Steve said:
Hello ng,
I encountered something strange today. My keyboard or something seems to be broken.
Two keys the caret and the accent key do not work properly. The caret key does work
ok while shift clicking it, the accent key does not.
I found a lot of posting about the issue, on the net, but no clues.
Can someone please help. I need to type a word with an accent atop the e.
Steve
Well, a keyboard isn't a keyboard, without the effects of software.
On my Windows 7 laptop, the localization of the keyboard would change
on its own, while the OS was running. The machine is set up for
Canada, with French and English options. The machine would flip
to French, and the keyboard definitions would change right in
the middle of me typing.
In addition to some kind of keyboard definition, it's apparently
also possible to change individual scan codes, and mess up
a translation that way. Those might be stored in the registry,
or in a text file somewhere.
The keyboard could be broken in hardware. Keyboards use a
"scan matrix" scheme, rows and columes, with a 7x17 matrix
being an example of the dimensions. If one of those
24 wires is defective, a number of keys fail at the same
time. The matrix does not "align" with the querty layout,
so the affected keys look "random" to the naked eye. Only
examining the keyboard PCB layout, and noting where the
copper tracks run, would you discover the mapping of
matrix lines to keys.
Matrix scanning, is used to save pins on the keyboard chip,
and reduces the cost of making the keyboard. The downside,
of not having a "private" interface to each key, is failures
"happen in bunches".
Based on your reference to an "Accent" key, I'm guessing
it's some kind of localization problem, rather than
hardware.
*******
In Windows 7, I removed the localization options, so only
an English keyboard option remained, and then the stupid
OS couldn't change it. That laptop has been fine ever since.
I have no idea how WinXP does that, so the above is just
some things to consider. I don't know what control panel
sets such things in WinXP.
Paul