Is my keyboard broken?

[Silly John Fatty]

So I have this new Mac Mini, but this old(er), wired Apple Keyboard (A1243), and last time I turned my Mini on, I couldn't type in my password, because the Mac wouldn't recognise the keyboard. I've been using this keyboard for the past 6 years at least, and everything worked fine.

I don't know how exactly I solved it, but somehow I managed to make it recognise it and login. And then it worked perfectly and there was no problem for a week or so.

My Mac was now shut down for a fews days, and upon turning it on again, I stumbled across the same problem again.

This time I tried everything that came to my mind, but it just doesn't work.

I don't know if this is a software or hardware issue.

Funnily enough, I have another, much older Apple keyboard (from the early 2000s, A1048) and it works just fine.

I guess my keyboard just died?

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Have you tried using it wired to see if the same issues persist?

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Have you tried using it wired to see if the same issues persist?

Actually I am using it wired only. You can't use it with Bluetooth as that would be a different model already. The wired version can only be used that way, as far as I know at least.

I'll see if I can test it on someone else's computer tomorrow.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Ok, so I tried the keyboard on another computer, and it worked just fine.

I connected it back to my Mini, and it doesn't work.

Do you think the Mac is damaged? How can I find out wether this is a software or a hardware issue … I think I'll call Apple.

 

[Boyd01]

I had some weird problems with a couple of those older wired Apple Keyboards. I always really liked them, but when used on my 2013 MacBook Air, sometimes they weren't recognized. Plugging into a different USB port fixed the problem. But this is the weird part, after awhile it would stop working again. Switching it back to the first USB port would fix the problem!

This was a number of years ago, but some Googling at that time found that others had similar issues. Apparently, there was something weird about USB on those keyboards. Have you tried plugging into different USB ports? Does that help? Most likely, it's time to get a new keyboard, I think these old ones are just quirky and they aren't getting any newer.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

I had some weird problems with a couple of those older wired Apple Keyboards. I always really liked them, but when used on my 2013 MacBook Air, sometimes they weren't recognized. Plugging into a different USB port fixed the problem. But this is the weird part, after awhile it would stop working again. Switching it back to the first USB port would fix the problem!

This was a number of years ago, but some Googling at that time found that others had similar issues. Apparently, there was something weird about USB on those keyboards. Have you tried plugging into different USB ports? Does that help? Most likely, it's time to get a new keyboard, I think these old ones are just quirky and they aren't getting any newer.

Sadly I've tried connecting it to a different port already. It did work the first time, however.

And yes, I might get a new keyboard, but that is exactly what Apple wants you to do.

 

[Boyd01]

As I said, I always liked that keyboard and was sorry to see it go. When I got my 2018 Mini three years ago, I would have liked to get another one, but it was discontinued in 2017. I got an Apple space grey bluetooth keyboard (it has also been discontinued now!). I'm a fast touch typist and like the feel of the old keyboard, but the new wireless keyboard was also nice. After about a week, I dug out my old wired keyboard and did an A/B test. I actually prefer the wireless keyboard, it has a little better key travel and more satisfying click. But this is all totally subjective.

Anyway, have been really happy with the wireless keyboard, however I have been using it plugged in with a USB cable. When you do that, it becomes a USB keyboard and doesn't use bluetooth. Of course, the downside is that it's much more expensive and I'm not even using the wireless feature.

Anyway, the USB keyboard has been discontinued for 7 years now. It's unfortunate, but not too surprising that there are incompatibilies with new Macs - especially considering that I had compatibility issues with it going back to 2013.

 

[MrScratchHook]

So I have this new Mac Mini, but this old(er), wired Apple Keyboard (A1243), and last time I turned my Mini on, I couldn't type in my password, because the Mac wouldn't recognise the keyboard. I've been using this keyboard for the past 6 years at least, and everything worked fine.

I don't know how exactly I solved it, but somehow I managed to make it recognise it and login. And then it worked perfectly and there was no problem for a week or so.

My Mac was now shut down for a fews days, and upon turning it on again, I stumbled across the same problem again.

This time I tried everything that came to my mind, but it just doesn't work.

I don't know if this is a software or hardware issue.

Funnily enough, I have another, much older Apple keyboard (from the early 2000s, A1048) and it works just fine.

I guess my keyboard just died?

in the settings, i think its accesability,keyboard settings, there is a sticky keys setting, since it works on other macs i believe this is your issue, i ran into this a couple times already. some how it became enabled, you must disable it

 

[Silly John Fatty]

in the settings, i think its accesability,keyboard settings, there is a sticky keys setting, since it works on other macs i believe this is your issue, i ran into this a couple times already. some how it became enabled, you must disable it

So my Mac was turned off for almost a week, since I've had the issue. Now I've restarted it, and the keyboard worked at the login window.

Very strange …

I've checked those settings you mentioned, and everything was turned off. I turned on all settings and one of them (the one that delays your keyboard) could have in fact created this problem. But I was typing all possible things on that keyboard and nothing appear, so even with the delay feature turned on, I'm not 100% sure this was the cause.

