Hi Annie,
This is beginning to sound as though the input keyboard or some such
setting was changed. If the Num lock key is activated, you will not
be able to type anything under "q w e r t y" and you will only start
getting numbers under the right hand part of that row of keys "4 5 6
*". Macbook models in 2008 and later don't have Num lock keys. The
closest thing you can do is to turn on Mouse Keys under the Universal
Access menu of System Preferences. Mouse Keys is a keyboard setting
that lets users with motion disabilities move the position of the
cursor with the numeric keypad keys, so the "5" key represents the
current position of the cursor, and if you press the key above it
("8") your cursor moves up one screen pixel, while if you press the
key below it ("2") you move down one screen pixel, and similarly for
motions to the left ("4"), right ("6"), and diagonally up the left
("7") or right ("9") and diagonally down to the left ("1") or right
("3"). When they took away the embedded numeric keypad on the Mac
laptops, they had to leave these functions in for Mouse Keys, so the
"7 8 9", "u i o", and "j k l" keys on the Macbook keyboard took the
place of the numbers 1-9 on the numeric keypad for cursor movement.
Normally, you have to select Mouse Keys from the Universal Access menu
to turn it on. There is a check box to allow you to press the option
key 5 times in succession to turn Mouse Keys on or off. You hear a
kind of chittering noise when that happens.
If your friend can type on the left side of the keyboard (or anywhere
outside of the keys I mentioned) and get characters, even if they are
strange ones or numbers, then it sounds as though the input keyboard
has gotten switched in some weird fashion. I think (I'm not sure)
that control of the input keyboard is in a preference file called
com.Apple.HIToolbox.plist in your user Library/Preferences folder.
That is, if you are in Finder, and go to your Home directory (Command-
Shift-H), then use Command-Shift-G (for "Go to Folder") and type in:
"Library/Preferences" (without the quotation marks) and press return,
you'll be in the Preferences folder where you can find the
com.Apple.HIToolbox.plist file. If you move this out of that
directory, your machine should reset to using the default values. (I
know that's a peculiar file name, but I think it stands for "Human
Interface Toolbox").
The problem is, I don't know how to switch or navigate with the
keyboard in its current state. Is it possible to just shut down and
reboot? Also, is there another user account that can be used? I keep
a test account so that I can check whether odd behavior is due to a
strange state or setting in my account -- such as corrupted plist
files -- as opposed to a problem with the Mac as a whole. Also, I set
up my Sharing preferences so that I can do a remote login -- even to
my own account if something is frozen. Then I can log in and make
changes through the Terminal. Those are most of my current thoughts.
Is it possible that your friend could have turned on mouse keys? Are
there other characters that appear when the left side of the keyboard
is used? This sounds pretty enigmatic; could it simply be a hardware
wiring problem with the keyboard?
Cheers,
Esther
On Jun 27, 2010, Annie Skov Nielsen wrote:
Hi Esther.
I know that my frends macbook is newer, I think it is from 2009. So it
does not work with f6 or fn+f6. But I can not find anything about how
it can be done on a newer mac.
Hope you can help.
Best regards Annie.
2010/6/27, Esther <mori...@mac.com>:
Hi Annie,
If your friend's Macbook was made earlier than about November 2007
and
has the Num lock key, then you're correct, you can toggle it off with
either Fn+F6 or F6. The first combination is more likely for
VoiceOver use. It depends on your Keyboard setup under System
Preferences -- whether you have the box checked for "Use all F1, F2,
etc. keys as standard function keys" on the first tab of the Keyboard
& Mouse Menu. But either Fn+F6 or just F6 should switch the Num lock
key off.
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
On Jun 27, 2010, Annie Skov Nielsen wrote:
Hi all.
One of my friends has made a mistake and got activated the num
lock on
his mac book. How is it possible to deactivate it again. I thought
it
was fn +f6, but I am not sure about that, it does not work on my own
mac.
The problem is that the row with the letters q w e r t y u i o shows
numbers instead of letters.
Best regards Annie.
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