Windows 7, SP1 fixes 12+ key issue...

[Paul Dietz]

As some of you may be aware, there was a nasty bug in Windows that, in some cases, could generate incorrect key press events if a large number (12 or more) keys were pressed simultaneously via USB keyboards. One of the very few keyboards capable of reporting enough keys to tickle this bug is the Sidewinder X4. I am very pleased to report that this bug appears to be fixed in Windows 7, Service Pack 1, which is available via Windows Update.

With SP1, you should be able to take full advantage of the capabilities of X4 which are explained here:

http://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/content/projects/SideWinderX4.aspx

Enjoy!

[Evil_Spork]

Sweet! Now I can smash my face on my Choc Mini and he sure that every cheek and nose crunched key will register!

[JBert]

You never know which game designer needed a "keyboard upside down" key event...

Now seriously, it is good to hear this got fixed.

[Soarer]

Thanks Paul, for letting us know!

I never did work out exactly how many keys were needed to find the bug, it was possibly only 8 or 9 with the standard 6 key + modifier style report. But it was definately related to reports where some keys were reported as bits (e.g. modifiers) AND some keys reported as bytes (e.g. other keys). My firmware, which reports all keys as bits, didn't find the bug, but it's still nice to have it fixed :-)

Any chance of a patch for XP? :-p

[hasu]

I confirmed that my Windows 7 SP1 fixes the bug. Nice!
As Soarer said, this bug could be seen even with normal 6KRO keyboard.

[Tony]

12 keys? With ten fingers I rarely press so many keys at once. Good news anyway.