Hi,

A couple of things to mention.  First, when using the keyboard detection app, 
it usually asks for you first to press the key immediately to the right of the 
left shift key.  That should be the “z” key.  Next it usually asks you to press 
the key immediately to the left of the right shift key, which on a North 
American keyboard is normally the slash/Question Mark key.  After pressing both 
those keys, it should announce what kind of keyboard it decided that it was.  
With respect to shift-2 giving you the double-quotes, that is because it thinks 
that you have a different keyboard than the standard one for some reason.  I 
can’t remember which one it is, but back in my typewriter days, yes, I’m that 
old, there were some typewriter configurations that had the double-quotes above 
the 2 and the @ sign was over beside the “l” or somewhere close to that.  I 
believe that some European keyboard layouts still do that sort of 
configuration, although I won’t swear to it.

Lastly, in the old days, back in the 90’s, Macs did not like you connecting the 
keyboard and mouse through a hub.  It actually often caused really odd problems 
with the system and sometimes even damaged things.  I’m not sure why, nor if 
that is still the case, and, the type of hub that you’re using should not 
behave the same anyway.  That condition was for actual hubs, not keyboard 
switchers like you’re using.

Like Brad mentioned, I suggest that you go back to the basics.  That is, plug 
the PC keyboard directly into the Mac, use the keyboard detection app to set it 
up, then see if it works properly.  If it does, then move on to trying it 
through your switcher.  If it behaves badly, try it in a different port on the 
switcher to see if it behaves any better.  If you still get no joy, there may 
be some incompatibility with that switcher.  Again, I’m not sure why, but it’s 
possible.

Later…


Tim Kilburn
Jamf Certified Tech
Apple Teacher
(with Swift Playgrounds Recognition)
Fort McMurray, AB Canada

On May 17, 2020, at 7:23 PM, 'Janina Sajka' via MacVisionaries 
<[email protected]> wrote:

It's worth a try, Brad. I'll do it and report whether it makes a
difference.

The whole point of the setup is to minimize the amount of input hardware
cluttering up my desk.I go back and forth between all three machines
frequently, probably several times an hour.

Janina

Brad Snyder writes:
> Have you tried connecting the keyboard directly to the Mac mini, and not 
> going through the hub unit?
> Just a thought.
> 
> - Brad -
> 
> On May 17, 2020, at 15:31, 'Janina Sajka' via MacVisionaries 
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have a standard, very standard (no extra keys) 104-key PC USB keyboard
> hooked up to my new Mac Mini. I'm using a StarTech KVM switch to control
> the Mac, my Linux desktop, and a Windows laptop with this keyboard.
> 
> Working the Mac with this keyboard works mostly, but the exceptions are
> significant enough that my full-size Apple BlueTooth keyboard is never
> too far away. Specifically:
> 
> *    The Mac will not accept a password typed in the PC keyboard.
> *    I've tried multiple times, but I don't try anymore because it's
> *    a waste of time. If I need to type my keyboard, I need to use
> *    the bt keyboard.
> 
> *    I cannot type an email address with the PC keyboard because I
> *    don't seem to have an @ symbol. Shifting 2 on the top row of the
> *    qwerty gives me the double quote mark that's also available to
> *    the left of the Enter key. Strange.
> 
> Any ideas? I confess the keyboard identification wizzard didn't
> automatically associate this device. I couldn't figure how and where to
> enter the keys it was looking for to auto identify it. I tried that
> twice, but am willing to give it another go if someone has some specific
> ideas about using that application.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Janina
> 
> -- 
> 
> Janina Sajka
> 
> Linux Foundation Fellow
> Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:    http://a11y.org
> 
> The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures    http://www.w3.org/wai/apa
> 
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Janina Sajka

Linux Foundation Fellow
Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:       http://a11y.org

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures        http://www.w3.org/wai/apa

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