Keyboard Nightmares!

[DrCaroline]

I have TWO wireless keyboards for my Mac desktop and neither of them work properly.

The first one I purchased for my old iMac and has Swedish characters. In December 2011, my computer stopped recognising it and nothing I did would correct that. I tried inputting the code, nut they keyboard just kept spewing random numbers and letters and so it was impossible to input the code as displayed.

I bought a new iMac on 20th December 2011 in the UK and it came with a wireless keyboard. That worked fine up to two days ago, and now it just keeps vomiting the letter Q everywhere, as soon as it is turned on.

I now have two useless Mac keyboards, one of which is 8 months old and the other just six weeks old and I am NOT impressed!

I am happy to receive any suggestions but not new batteries, please as I have already tried that. I am inclined to take both machines to my local Apple dealer and tell them that their hardware is garbage!

Caroline

[dtravis7]

Was anything spilled into that new one? Is the Q key stuck down?

[dekan]

I have TWO wireless keyboards for my Mac desktop and neither of them work properly.

The first one I purchased for my old iMac and has Swedish characters. In December 2011, my computer stopped recognising it and nothing I did would correct that. I tried inputting the code, nut they keyboard just kept spewing random numbers and letters and so it was impossible to input the code as displayed.

I bought a new iMac on 20th December 2011 in the UK and it came with a wireless keyboard. That worked fine up to two days ago, and now it just keeps vomiting the letter Q everywhere, as soon as it is turned on.

I now have two useless Mac keyboards, one of which is 8 months old and the other just six weeks old and I am NOT impressed!

I am happy to receive any suggestions but not new batteries, please as I have already tried that. I am inclined to take both machines to my local Apple dealer and tell them that their hardware is garbage!

Caroline

Wow, quite the rant - remember, this forum is not affiliated with Apple at all. It's just a user-help-users forum and we are happy to give suggestions if people encounter problems.

As for the keyboards - do you or maybe a friend have another computer (can even be a Windows machine) with Bluetooth? Try to pair the keyboard there and see how it works. Also, are you in a very humid area that might affect the keyboards? Since those are not very old at all, I'm sure an Apple Store can help you out if you bring them in, have receipts and explain your situation.

Good luck and keep us posted how things go!

[DrCaroline]

No, nothing was spilled. The only thing that MIGHT have caused a problem was that I have used a cleaning foam on both keyboards. This product is a specialist cleaning agents expressly for computer keyboards and I have used it many times on laptops and other keyboards without a problem.

The current problem with the Swedish keyboard is that the key with the number 1 and the ! does not work at all. It hasn't been damaged and it's not stuck or anything, so I have no idea what is wrong with it.

The key for the letter "q" on the British English keyboard is not stuck or anything like that. It is also temperamental in that sometimes it's OK while other times it spews out the "q" continually.

Is there any way to open these keyboards to check if they are clean and dry inside, and that nothing is stuck or interfering with the movement?

Thanks,

Caroline

[dekan]

It seems like there is no way (or at least no easy way) to open these keyboards:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...readID=1622283

[DrCaroline]

Q slight improvement on my British keyboard. I put the batteries back in today and it has stopped spewing out qqqqqqqqq etc - the keyboard works partially - the q key is dead. It doesn't even register on the keyboard viewer. I can get 'a' and 'z' but not 'A' or 'Z', I can get the digit '1' but not '!'.

As I said, it's a new keyboard and it hasn't been damaged or had anything spilled on it. I do wonder if it is actually a software issue rather than a faulty keyboard. Any ideas?

Caroline

[chscag]

No, nothing was spilled. The only thing that MIGHT have caused a problem was that I have used a cleaning foam on both keyboards. This product is a specialist cleaning agents expressly for computer keyboards and I have used it many times on laptops and other keyboards without a problem.

Because that particular cleaning agent worked on other keyboards does not necessarily mean it was going to work on your Apple wireless keyboard which is quite different. The cleaning foam might have been the catalyst which messed up your keyboard(s). The only safe way to clean these types of keyboards is to use a can of compressed air.

[DrCaroline]

Because that particular cleaning agent worked on other keyboards does not necessarily mean it was going to work on your Apple wireless keyboard which is quite different. The cleaning foam might have been the catalyst which messed up your keyboard(s). The only safe way to clean these types of keyboards is to use a can of compressed air.

Thanks - I am coming to the same conclusion. The spray can says it is suitable for all computer keyboards and I used it without any problems on both my wired iMac keyboard and also on my MacBook, so I assumed it would be fine on my wireless keyboard.

This evening, I applied a vacuum cleaner to the British English keyboard as i wondered whether there might have been a small amount of the fluid which has settled inside the casing and is mucking up the circuitry. That SEEMS to have worked - at least for the time being.

Qq Aa Zz !!!

See!

I will try the same trick with the Swedish keyboard tomorrow as that is even more messed up.

Once again, thanks for the advice.

Caroline