Heartland

the 1etters 0n 0ne s1de are a11 f***ed. what's g01ng 0n

the keyboard's fine it's your fingers that have gone wrong

don't tell me you're bevvied already? lucky be-atch

Take your boxing gloves off

N0w th@t y0u m€nt10n 1t..
$1ightlµ 0dd. Wh@t c0uld th@t þ€?

Or how about...

Get a Mac!

1. Carefully remove kitten from keyboard and place it in the static-proof bag provided
2. Vacuum yakked-up hairball from between keys
3. Replace kitten

Checked the country settings? Perhaps you've just started to use some odd foreign keyboard (Control Panel>Country Settings, if my memory serves me well)

Meanwhile, anyone got a clue where |, square brackets and a slash the other way round than this one (/) are to be found when they're not present on the keyboard

Obviousman wrote:Meanwhile, anyone got a clue where |, square brackets and a slash the other way round than this one (/) are to be found when they're not present on the keyboard

Hold down the left side ALT key and type the three digit number on the keypad.
Let go of ALT and hey presto - one character as needed !

[ ALT+091

] ALT+093

\ ALT+092

│ALT+179

Carpathian Psychonaut wrote:

Obviousman wrote:Meanwhile, anyone got a clue where |, square brackets and a slash the other way round than this one (/) are to be found when they're not present on the keyboard

Hold down the left side ALT key and type the three digit number on the keypad.
Let go of ALT and hey presto - one character as needed !

[ ALT+091

] ALT+093

\ ALT+092

│ALT+179

Obviousman is using a Belgian "Azerty" keyboard, just to be awkward! I've sent him a PM with some links to instructions for those particular keyboards.

Carpathian Psychonaut wrote:

Obviousman wrote:Meanwhile, anyone got a clue where |, square brackets and a slash the other way round than this one (/) are to be found when they're not present on the keyboard

Hold down the left side ALT key and type the three digit number on the keypad.
Let go of ALT and hey presto - one character as needed !

[ ALT+091

] ALT+093

\ ALT+092

│ALT+179

That's the windows method, but it won't go with a Mac

Paul's just pointed me out how to though, they've just all hid them behind shift-optn combinations on the keyboard

Shift+optn+x for ⁄
shift+optn+( for [ (replace with ) for ] and L for |)


Thanks

Cool - that's Z's problem sorted, now let's turn to Claire's:

Claire - first, make sure you've got the long edge of the keyboard facing you, not the short edge.

some people are going to be terribly bruised when clare catches up with them

I used to have a similar problem on an old Dell laptop. In my case, it was a dirty connection between the actual keyboard cable and the computer--not the one that you plug into the back, but within the board itself. It needed to be re-seated periodically, otherwise I would get the seemingly random keystrokes you're describing. I had to carry a set of tools with me to remove the keyboard and reseat it for a while, since I didn't have an office or computer at work. It was very frustrating. You might be in need of a new keyboard.

Don't worry Claire, we eventually get used to it like we always do.

emilystrange wrote:some people are going to be terribly bruised when clare catches up with them

darn r1ght!

1ts a 1apt0p, btw.

boudicca wrote:

emilystrange wrote:some people are going to be terribly bruised when clare catches up with them

darn r1ght!

1ts a 1apt0p, btw.

Some laptops have a membrane under the main part of the keyboard so that it can pick up key movement without having to have the full mechanical depth of a standalone keyboard.

If you can remove the keyboard panel (and, of course, it's an important if !) then check something hasn't got in between that and the membrane if there is one.

Just a thought !

boudicca wrote:

emilystrange wrote:some people are going to be terribly bruised when clare catches up with them

darn r1ght!

1ts a 1apt0p, btw.

Oh, if it's a laptop it's almost certainly the same issue I had. The likely culprit is the ribbon cable connecting the keyboard membrane CP mentioned above to the main board of the laptop. On my laptop, there were a series of screws labeled 'K' on the back, indicating the keyboard. Unscrewing them would disconnect the keyboard mountings, allowing me to pop it out. There would then be two ribbons, thin one and a wide one. The thin one is for the pointer/mouse, and the wide one is for the keyboard itself. Usually, disconnecting and reconnecting the wide ribbon from the main board would do the trick, although cleaning it might help too. After that, it *should* work again. If the laptop is still under warranty, see if you can get it replaced. I eventually got so sick of doing this everytime I needed to type that I bought a $10.00 half-size keyboard to keep in my laptop bag and attach via the usual methods.

Anyway, I hope this helps. It's royal pain in the ass to deal with.

LOL!

My optical mousie's fux0red, so I feel your pain, sort of.

<lurking = "off">

Hi Claire!

boudicca wrote:the 1etters 0n 0ne s1de are a11 f***ed. what's g01ng 0n

I almost don't dare to write this, but the "one side" thing sounds like you hit the "Num" key. Just hit it again and everything might be sorted. Please don't be offended if I post something totally obvious!

Ciao, Uli.

<lurking = "on">

smiscandlon wrote:"Have you tried turning it off then back on again?"

Claire, what've I told you about LSD and computers?

uli wrote:<lurking = "off">

Hi Claire!

boudicca wrote:the 1etters 0n 0ne s1de are a11 f***ed. what's g01ng 0n

I almost don't dare to write this, but the "one side" thing sounds like you hit the "Num" key. Just hit it again and everything might be sorted. Please don't be offended if I post something totally obvious!

Ciao, Uli.

<lurking = "on">

Actually, yeah - I think that sounds most likely. I've accidentally turned on the Number Lock on my laptop a couple of times and it confused the hell out of me.

Especially as, from her posts, the affected keys appear to be u i o j k l m, tying up with the 'virtual' number pad on the laptop.

Good call, uli the lurker.

I think uli the lurker is uli the solver on this one - I'd completely forgotten about that "virtual" number pad that many portables have - sounds spot on.

{slaps forehead and realises he's forgotten more than he remembers}

All we need now is a perfectly typed post from Claire and we'll know for sure !