[X Newbies] Flaky Input

[Paul Baily]

On 19/06/2004, at 2:57 pm, Jane wrote:

> it doesn't work....typing

Is this on a laptop or a desktop?

What actions do you normally take to get things going again?

There could be several possible causes so I'll run these by you just on 
the off-chance it's one of them:

Is it that the keyboard has completely stopped responding? Is it 
specific to any applications? e.g. when you notice this condition, 
firing up a text editor and typing into a new document doesn't work? If 
it's an external keyboard, is normal function restored when you unplug 
then re-connect the keyboard/mouse from the Mac? Do you have any other 
USB devices that could be suspects? e.g. USB hub, iSub, Zip drive, 
printer, camera?

If it's a laptop and you're using the built-in keyboard then (funny 
though it sounds) it could be that num lock is on. I've had a client 
get caught out several times like this; the num lock LED isn't obvious 
and when it's on it's just like the keyboard isn't responding. Most 
keys won't do anything, and all you get are the numbers and the keypad 
characters. By design, but a bit of a trap.

Another thought, is the focus (ie. the front-most window where the 
keystrokes are be directed) staying where you expect it? On a laptop 
some people may just slightly brush the trackpad while typing which can 
(if you have click on tap set) move the insertion point to somewhere 
you don't expect or shift focus to another window or the desktop. I'm 
not sure if Jaguar has similar but in Panther there is a preference 
under Trackpad in the Keyboard & Mouse system preference pane to ignore 
accidental trackpad input. If you suspect this might be it you could 
always disable the click on tap preference to see if things change.

Some applications also seem to switch focus under some conditions, e.g. 
Safari when a page loading in a background tab times out. Are the 
widgets in the top left corner of the window coloured or greyed out?

cheers,

Paul.