Keyboard's being strange.

[Rogthedodge]

Computer:

20" imac, 2.66 GHz
Mac OSX 10.5.8
Wired keyboard

Okay, these are the symptoms:

The + key on the number keypad doesn't work, but the one on the main part of the keyboard does.

On turning on the computer, as soon as (for example) I open Safari and the Google page appears, a row of plusses appear; +++++++++++++. The plusses will keep appearing until I press the space bar. Then I can delete them.

The right hand shift key works with everything but the " key, but the left hand shift key is fine.

There were problems in the past; I had the "you have stupidly pressed the wrong key" chime repeating and repeating. this stopped, many months ago.

I did wipe the keyboard down with a cloth that was slightly too damp and some keys stopped working, but after leaving the keyboard in the sun for a couple of days all was fine. That was months before the +++ problem started and months after the "you have stupidly pressed the wrong key" stopped.

The +++ problem was worse at one time, occurring at random while the computer was in use.

I also suspect that some keys do not always function when tapped, but that may well just be my typing.

Having typed this out and thought about it, it would seem that I may have damaged the keyboard when I wiped it down, but you may know better. Any ideas?

 

[mad-jamie16]

Well wiping it with quite a damp cloth probably didn't help and neither did leaving it out in the sun, you should have left it inside and just let it dry naturally without the sun or too much heat.

 

[iMac-do you?]

Other than trying a different USB port to plug your keyboard into, probably not much you can do.

If the pads under some keys are dirty or worn out, you can maybe try taking it apart and cleaning it, but honestly its probably not worth the hassle, and you may end up causing more issues.

Maybe time to look for a new keyboard, try eBay or similar.

 

[Rogthedodge]

Thanks for your comments, but I cannot see how some of these problems could be caused by wiping the keyboard down and letting it dry in a warm place. Specifically,
"On turning on the computer, as soon as (for example) I open Safari and the Google page appears, a row of plusses appear; +++++++++++++. The plusses will keep appearing until I press the space bar. Then I can delete them."
and,
"The right hand shift key works with everything but the " key, but the left hand shift key is fine."
these seem more like software problems to me. Has anyone experienced problems of this nature and discovered the cause?

 

[iMac-do you?]

... and discovered the cause?

There's something wrong with the keyboard, hardware wise. No matter the cause, it seems your only solution is to get a replacement one.

Can't you borrow one off a friend, even if its just a non-Mac USB keyboard, and plug it onto the same USB port you're using now, to see if the same issues occur? That would eliminate the Mac being the problem.

As I said, they are cheap enough to replace from eBay or similar outlets should you need to replace it.

 

[Rogthedodge]

You were right

Okay, I bought a new keyboard, it all works now! Thanks for your comments folks.