Keyboard Shiftkey

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ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
I have an Microsoft Ergonomic Keypad.

I discovered in the last week or so that the right Shift key does not work when the B, M, or N is wanted The left Shift works fine to obtain those letters. USB connection. Could I have accidentally disabled something? All other right shift combinations work. Hate to order a new keyboard to find the same problem.
 
iceworm

iceworm

Curmudgeon still using printed IEEE Color Books
Location
North of the 65 parallel
Occupation
EE (Field - as little design as possible)
pt -
I'm pretty sure you know as much or more about keyboards than I do.
So with that in mind, I'm sure you thought of:
Did you try a different keyboard?
Did you try the keyboard on another computer?

Mine went un-reliable a few months ago.
Restart the computer - no joy
Cable has a usb on the computer end and a micro usb on the keyboard end.
Keyboard end was not set tight. Pushed it in, set the cable back in the groves to hold it - joy​

And I have taken a few apart and cleaned them. Actually worked a couple of times.
Although I did melt one . Contact cleaner is not a good choice.:ashamed:
I don't recall what I used for cleaner, but I do remember testing the inside of the case to see if it would melt the plastic.
 
iceworm

iceworm

Curmudgeon still using printed IEEE Color Books
Location
North of the 65 parallel
Occupation
EE (Field - as little design as possible)
pt said:
It is is at least 8 years old.
Click to expand...
And, with any luck, I fixed most of my future keyboard evils last year.
I bought a mechanical keyboard, Cherry Brown. I'm not a gamer, so no lights, no swirling colors, just a keyboard. Although maybe a dim, white, backlight would have been nice.

Other than the cable issue, it works really well.

(edit - minor clarity)
 
Coppersmith

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Don't you hate when you are typing along, look up and notice the entire paragraph is caps? Me too. That's why I removed the caps lock key from my keyboard years ago. Never happens now. I also removed the windows keys. Keeps me from accidentally bringing up a menu.

Also very helpful when gaming. I used to hit the caps lock key accidentally and none of my commands would work. Ripping the caps lock out makes game play safer and the monsters hate it. :)

People do occasionally come by and say "you should buy a new keyboard". I tell them the missing keys are intentional.
 
G

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
Try cleaning it with Deoxit and if that doesn't work, replace it. Keyboards are cheap.
 
Jraef

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
I like how, in that Microsoft FAQ, one responder removed the batteries and when he reinstalled them, everything worked fine. That is SO classic Microsoft...

But seriously, keyboards have a little comm processor inside and communicate keystrokes to the PC serially via the USB port. Sometimes a little power glitch can flip some bits that were not supposed to be flipped and thereby cant be reset without removing power, but with batteries on board in those Microsoft keyboards, you never really remove power, especially if you change batteries while the PC is on. Unplug the USB cable, then change the batteries in your keyboard, leaving the new ones out for a minute or so in case there is a cap that has to bleed down. It might do the trick.

Side note: I too HATE the Caps Lock keys on keyboards, I remove them too for the same reason. Last month I came to work and there was a new keyboard on my desk, the Admin assumed mine was broken and ordered me a new one without asking. I thanked her, then took the Caps Lock key off immediately. She looked at me like I had grown a 3rd eye...
 
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