Please help! New magic keyboard goes crazy every day!!

[yalag]

I bought the new magic keyboard and paired it with my mac pro. The problem is every day or two, the keyboard goes crazy and it will press random keys all of a sudden! I don't know what causes it!

It happens in multiple accounts of this computer so it's not software related. Anyone else with this problem?

The only way to stop it from pressing random keys is to turn it off and then back on.

 

[Ledgem]

I don't have this issue, but I'm curious... are you using it wirelessly? If you use it wired, do you still have the same problem?

My guess is that the keyboard is faulty and will need to be exchanged. Wireless interference with Bluetooth shouldn't cause random keypresses, as you're seeing, but I ask about the use of the keyboard wired as I'm wondering if there's some component of interference involved.

 

[yalag]

I'm using it wirelessly only. Is there a way to reset the bluetooth fully on osx? Re-pairing it seems to do nothing

 

[Ledgem]

Are you using OS X 10.11 and pairing by connecting the keyboard to the Mac with a Lightning cable? If you keep the cable plugged in to the keyboard then the keyboard works as a wired keyboard, bypassing Bluetooth entirely.

 

[campyguy]

Two devices are likely the cause - a USB 3 peripheral using an unshielded cable, or a Bluetooth device.

Recently, I bought a Plantronics Edge UC, which comes with a USB dongle that facilitates wideband audio to/from my Mac. I have a big standing desk, and I figured the Edge would fit "right there...". For the first 10 calls or so to my paired Mac (Skype) or paired iPhone, my Plantronics K811's one of "source" buttons (there's 3) would light up in "searching" mode or the cursor would either dance around the display or, if I was typing, one of the keys would go into Sticky Mode - and not in a good way. Toggling the K811's power would fix the situation for a bit.

I remedied my problem by relocating my Edge headset to the opposite side of my desk, a few feet from my Mac, trackpad, and keyboard.

 

[yalag]

Two devices are likely the cause - a USB 3 peripheral using an unshielded cable, or a Bluetooth device.

Recently, I bought a Plantronics Edge UC, which comes with a USB dongle that facilitates wideband audio to/from my Mac. I have a big standing desk, and I figured the Edge would fit "right there...". For the first 10 calls or so to my paired Mac (Skype) or paired iPhone, my Plantronics K811's one of "source" buttons (there's 3) would light up in "searching" mode or the cursor would either dance around the display or, if I was typing, one of the keys would go into Sticky Mode - and not in a good way. Toggling the K811's power would fix the situation for a bit.

I remedied my problem by relocating my Edge headset to the opposite side of my desk, a few feet from my Mac, trackpad, and keyboard.

I think this must be it. I have a ton of devices connected to my Mac Pro. Can you explain what is a usb 3 with unshielded cable?

Also what kind of Bluetooth device will cause this? I'm assuming a Bluetooth device from Apple won't right? I have the magic keyboard Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse.

 

[campyguy]

I think this must be it. I have a ton of devices connected to my Mac Pro. Can you explain what is a usb 3 with unshielded cable?

Also what kind of Bluetooth device will cause this? I'm assuming a Bluetooth device from Apple won't right? I have the magic keyboard Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse.

BT devices and many wifi devices and USB 3 produce radio frequencies (and interference to each other) in the 2.4GHz range, and your BT devices and USB 3 cables could be borking your wifi - and vice versa. This common radio activity led me to segregate my Airport Extreme's 5GHz network and that's what I connect to. For instance, see how many "my AirDrop isn't working!" threads - I had issues with my devices negotiating an AirDrop connection, and then I ditched my unshielded USB 3 cables (the cheap ones that ship with hard drives, etc.) and move my BT headset and AirDrop worked 100% of the time after that bit of reorganizing. I have a small external SSD drive with both TB and USB 3 SS interfaces - AirDrop worked when the drive was connected via a TB cable to my rMBP, but AirDrop failed when it was connected to my Mini Server via USB 3 (and my Edge headset dropped calls, too) - my Mini's sole TB/DP ports was in use with a display; I swapped the DP cable for an HDMI cable and used the TB port with my external SSD - no more interference between devices. So, I forked over for a couple of shielded USB 3 cables for my on-desk peripherals and no more interference any more... An empirical "dance" that was a PITA, but finally solved my 2.4GHz-related problems...

So, it's pretty much any of those devices - wifi that's on the 2.4GHz range, all BT devices, and most unshielded USB 3 devices - you may just do a better job of segregating/separating your devices, even your iPhone. My iOS devices generally have both wifi/BT off except when they're needed, but I have UL data on all of my iOS devices, and connect them only to a 5GHz network when on wifi. Cheers!

 

[Ledgem]

Interference shouldn't cause the typing of random characters, though. Interference with Bluetooth would cause input delays and, if it were severe enough, frequent keyboard disconnect and reconnect messages.

Were you using the previous Apple wireless keyboard, or another Bluetooth-connected keyboard before? If so, it makes interference less likely. And again, whether it's a problem with the keyboard or something wireless can be deduced by plugging the Lightning cable into the keyboard and leaving it connected while you use it. (Just to be sure it's purely operating through the cable, turn the keyboard off, plug it in, and then turn it back on; check your Bluetooth menu and you should see that the keyboard is not in bold face.) If the problems go away, then there's some issue with the wireless operation. If the problem persists, then there's something wrong with the keys or circuitry of the keyboard, itself.