FC660M + Mac problem -- any help appreciated!

[reziak]

I have a really bizarre problem. I ordered my fiance an FC660M because she's starting grad school in the fall and I wanted her to have a great tool to type the hundreds upon hundreds of pages she'll be typing. It arrived today!

Now, here's my issue. On her Macbook Pro the Fn key, although it works as a Fn key, types an A every time it's pressed. It will also do whatever function it's supposed to do, but it also types the A every time. It does NOT do this on my Windows 8 PC, nor does it do it on another, newer Macbook Pro we tried it on. I even used the dipswitch to switch the Fn and Win keys, and the new Fn key typed the A too. What the hell is going on? Am I missing something really obvious? She says she doesn't mind, but I want to make sure my gift is a good one!

Also, the G key has a nub like on the F and J keys. Is that normal? Seems kind of silly to have two keys with the nubs right next to each other, given they're there to help you find the key! That's not really a big deal, even if it is an error. It's actually kind of endearing. The bigger problem is the Fn key. Anyone have any ideas? I'm hoping it's something really obvious that I just haven't thought of, but I've been racking my brain and using all my Google Fu for a while now to no avail. Thanks!

[reziak]

Bump - really at a loss here. Just exchange it?

[Hypersphere]

I am using the Leopold FC660M on my Mac mini with no problems.

Did you go through the keyboard recognition thing with the Mac? Otherwise, you might try assigning the keyboard using the Mac System Preferences.

Regarding the g-key, I would have to rummage through the ziplock with the original keycaps to see if it has a nub like that on the f-key. As soon as I got the keyboard, I replaced the keycaps using 2 gray and 1 white Cyrillic dye sub PBT sets from Originative. This way, I was able to get a two-tone layout and replace everything except the spacebar.

The keyboard is a pleasure to use. Leopold has found the sweet spot with respect to size, layout, and intuitive Fn layer. My only issue with it is that with the non-standard spacebar and right-shift, it can be difficult and expensive to replace the keycaps. Overall, I like it almost as much as my IBM SSK!

Let us know if you get the problem resolved.

[rowdy]

No idea, sorry.

I would imagine that the Fn key would be purely a modifier at the keyboard hardware level i.e. it would not be generating its own scan code and passing it back to the computer.

Can you try it in a different Mac?

As a last resort you might be able to take it into an Apple store, if you have one near you, and ask if you can try the keyboard on a Mac (don't say you have already tried it with suspicious results).

[reziak]

It's really strange. I tried it on another MacBook Pro and it works as intended - no A's. I also tried it on my Windows 8 PC and checked the Fn key with AutoHotkey and it registered normally (ie only registered in combination with other keys for the function layer) - again, no A's.

The weirdest thing is that it still does work as a function key on the MacBook - it just also thinks I'm pressing A as well...could this be on the keyboard hardware level at all? Or does it seem like a purely software thing with the Mac? I created a new user and tried it with the same results, meaning that it is a global problem on the machine and not user specific. I bought it from EK. I'm hoping he gets back from vacation soon so I can ask him about it - even if it's a software thing with the Mac I'm curious if I got the right keycaps. This is a gift, so I want to make sure it works well for her. Thanks for the help, all.

[rowdy]

If it works on a different Mac, and on all Windows PCs you have tried, it seems more likely a configuration error on this one Mac where you get A.

I wonder if there is an option to tell it to forget a particular keyboard, so you can run it's automatic detection again.  Or whether you can trigger the keyboard detection process.

[reziak]

If it works on a different Mac, and on all Windows PCs you have tried, it seems more likely a configuration error on this one Mac where you get A.

I wonder if there is an option to tell it to forget a particular keyboard, so you can run it's automatic detection again.  Or whether you can trigger the keyboard detection process.

I redid the keyboard detection a few times and even deleted a keyboard preference file. There has to be some way to change this, right? What's weird is that using a brand new, clean username didn't change it. It just really thinks the Fn key is also an A key. I tried KeyRemap4MacBook and that didn't do anything except verify that when Fn is pressed the MacBook register an A keystroke.

[rowdy]

That's weird.  And yet it doesn't do that on the other MacBook?

If it did, I would suspect either a hardware fault (like short circuit between PCB traces) or something, or that the Fn key really does generate a scan code but Windows ignores it.

[reziak]

I tried it on my brother's MacBook Air and it again worked fine. Since it's worked fine on two other Macs and two PCs, it seems like it's something wrong with the MacBook Pro. Just have to try and get a new G key without the nub.

[insilica]

I tried it on my brother's MacBook Air and it again worked fine. Since it's worked fine on two other Macs and two PCs, it seems like it's something wrong with the MacBook Pro. Just have to try and get a new G key without the nub.

Have you tried asking Apple? There may be an easy fix for this? Is the region / keyboard mapping the same on all the macs you tried. It sounds really bizarre.

[Grimey]

Can you run xev, or something OSX equivalent?  I am curious as to what scan code / event the computer is receiving and interpreting.

[reziak]

I haven't asked Apple yet. I'll see if I get anywhere with that! All three Macs I tried are from the same region - however, the two it worked normally on are newer (the faulty one is 3ish years old).

I used the program within KeyRemap4MacBook that shows you what is being registered when each key is pressed, and it thinks I'm hitting A. It must be that it thinks I'm hitting A on the software level, but the Fn combos still work on the hardware level.

[nightsnack]

Did you try another keyboard that also has a Fn key with the problematic MBP? It'll be interesting if you get the same result.

[reziak]

I tried my QFR and the Fn key doesn't have the same problem. I can usually find an answer for these problems but this one has me totally stumped, haha....

[rowdy]

The next step is probably to try another FC660M on the errant Mac, if that is at all possible.