advice on this one? ...grandson has a new windows 8 pc on which he plays games..mostly Minecraft = plenty of repeated keyboard action I believe! The keyboard now does not function, but here is the unusual thing, he can type in his password to get into Windows but then once in the keys don't have any effect. So this am I swapped keyboards..same, tried plugging the keyboards in the various front and back usb outlets again without success. What could this be? Thanks. We would have to be Minecraft players, to understand this question :-) Keyboards consist of regular keys, and modifier keys. Shift and Shift Lock are examples of modifiers. So are Control and Alt. At one time, modifier keys were handled separately by the keyboard controller chip. It's possible they're all scanned the same way now, which makes the handling of the keys a bit more tricky. If Minecraft uses a lot of modifier key activity, that would be different than a password entry, where passwords are typed without even shift pressed say. Another aspect to Windows, is the security space things happen in. Some people have their computer set up, to require pressing control-alt-delete before entering a password. The purpose of Windows asking for that, is as a means of putting the password box in an environment, that other software can't "sniff" or forge. So that too represents a possible difference between a password entry box and Minecraft game controls. Now, the next issue is "mapping". Games have keyboard maps. For example, the surface of my A and S keys are worn down, and I think those are "left" and "right". I can go into my favorite game, and change the binding. Now, say I have an Alzheimers moment, go to play my game, and suddenly I notice I can't move my character "left" or "right". I press A or S and nothing happens. That's because, the day before, I decided to enter the Options panel in the game, and change the binding. I think I did actually change a binding in the game, because I was accidentally hitting the sequence for "spring" or "jump" when trying to enter something else. ******* The password entry is pretty conclusive evidence it isn't hardware. You can boot a Linux LiveCD and verify keyboard operation in there. You might look for a "keyboard application". Some of those draw a picture of the keyboard, and the key image changes state, when you press the matching key on the keyboard. That can be used as a source of proof that the keyboard works as an input device. But figuring out what has happened to Windows, that's going to be a tough one. Maybe it's some kind of keylogger or filter driver, inserted into the keyboard stack. You could try "devcon" and use it to list all the filter drivers. And see if something is installed, which does not belong there. 32 bit devcon is easy to find. The 64 bit version, that's on some stupidly huge Microsoft download. They couldn't just put them on the same web page - no, that would be too easy. (The Devcon web page has an x86 32 bit driver and an Itanium 64 bit driver. Itanium is HP servers. No x86 64 bit version on the same page.) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...=WS.10%29.aspx devcon stack * On my system, this is the keyboard entry from that command. ACPI\PNP0303\4&23F9C1E3&0 Name: Standard PS/2 Keyboard Setup Class: {4d36e96b-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} Keyboard Upper class filters: kbdclass --- presumably, this is normal Controlling service: i8042prt This is an example of the kind of instructions you get, for finding the devcon64 needed for a 64 bit system. (I renamed mine to that, so I could keep track of it later :-) ) And when they give instructions like this, you never know whether the same version of WDK or SDK is still available for download or not. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...evcon-exe.aspx If the installed OS is 32 bit, then it'll be easier to find. The old version from long ago (2003 or so). HTH, Paul |
#5
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Keyboard question
Thanks for all very much for the advice.
After a bit of trial and error.. The answer was ....sticky keys! Thanks again. ================= "Paul" wrote in message ... On 1/14/2014 4:33 AM, John Smith wrote: Anyone got advice on this one? ...grandson has a new windows 8 pc on which he plays games..mostly Minecraft = plenty of repeated keyboard action I believe! The keyboard now does not function, but here is the unusual thing, he can type in his password to get into Windows but then once in the keys don't have any effect. So this am I swapped keyboards..same, tried plugging the keyboards in the various front and back usb outlets again without success. What could this be? Thanks. We would have to be Minecraft players, to understand this question :-) Keyboards consist of regular keys, and modifier keys. Shift and Shift Lock are examples of modifiers. So are Control and Alt. At one time, modifier keys were handled separately by the keyboard controller chip. It's possible they're all scanned the same way now, which makes the handling of the keys a bit more tricky. If Minecraft uses a lot of modifier key activity, that would be different than a password entry, where passwords are typed without even shift pressed say. Another aspect to Windows, is the security space things happen in. Some people have their computer set up, to require pressing control-alt-delete before entering a password. The purpose of Windows asking for that, is as a means of putting the password box in an environment, that other software can't "sniff" or forge. So that too represents a possible difference between a password entry box and Minecraft game controls. Now, the next issue is "mapping". Games