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Resolved [MacOS Sierra] Login password not accepted using Apple Magic Keyboard

C

csteelooper

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
27
2
Ok, this is a weird one. I’m running MacOS Sierra 10.12.6. I don’t usually restart my Mac that often, but after actually installing the .6 update on my system, this happens: I cannot get past the login screen using my Apple Magic Keyboard (AMK).
The thing is, the keyboard works just fine. It’s just that the system rejects my password (the box shakes) upon entering it, no matter what I try. Connecting a wired (Apple) USB keyboard gets me in. I have absolutely NO problem entering my password and getting “granted” access anywhere else when in an active session.

I am at a loss as to what exactly causes this issue to occur. As far as I know, the login screen is using the same region, language and input method settings as is the rest of my system. Furthermore, there is no difference between the actual key layout mappings on both keyboards.

As I’m actually entering a password and the input is ‘hidden’, I have no way of knowing what characters the system is actually receiving upon entering them on my AMK, but I can only assume it actually is receiving the ones I type… Although, apparently, I must be mistaken there, because of the fact that using my older Apple Wired keyboard does get me past. So, something must messed up, although I don’t know what, exactly… Help would be much appreciated...
 
Yep… Nothing at all is out of the ordinary when I am logged in; just the logon screen is acting up. The whole of my previous post, and this one, is typed using the Magic Keyboard.
 
If it is just the first attempt at login, it may be that the Bluetooth handshake hasn't completed and it missed the first character. If you watch the login box closely, sometimes there won't be a indicator for the first character typed. Usually waiting a few seconds will allow it to connect and work correctly.

However, if the second attempt after the box-shaking also doesn't work ... there may be something amiss with your keyboard. Make sure caps-lock isn't set as well.
 
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@casperes1996 Nope, didn’t work. But, I can now, after paying REAL close attention when entering my password, tell y’all that the issue is:


Solved! Turned out “Mouse Keys” were engaged. I have used those to circumvent a bellyflopped (aka charging) Magic Mouse 2. Since that is my only pointing device and it cannot be used whilst charging, I had to engage Mouse Keys to get past the logon screen. I normally use VoiceOver to navigate around MacOS by keyboard, but I couldn’t get focus on the correct user (whetn you select the Guest account or the main user account) so I had to get around using Mouse Keys. When Mouse Keys are enabled, the M is assigned a different function (Left Click). Therefore, that character wasn’t sent when typing the password.

It was quite a while back that I had used this workaround, and I thought I had turned it off since. But for some reason or other, that wasn’t carried through to the Logon Screen. You have to turn these options on or off at the Logon Screen separate from your main session...

One tiny question remains though: why did logging on work correctly using my wired keyboard? I mean: Mouse Keys were turned on, but that is true for both keyboards, and I could use the wired keyboard’s numeric keypad to navigate the cursor… So I cannot get my head around why its M-character was sent when typing my password whilst Mouse Keys were enabled…

I would like to thank everyone for their help up ‘till now… Still am curious as to my last question… Any suggestions?

EDIT: I’ll be marking this thread as being “Resolved, despite still being curious as to the different behaviour for both keyboards. The fact remains that my main problem is now solved… I’ll at least be a little more thorough where my own research is concerned, the next time I’ll start a thread.
 
Last edited:
csteelooper said:
One tiny question remains though: why did logging on work correctly using my wired keyboard? I mean: Mouse Keys were turned on, but that is true for both keyboards, and I could use the wired keyboard’s numeric keypad to navigate the cursor… So I cannot get my head around why its M-character was sent when typing my password whilst Mouse Keys were enabled…
Click to expand...


Seeing that it's the extended keyboard, could it be that it uses a different key than the M key for the operation? Like the Clear button on the num-pad or something?
 
Yeah I know that some of the, shall we say, main character keys are also used for mouse keys, to accommodate for the absence of the numeric keypad. But my wireless keyboard is one that does have a numeric keypad. Still, those main area keys are being mapped for Mouse Keys when the feature is engaged, regardless of whether a numeric keypad is or is not present (as is documented by Apple). What would have made sense, is if my password would have been rejected using both keyboards. That is because the mouse keys could also be used on both… So it still remains a bit foggy at best...
 
csteelooper said:
Yeah I know that some of the, shall we say, main character keys are also used for mouse keys, to accommodate for the absence of the numeric keypad. But my wireless keyboard is one that does have a numeric keypad. Still, those main area keys are being mapped for Mouse Keys when the feature is engaged, regardless of whether a numeric keypad is or is not present (as is documented by Apple). What would have made sense, is if my password would have been rejected using both keyboards. That is because the mouse keys could also be used on both… So it still remains a bit foggy at best...
Click to expand...


New theory. If the wireless stayed connected when you plugged in the wired keyboard, the OS may have thought "One keyboard is enough to control the mouse with - the wired one gets to just be a keyboard?
 
casperes1996 said:
New theory. If the wireless stayed connected when you plugged in the wired keyboard, the OS may have thought "One keyboard is enough to control the mouse with - the wired one gets to just be a keyboard?
Click to expand...
I was thinking exactly the same! In different wording, though… The wireless keyboard is, shall we say the ‘primary keyboard’, and thus gets the role of “Mouse Keys enabled”.
Then you connect the wired keyboard, and it becomes the “secondary” keyboard, with no “Mouse Keys duty”. Therefore, on that keyboard, the character keys all just work as if Mouse Keys were never turned on in the first place…
This would then be the way things would be handled only at the logon screen, because once I am logged in and I then do enable Mouse Keys, the “role” gets assigned to both of the keyboards. Nice little difference in the way things are done there, between the main session and the logon screen…
 
csteelooper said:
I was thinking exactly the same! In different wording, though… The wireless keyboard is, shall we say the ‘primary keyboard’, and thus gets the role of “Mouse Keys enabled”.
Then you connect the wired keyboard, and it becomes the “secondary” keyboard, with no “Mouse Keys duty”. Therefore, on that keyboard, the character keys all just work as if Mouse Keys were never turned on in the first place…
This would then be the way things would be handled only at the logon screen, because once I am logged in and I then do enable Mouse Keys, the “role” gets assigned to both of the keyboards. Nice little difference in the way things are done there, between the main session and the logon screen…
Click to expand...


Needlessly confusing if that's the case though... Hmmm. I'm at a loss
 
Yeah, me too… Well, the main problem is solved now anyways! Thank you all for your help, and @casperes1996 thanks for thinking along with me for my secondary question! It was all very much appreciated...
 
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hfg said:
If it is just the first attempt at login, it may be that the Bluetooth handshake hasn't completed and it missed the first character. If you watch the login box closely, sometimes there won't be a indicator for the first character typed. Usually waiting a few seconds will allow it to connect and work correctly.

How to fix this delay in bluetooth handshake. This happens each time I start my macbook pro with magic keybaord. And it doesn't matter how long i leave the computer before logging in. It's as if the act of logging in is what causes the keyboard to start connecting.
Click to expand...
 
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