Keyboard is goosed - CMD+R alternatives?

[Mesut Ozil]

Late 2013 Macbook Air:

I'm not exactly sure what's caused it but my keyboard has stopped working (except for the power button) and my screen has got some weird stuff going on too.

I'm able to use the Macbook with an external keyboard mouse and monitor and would like to do a factory reset before I take it to Apple.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to do CMD+R on boot. The windows button is acting as CMD (I can CMD+TAB between programs). Any other ideas?

When I launch disk utility from a spotlight search, the erase option is greyed out.... Thankfully, I did a Time Machine backup a few days ago.

 

[PhyrePhox]

What kind of external keyboard is it?

 

[DeltaMac]

Unfortunately, some windows keyboards (sometimes the budget/generic brands) might not accept boot commands.
But, the command + R still might work, if you try the correct keys.
On a windows keyboard, should be Alt + R, so try that before you also try Windows + R.
If neither key combo works, then you just need to try a different keyboard.

You may have one or more keys on the internal keyboard that might be stuck down, interfering with anything else you want to try with an external keyboard.

Finally, you may want to rethink the "factory reset" as a nice thing to do, but take it in for service in its current condition, particularly if your only reason is personal security. You already have a good backup of your drive, don't you?

 

[PhyrePhox]

You can also try just "R", or see if the keyboard has a Function or Fn key and use it with Windows-R or Alt-R.

 

[DeltaMac]

Maybe
But, I think that an Fn key does not provide any 'function' until the system software is loaded. The boot key combos are read by the hardware, and I don't recall seeing any boot functionality by keys other than the few primary ones that are natively supported.
Maybe you have a different experience with that.

 

[JohnDS]

Try just the alt key to see if that brings up the bootpicker.

 

[PhyrePhox]

Maybe
But, I think that an Fn key does not provide any 'function' until the system software is loaded. The boot key combos are read by the hardware, and I don't recall seeing any boot functionality by keys other than the few primary ones that are natively supported.
Maybe you have a different experience with that.

In the keyboard controller, the "Fn" key may change the code sent by the modifier keys. This is all independent from the Mac. It's a long shot but not unheard of.

 

[Mesut Ozil]

Late 2013 Macbook Air:

I'm not exactly sure what's caused it but my keyboard has stopped working (except for the power button) and my screen has got some weird stuff going on too.

I'm able to use the Macbook with an external keyboard mouse and monitor and would like to do a factory reset before I take it to Apple.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to do CMD+R on boot. The windows button is acting as CMD (I can CMD+TAB between programs). Any other ideas?

When I launch disk utility from a spotlight search, the erase option is greyed out.... Thankfully, I did a Time Machine backup a few days ago.

Alt+R worked on the external keyboard, eventually! Problem solved!

The keyboard is a Corsair Gaming K95. It has 2 USBs but only needed to plug one into the Macbook.

Thank you for all the replies!