01-04-2007, 01:31 PM

HI,

APOLOGIES FIRST... I AM BRAND NEW TO THE MAC, 15 YEARS ON A PC... BUT I LOVE MY NEW IMAC.

BUT I HAVE A PROBLEM THAT BAFFLES ME.

THE SEPERATE NUMERIC KEYPAD HAS STOPPED WORKING IN MY NEW IMAC. WORSE STILL IT SEEMS TO FREEZE ALL MY OPEN APPS AND THE ONLY WAY I CAN UNFREEZE THEM IS TO USE FORCE QUIT,... SELECT AN APPLICTATION... THEN CHOOSE CANCEL IN FORCE QUIT AND THE SYSTEM STARTS RESPONDING AGAIN.

IN FACT I HAVE NO IDEA ON THE MAC KEYBOARD WHERE THE NUMLOCK KEY IS,... DO YOU ?

SEARCHED APPLES WEBSITE TO NO AVAIL.

ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP?

THANKS... A MAC VIRGINhttp://www.mac-forums.com/forums/images/smilies/Terminator.png

01-04-2007, 02:26 PM

There is no num lock key on a mac (but the caps lock is right where it is in pc's )

Did you install any software recently on your computer that may have interfered with your keyboard? Do you have another computer you can plug the keyboard in to as to test it?

01-04-2007, 04:16 PM

Note that there is also no Insert key, which makes the usual Insert/Overwrite toggle function a bit of a challenge!

01-05-2007, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by PowerBookG4

There is no num lock key on a mac (but the caps lock is right where it is in pc's )

Did you install any software recently on your computer that may have interfered with your keyboard? Do you have another computer you can plug the keyboard in to as to test it?

Hello and Thanks for responding,

Yes... I installed some utilities from the MacFormat free CD. Maintenence and Macaroni. Would these interfere with the keyboard?

Also I am not sure if I installed a program called Freeze Frame that optimises the program that is foremost on the desktop. I don't know how to check on a Mac what programs have been installed recently,... or even how to remove them.....

PC programs usually have an unistall feature. I got the Applications up in FINDER and sorted them by date. Only Maintenance showed up as being installed recently.

I am sure that the keyboard is not faulty. I will try it on my PC.

The way the fault can be remedied by using FORCE QUIT indicates to me that it's a software problem.

Still love my Intel Imac though...

And thanks again for taking the trouble to respond to my post.
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Sid

01-05-2007, 03:25 PM

A very basic OS X maintenance procedure, which in this case might cure your keyboard problem, is to reboot the computer, but hold down the apple and S keys as it starts.

When the type stops flowing, and after where it says root#, punch in fsck -fy (note the space before the hyphen), then hit return. This is the same as running the Disk Utility file repair from the DVD.

fsck tells the system to run a files check. The f after the hyphen means force check (because the system is journaled) and the y means yes, don't ask me whether each problem found really, really should be fixed.

If the message after the check finishes says the volume appears to be OK, type in reboot or exit, then hit return. This will complete the boot into OS X.

But if the message says errors were found and fixed or the volume was modified and is now OK, ignore the OK and run another fsck -fy because some errors hide others until the first ones are repaired. Keep doing this until the returned message says the volume appears to be OK but nothing about finding errors or making modifications. Then type reboot or exit, and hit return.

01-06-2007, 07:11 AM

I have the same problem here.

I have worked out that if I press "0" on the keypad, as with SIDTURBO, my apps get locked. Well, actually, it's the active window that gets locked. Pressing "5" on the keypad releases them again for normal usage (Is this a "feature" so that you can keep control of a single application?).

Anywho, the fact that there are new functions to the keypad in this state leave me to believe there is a way of turning the keypads normal functions on & off but I have no idea how.

FuZion.

01-06-2007, 07:38 AM

I may have found out what is happening.

Head to Prefs/Universal Access/Mouse. I had Mouse keys turned on, meaning my keypad was controlling the mouse. Turning this off has give me back my keypad.

This explained the "0" & "5" keys I mentioned above. The "0" key held the left mouse button down (For highlighting things) & the "5" key releases the mouse button.

Hope this helps you out.

FuZion.

01-06-2007, 09:22 AM

You Are Right !

My Mouse Key Was Set To 'on' In Universal Access. Now I Have Switched It Off The Problem Has Gone Away.

Brilliant. Thanks So Much

Sidturno

01-06-2007, 02:27 PM

Hehe, not bad for a newbee eh. I'm new to the Mac too, only joined in November last year. So far so good.

I have one problem I haven't got to the bottom of yet, but I'm sure it'll get sorted out: Desktop background not working correctly.

FuZion.

06-30-2008, 09:57 AM

just a note to say thanks to the person who suggested universal access to fix the number lock issue on the mac/intell keyboard. i was going crazy. appreciate.