In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Mon, Sep 06, 2004 at 10:40:05AM +0800, Greg Manzie wrote: > The e, d, c and enter keys would hang and sometimes not work at all. > This happens in Finder, Mail, Safari and Appleworks (possibly others) > but not all of the time.
Thanks for providing such a complete description of your situation. However, unless there is something "special" going on, the first thing you should suspect is a hardware problem within the keyboard (which is never going to be resolved by a software upgrade). Depending on the model of keyboard, and its physical environment, you could suspect either a mechanical issue or an electrical issue. Sometimes, built-up grime is enough to jam the mechanical response of keys, and this can be resolved easily. If it were a software problem, it would normally be deliberately caused by special input methods (e.g. non-Roman writing systems or 'accessibility' features), and would have a consistent trigger pattern, and would not affect such a peculiar assortment of keys. If you are in a physically "clean" environment (e.g. you do not spill drinks into your keyboard), it is probably a bit hard to explain why so many keys have failed, but for all I know it might be a consequence of the arrangement of electrical conductors in the keyboard. Things like cracks in electrical conductors can cause intermittent problems that resolve themselves if you physically handle the keyboard. It is also possible that there's a permanent degradation of a discrete component or integrated circuit (in the keyboard) that is causing these problems. If you suspect a software problem, one approach might be to borrow a second keyboard for a while. Whenever your current keyboard misbehaves, try pressing the equivalent keys on the second keyboard. If the second keyboard always works, then replace your current keyboard. You could also simply try unplugging (and then replugging) your keyboard each time this happens, to effect a "power cycle". If the problem applies to both keyboards, however...um...
