Apple A1243 Keyboard Problem

[krs]

I have been using an A1243 keyboard for years npw and really like it.

A few days ago I initially had a problem with the mouse freezing on the screen, checked the LED on the mouse and it was off, so I figured the mouse or the mouse cable was the problem.
I had the mouse plugged into one of the keyboard ports, so I tried a USB port on the Mini - same problem.
Got another mouse - it didn't work either.
So I finally shut down the Mini by holding the power button.
Rebooted - now the original mouse works fine (has been for a few days), but I noticed that some keys on the keyboard no longer work.
Specifically these keys on the number pad on the right: 4, 5, 6, 9, /, +
All of these work on the main keyboard.

I just wonder if anyone had that type of problem - seems like an odd set of keys not to work.

No spills of any liquid, however I snack a lot when I'm on the Mac and get crumbs all over the keyboard.
A Mac with the butterfly keyboard would have been a disaster for me.

 

[chscag]

I have two of those keyboards in addition to the Magic Keyboard 2 that I'm currently using. What I would do every once in awhile is turn the keyboard over and use the flat of my hand to slap the bottom of the board several times. I was amazed to see the small pieces of skin and whatever else got caught between the keys come loose on my desk.

They're great keyboards but they definitely are prone to getting dirt between the keys. No problem with the Magic Keyboard since the keys are better sealed. The only problem with the Magic Keyboard is that is slows me down when typing.

Try cleaning the keyboard either using the method I described above or canned compressed air.

 

[krs]

Thanks,

Just tried the flat hand slapping method - keyboard looks cleaner but unfortunately didn't get any of the problem keys to work.

I have a can of compressed air somewhere, so I will try that and if that fails, I will try to remove one of the problem keys, hopefully without breaking any of the mechanisms.