keyboard dies

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Dick Sidbury - 06 Jan 2007 16:57 GMT

Powerbook G4 17" (last model before intel).
Anyhow sometimes after leaving the keyboard idle -- either leaving the
system alone completely or doing something that only uses mouse commands
the keyboard is not recognized and when I try to shut down the machine,
I get the spinning wagon wheel (or whatever it's called -- not the
beachball of death) continuously until I shut down using the power key.

Any suggestions as to what to look for?

Thanks.

dick

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John Johnson - 06 Jan 2007 19:41 GMT

> Powerbook G4 17" (last model before intel).
> Anyhow sometimes after leaving the keyboard idle -- either leaving the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> dick

if you've got "drag lock" checked in the trackpad pane of system
preferences, try turning it off.

If you've got Applecare, call them.

Otherwise, more information would be nice:
-does this happen if you quit all applications before issuing the
shutdown command?
-does the keyboard get recognized for _any_ purpose at all (in any
application) if you try that before issuing the shutdown command?
-is the behavior the same if you're using the internal trackpad instead
of the mouse?

HTH

Signature

Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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Dick Sidbury - 09 Jan 2007 04:08 GMT

> > Powerbook G4 17" (last model before intel).
> > Anyhow sometimes after leaving the keyboard idle -- either leaving the
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> if you've got "drag lock" checked in the trackpad pane of system
> preferences, try turning it off.

I did and the change didn't help.

> If you've got Applecare, call them.

I do, I did, and here's what I've figured out so far.

Ran hardware test and no problems found.
When I run my root (admin) account the problem doesn't occur.
The keyboard appears not to die as long as I continue to use it BUT
after running the system for a while and using the keyboard a lot, if I
stop using the keyboard (and typically leave the computer completely
alone for 5 minutes or so), I get the frozen keyboard.
Once I have the frozen keyboard if I try to shutdown the system freezes,
regardless of what I do, EXCEPT
if I log off first and then shut down then sometimes it will shutdown
rather than hang (but not always)

> Otherwise, more information would be nice:
> -does this happen if you quit all applications before issuing the
> shutdown command?

yes, but see above

> -does the keyboard get recognized for _any_ purpose at all (in any
> application) if you try that before issuing the shutdown command?

once the keyboard is frozen then it's frozen for any application that
I've tried.

> -is the behavior the same if you're using the internal trackpad instead
> of the mouse?

yes.
Now if it matters I have a bluetooth mouse, and have configured my
system so that if any mouse is recognized (either my bluetooth or my
spare USB wireless mouse) then the system ignores the trackpad.

Currently my guess is that it's software not hardware and probably
caused by some program/utility/whatever that I've installed and perhaps
uninstalled.

Assuming that I don't want to reinstall the O/S can anyone suggest a
scheme for attacking the problem?

dick

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John Johnson - 09 Jan 2007 04:31 GMT

> > > Powerbook G4 17" (last model before intel).
> > > Anyhow sometimes after leaving the keyboard idle -- either leaving the
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
>
> dick

Well, I've got a couple more questions, and maybe a suggestion or two.

-do you have any kernel extensions installed?
-does the problem occur if you don't run any applications after starting
the computer? That is, what happens if you just let the thing sit for
5-10 min.?
-have you checked the various system log files to see if there's useful
error info?

The suggestions amount to the following:

If you've got utilities that install kernel extensions or modify kernel
code, remove them and test again.

Otherwise, see if not running any of your common applications changes
the behavior.

I'd suggest generating a new user account, but that's typically done by
the Applecare folks.

Signature

Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / January 2007

keyboard dies