The other day my PowerBook G4 started repeating keys when I type, especially the ‘r’ key, and Cmd-paste. I adjusted the repeat delay, and that seemed to fix it. But now it occasionally skips letters when I type too fast. That’s better than repeating keys, though. This morning Cmd-copy and Cmd-paste seemed to stop working. I’ve decreased the delay until repeat, and there seems to be a fine line between ‘not doing anything’ and ‘doing something three times’.
Why would my keyboard suddenly go wonky?
I bought this computer in 2005. I spilled water on the keyboard about three years ago, and the keyboard was replaced then. (FWIW, as I typed this the ‘d’ in 'keyboard was repeated, and the ‘e’ in ‘replaced’ and ‘repeated’ was skipped.)
Seriously- if you are on it a lot, and have a heavy keyboard strike, then it may be time to replace it again. IIRC, you can pull the keyboard and slip it off with the ribbon cable and bob’s yer uncle. Right?
Wish I could do that with this new machine. Nice, MacBook Pro, but Unibody™ so I cannot swap keyboard or battery myself. Stoooopid. I miss that PowerBook G4.
I want a new computer. I went to the Apple store online yesterday and priced them. For a 17" MacBook Pro with extra memory and a copy of Final Cut Pro X, it would cost about $3,000. That’s ten hours of helicopter time.
On the way home I bought an Apple Bluetooth keyboard for $79. It’s about the same size and configuration of the PowerBook’s keyboard, only it doesn’t have a touchpad. (I use a mouse when I’m working, anyway.) I’ve ordered a new keyboard for the computer, but it’s ‘unavailable’ in Apple’s system. This means that they’re out of stock, they’re not supporting the PowerBook anymore, or that they do have some in stock. So I ordered one and am hoping for the best. If I can’t get one from Apple, I’m pretty sure they exist online somewhere.
The pisser is, I’ll be without my computer for three to five business days when it goes in for repair. I think I can bring my old desktop PC home from work, install a wireless card, and configure it to connect to my new PC at work. Or I can get the iMac G3 out of the storage unit and use it; if the version of RDC will work, and if not, the version I have on my PowerBook can be installed. The G3 has a newer version of RDC than the G4, but I had to install an older version to work with the new PC. This is a 2005 machine, so it does not have the Intel chip. A new machine would solve that, but… three kilobucks.
This is not just my work computer. If it was, it wouldn’t matter. I use the PowerBook as my primary computer, and I bought it for compatibility with the studio I was working at. (Turns out I like Macs!) So its replacement needs to be useful for video editing and everything else, rather than just for connecting to the office.
The G4 was the best I could get six years ago (although without the added memory). Not as fast as the quad-core G5 in the studio, but adequate for light editing. Though I no longer use it for that, it’s served me well. If I get a MacBook Pro, I expect it to be useful for a longer time than a MacBook. So it will end up being cheaper in the long run. Right now I want to edit video, but I don’t need to. So the longer I can put it off, the better machine I can get.
In any case, w/r to the OP, it seems that keyboards do just ‘go bad’ from time to time. I was told that the service people just replaced someone else’s keyboard that had the same problem but affecting different keys. I’m hoping a new keyboard is available, and that should fix my problem.
Have you done the first and most obvious thing when you have keyboard problems – e.g. turn it upside down and shake? Most keyboards have an amazing amount of crud underneath and it often causes letters to skip.
You can pry the keys up as well, and try to clean it that way.
I did turn it upside-down and shook it. I won’t pry the keys up though. Last time I did that (to some other kind of keyboard) it stopped working all together.
I just got a call from the Apple place. They did get a new keyboard, for about $37 less than the used one linked to in my previous post. I need to look into logistics, as I need a computer for telecommuting. I’ll get the G3 out of storage and make sure it works with RDC. Once it’s up and running, I’ll take the PowerBook in for repair.