have keyboard maps. For example, the surface of my A and S keys are worn down, and I think those are "left" and "right". I can go into my favorite game, and change the binding. Now, say I have an Alzheimers moment, go to play my game, and suddenly I notice I can't move my character "left" or "right". I press A or S and nothing happens. That's because, the day before, I decided to enter the Options panel in the game, and change the binding. I think I did actually change a binding in the game, because I was accidentally hitting the sequence for "spring" or "jump" when trying to enter something else. ******* The password entry is pretty conclusive evidence it isn't hardware. You can boot a Linux LiveCD and verify keyboard operation in there. You might look for a "keyboard application". Some of those draw a picture of the keyboard, and the key image changes state, when you press the matching key on the keyboard. That can be used as a source of proof that the keyboard works as an input device. But figuring out what has happened to Windows, that's going to be a tough one. Maybe it's some kind of keylogger or filter driver, inserted into the keyboard stack. You could try "devcon" and use it to list all the filter drivers. And see if something is installed, which does not belong there. 32 bit devcon is easy to find. The 64 bit version, that's on some stupidly huge Microsoft download. They couldn't just put them on the same web page - no, that would be too easy. (The Devcon web page has an x86 32 bit driver and an Itanium 64 bit driver. Itanium is HP servers. No x86 64 bit version on the same page.) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...=WS.10%29.aspx devcon stack * On my system, this is the keyboard entry from that command. ACPI\PNP0303\4&23F9C1E3&0 Name: Standard PS/2 Keyboard Setup Class: {4d36e96b-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} Keyboard Upper class filters: kbdclass --- presumably, this is normal Controlling service: i8042prt This is an example of the kind of instructions you get, for finding the devcon64 needed for a 64 bit system. (I renamed mine to that, so I could keep track of it later :-) ) And when they give instructions like this, you never know whether the same version of WDK or SDK is still available for download or not. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...evcon-exe.aspx If the installed OS is 32 bit, then it'll be easier to find. The old version from long ago (2003 or so). HTH, Paul |
#6
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Keyboard question
"John Smith" wrote in message ... Thanks for all very much for the advice. After a bit of trial and error.. The answer was ....sticky keys! Thanks again. Maybe the grandson is playing OTHER games besides Minecraft wink wink :-) -- SC Tom |
#7
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Keyboard question
SC Tom wrote:
"John Smith" wrote in message ... Thanks for all very much for the advice. After a bit of trial and error.. The answer was ....sticky keys! Thanks again. Maybe the grandson is playing OTHER games besides Minecraft wink wink :-) Drinks with a little sugar in them, are enough to ruin a keyboard. The membrane keyboards, I've managed to successfully clean a coffee spill out of there. I also have an expensive Apple keyboard, held together with steel rivets, and one coffee spill and it was ruined. Three stuck keys, even after extensive washing and drying. If instead of rivets, it used screws, it would still be usable. Paul |
#8
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Keyboard question
Sticky keys :-)
I understand it was in this area... = control panel/ease of access centre/change sign in settings/sticky keys =============== "Paul" wrote in message ... SC Tom wrote: "John Smith" wrote in message ... Thanks for all very much for the advice. After a bit of trial and error.. The answer was ....sticky keys! Thanks again. Maybe the grandson is playing OTHER games besides Minecraft wink wink :-) Drinks with a little sugar in them, are enough to ruin a keyboard. The membrane keyboards, I've managed to successfully clean a coffee spill out of there. I also have an expensive Apple keyboard, held together with steel rivets, and one coffee spill and it was ruined. Three stuck keys, even after extensive washing and drying. If instead of rivets, it used screws, it would still be usable. Paul |
#9
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Keyboard question
John Smith wrote:
Sticky keys :-) I understand it was in this area... = control panel/ease of access centre/change sign in settings/sticky keys I've triggered that by accident, but don't recollect any more serious side effects. I got the "sound effect" from pressing the shift key too many times. I wasn't aware that could mess things up otherwise though. Paul |
#10
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Keyboard question
Maybe the grandson is playing OTHER games besides Minecraft wink wink :-) Drinks with a little sugar in them, are enough to ruin a keyboard. The membrane keyboards, I've managed to successfully clean a coffee spill out of there. I also have an expensive Apple keyboard, held together with steel rivets, and one coffee spill and it was ruined. Three stuck keys, even after extensive washing and drying. If instead of rivets, it used screws, it would still be usable. Paul You can grind off the heads of the rivets and drive them out. Any hardware store will sell rivet guns and rivets. Or you could take the keyboard to any machine shop and let them do it. Just a thought if you would like to repair the Apple keyboard. -- Ed Mc Nam Vet '66-'67 Semper Fi |
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