I'll still get myself a new Magic Keyboard. I wanted to get one anyway to get rid of the cable. And this is too unstable the way it is. I can't work and then suddenly the keyboard stops working. Apple is not for professionals it seems, it's very often unreliable (and I've had Apple since the 90s).

 

[MrScratchHook]

So my Mac was turned off for almost a week, since I've had the issue. Now I've restarted it, and the keyboard worked at the login window.

Very strange …

I've checked those settings you mentioned, and everything was turned off. I turned on all settings and one of them (the one that delays your keyboard) could have in fact created this problem. But I was typing all possible things on that keyboard and nothing appear, so even with the delay feature turned on, I'm not 100% sure this was the cause.

I'll still get myself a new Magic Keyboard. I wanted to get one anyway to get rid of the cable. And this is too unstable the way it is. I can't work and then suddenly the keyboard stops working. Apple is not for professionals it seems, it's very often unreliable (and I've had Apple since the 90s).

well, i guess, i've bought like 6 mac keyboards in the last 4 years. lol they aren't very sturdy or reliable

 

[Silly John Fatty]

well, i guess, i've bought like 6 mac keyboards in the last 4 years. lol they aren't very sturdy or reliable

Ok, wow, that is a lot. To be honest I've never had issues. I've had different keyboards for ages, some are over 20 years old, this one that stopped working is 10 years old as well. But modern day Apple is becoming unreliable and unstable. It's low quality made-in-China products with a Gucci belt. Sadly, there aren't many alternatives. There's too few, too big companies and they have monopolies and so nobody is forced to improve.

 

[Boyd01]

The thing that I dislike about my bluetooth keyboard is that it "eats" the first character you type when you first start the Mac. So, it seemed, if I just type a password - Big100 for example - the computer only sees ig100 and I had to try again. I would need to type something like xBig100 for it to see Big100. Or would it? I was never really sure, maybe it was just a matter of timing?

I got in the habit of just pressing the shift key to wake it up, since that doesn't send a character. Then one time I did that a little too soon during startup and the Mac went into "safe mode" which really confused me for awhile! 🤣 Anyway, this was my first bluetooth keyboard, so maybe I just didn't know the correct way to use it, but I disliked the whole experience.

My keyboard is always on my desk in front of the screen, so I just use it with the USB cable plugged in now. Only downside is that it uses a USB port that I sometimes need. At least I can just pull the plug and continue in bluetooth mode at those times.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

The thing that I dislike about my bluetooth keyboard is that it "eats" the first character you type when you first start the Mac. So, it seemed, if I just type a password - Big100 for example - the computer only sees ig100 and I had to try again. I would need to type something like xBig100 for it to see Big100. Or would it? I was never really sure, maybe it was just a matter of timing?

I got in the habit of just pressing the shift key to wake it up, since that doesn't send a character. Then one time I did that a little too soon during startup and the Mac went into "safe mode" which really confused me for awhile! 🤣 Anyway, this was my first bluetooth keyboard, so maybe I just didn't know the correct way to use it, but I disliked the whole experience.

My keyboard is always on my desk in front of the screen, so I just use it with the USB cable plugged in now. Only downside is that it uses a USB port that I sometimes need. At least I can just pull the plug and continue in bluetooth mode at those times.

I think I have this with my iPad and the magic keyboard I use with it, but I think it's normal that it needs to wake up first. I think I've had this on my Mac too when using the Magic Keyboard with it.

 

[Nermal]

well, i guess, i've bought like 6 mac keyboards in the last 4 years. lol they aren't very sturdy or reliable

I remember the old wired "thin" keyboards were fairly unreliable: I think I went through three of them in the space of a few years. I have a newer one now (it might be a Magic Keyboard, not sure) that can run both wired and wireless and it seems to be much more reliable, although I use it exclusively in wired mode (Bluetooth has a noticeable delay which is no good when playing games).

 

[Boyd01]

That wake-up requirement seemed to be the case for me and it was really annoying when typing a password. Just recalling now, the final straw was that it refused to recognize my password one morning and I realized I only had about one more try before it would lock me out. I plugged it in and it worked, turned out the battery was almost dead and evidently it was sending the wrong characters. Just left it plugged in permanently after that.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

I might use it in plugged-in mode as well, but it's good that I can take it with me and use it with my iPad or something else.

I just hope I'll get used to the new keys. It's the latest model with Touch ID I'm picking up this week, and I tested it in a store, and the keys are much softer than the one I have now, which is already a flat model with flat keys as well.

But I think as someone who types a lot of text, it will feel better after a while. I can't imagine using that 2003 keyboard with the big keys anymore for example. I can so not imagine in, that I've preferred not using the Mac at all for the past week.

I hope it will feel the same when I get the new keyboard and that I won't go back or regret the swap. I'll also have to get used to typing more gently, to not break it. 🤣

 

[MarkC426]

I recently moved my cMP keyboard to my Mac Studio, and had the same issue.
Plugged it into a USB to USB-C adapter and works fine.