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Strange keyboard things my Macs do... now (both do, Catalina and Tahoe OS's)

P

prog4ever

macrumors member
Original poster
Hello, group.

On the last couple of days I noticed the keyboards of both my iMacs been performing odd behaviors:

- I tested some things and noticed, now, if I want to change the names of some external disks I have, some keys simply don't function (either the space bar and some keys).

- Is it possible that one of the external disks is somehow "corrupted" or have some sort of virus which was "transported" to the iMacs (one is OS Tahoe, the other OS Catalina). Even when no external disk is connected, the problem is there.

- I work exclusively with Macs since 1983 and I don't remember having this sort of problem.

Any tips you have to solve this?

Much appreciated, in advance

All the best

Art
 
Is it only occurring on naming external disks?

What other characters beyond the space bar aren't working?

What file format are those disks in?

Certain file formats have forbidden characters for volume names and other filenames, so it's possible the OS is just enforcing that, or that you're running into volume name length limitations (11 characters for both FAT32 and exFAT).
 
Disk format is almost certainly the cause, which is what I think @bradman83 is getting at. Some don't allow space in addition to length limits. You can Erase the disk & choose "APFS" for strictly Mac use, or "exFAT" for Mac and Windows compatibility (this will of course erase the contents of the disk).
 
THANKS A LOT, for both quick replies! Much appreciated.

In fact, no, this is not only when I try to change the name of external disks. I made that as a test, because the problem was when I tried to change the name of other files.

Now it seems the problem is much serious. I tried to write a simple text, on Text Editor. Can't do it. The keys don't work and the "delete/backspace" key, for instance, acts as if it were the "+ volume" key. It's almost insane.

Perhaps with this update you could guide me on how to solve this.

Thanks again for your kindness and help

Art
 
BOTH your macs?

Did you change the keyboard layout?

If there's a keyboard language in your menubar, click that, then "open keyboard settings" and check your config.

If not, System Settings / Keyboard / Input Sources / Edit
 
Are you using an external keyboard - same one on each Mac maybe?

If either/both are MacBooks, try turning off Bluetooth & test with built-in keyboard only.

Just grasping at straws here... we need more details.
 
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Thanks a lot for your replies, my friends.
Both iMacs (not Macbooks) have their own keyboards.
The Tahoe iMac has three months use.
The Catalina one never had any problem, until now.

That's why I suspect this strange behavior has to do with one of the external disks, which is "infecting" both computers.


For instance, ALL of my posts on this same topic, were written normally, as it should do...
Nothing to do with the keyboards, I think.

Thanks again for your invaluable help!

All the best

Art
 
Swap the keyboards. Does the problem also move to the other iMac?

I am assuming both keyboards are wireless?
Do you have (or can you borrow) a wired/USB keyboard that you can try, particularly on the Catalina iMac?
 
DeltaMac said:
Swap the keyboards. Does the problem also move to the other iMac?

I am assuming both keyboards are wireless?
Do you have (or can you borrow) a wired/USB keyboard that you can try, particularly on the Catalina iMac?
Click to expand...
Hi, and thanks for your reply.

I guess there's no problem with both keyboards.
I figured there's no problem with ANY of my external disks, EXCEPT one of them. When this one is connected, the problems are present, over and over again.
I don't understand what is happening, but it's only with this 5TB disk.
I can copy some files to the Mac internal disks, but some others fail to copy. When I try it, both Macs become extremely slow (although one of them is very recent) and I receive a message saying the copy is not possible, because there are some problems with the file(s).
I bought another 5TB disk and cannot copy from one disk to another.

Any tips on what's happening?

Thanks again for your invaluable help, folks!

Art
 
I'm not a (modern) hardware person, but this could be some kind of USB corruption coming from that one disk - either the cable (I assume you've tried different ones!) or the USB controller on the drive.

It's a guess.
 
adrianlondon said:
I'm not a (modern) hardware person, but this could be some kind of USB corruption coming from that one disk - either the cable (I assume you've tried different ones!) or the USB controller on the drive.

It's a guess.
Click to expand...
Thanks. In fact, I tried with the USB cables of the other disk which don't have problems.
Nothing changed...

Art
 
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UPDATE: Without any disks connected, I have a serious problem with the Catalina iMac, which, now, have the digitation problem for good (and the "keyboard layout" on the preferences shows my language, as always).
The Tahoe iMac works normally, without any digitation problems

Art
 
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