Keyboard Keys and Death

[Marble]

Several of the keyboard keys on my friend's 1Ghz 17" Powerbook have suddenly stopped responding without provokation. Not all of them mind you; just the return key, the escape key, and apparently a few others have decided to run off and be all robin-hood like, hiding in the forest, and generally ruining the party for the orderly comfortable (and very tightly regimented) masses.
What do you suppose could have caused these keys to suddenly and unilaterally abandon their commonwealth? I'm fairly certain that their constitutional monarch is a kind one.

He has tried restarting the computer and making sure that all the -lock keys are disabled. No luck. This problem sound familiar?

[Powerbook G5]

Sounds like a keyboard revolution is in order.

[superbovine]

maybe its a revolution. keys revolt! it just starts with the escape and return, then next thing you know the vowels fall then the numbers. you must put down this madness.

i promise i will quit drinking tomarrow.

[MoparShaha]

Originally posted by superbovine
i promise i will quit drinking tomarrow. We all say that, but you know it's never going to happen ;).

Anyways, concerning your friend's keyboard woes, I think it's time to call Apple and see what they have to say. They can be surprisingly helpful over the phone. It might be some errant preference file or kernal extension gone mad.

[Marble]

I rather get the feeling that it was "escape" that caused all of the trouble in the first place, by virtue of his name. He probably kidnapped "return" so that she couldn't do any mischief. Now there is no "return" for the other keys that have joined the insurrection. :D

Anyway, can anyone help me?

[Powerbook G5]

You must squash the rebellion with an iron fist. Show no mercy and take no prisoners. Make an example of one of the keys. Pry it off and burn it at the stake as an example to the rest.

[Marble]

If only I could. If I was ruler of the kingdom I would have them very painfully put example to: I would pour a can of coke over their miserable community such that they stuck in place despite their most noble of efforts. As it stands now, I'm sure he would sue me for these good intentions.

Be that as it may, I am forced to more subtle coercion - the likes of which have driven me to my dark compatriots on these boards, who will likely have a more graceful solution to this quandary than I can provide.

[Powerbook G5]

My PowerBook G3 would have a problem with certain random keys not registering properly. It turned out that they were dirty. I had to once in a while pop the caps off to remove any lint, fuzz, hair, dirt, etc that was under there causing the contacts to become obstructed.

[Marble]

Hmmm thanks. Will try.

[ComputerWizard]

Originally posted by Marble
Several of the keyboard keys on my friend's 1Ghz 17" Powerbook have suddenly stopped responding without provokation. Not all of them mind you; just the return key, the escape key, and apparently a few others have decided to run off and be all robin-hood like, hiding in the forest, and generally ruining the party for the orderly comfortable (and very tightly regimented) masses.
What do you suppose could have caused these keys to suddenly and unilaterally abandon their commonwealth? I'm fairly certain that their constitutional monarch is a kind one.

He has tried restarting the computer and making sure that all the -lock keys are disabled. No luck. This problem sound familiar?

Yes, actually this problem does sound familiar. Right after I had purchased a 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4 the right shift key had stopped responding unless I pressed it hard or pressed it in a certain way. What I did was kind of play around with the key and press firmly on it in different places, and eventually the key started to work again. I think that this is caused by the key not being snapped in all of the way or the key not being snapped in at the right angle. I would suggest that your friend try that, but if that doesn't work maybe your friend should try to pop off the key and then pop it back into place. This may fix the problem. Hope this helps.
Sam

[Phatpat]

Speaking of cleaning the keyboard, how does one clean the keyboard on, say, a 15" aluminum powerbook?

[Powerbook G5]

Really carefully I suppose.

[Marble]

Got my friend to try popping off the key, but the button underneath still isn't responding to his finger. He wasn't specific enough in his email to say whether he actually cleaned the thing, but luckily the unit is still under warranty and he'll be bussing down to a nearby Apple retailer here in Vancouver.

[virividox]

get the keboard replaced, if its under warranty its freee hehehe :D :D :D