Keyboarding: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000

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I’ve been having many difficulties with my Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, USB version, with Win2K on a Dell Latitude D600.

At first, it would go along just fine for a little while, then the device or driver would suddenly quit responding to keystrokes—then equally suddenly would randomly and rapidly repeats a keystroke or combination of keystrokes. A single tap of the backspace key could back out half a page of documentation. Thank God for “undo”! At some point after that my entire system would lock up. Nothing fixed it but a cold boot, and sometimes not even then would it behave.

Lately it’s been worse, though.

Now any use of the “c” key (including Ctrl+C) launches the shortcut programmed in the My Favorites button #2. Something is also launching Excel, but I have no button programmed to launch it.

I disconnected the 4000 and tested my system with a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite. Everything was fine. (I needed to do this to make sure some Windows updates weren’t causing the problem.) I hot-plugged the 4000 again and started typing a message in Lotus Notes. Excel and the browser shortcut both launched apparently randomly, as did another application programmed into My Favorites button 1. With the 4000 still connected, using the Elite, none of these behaviors occured—they only happened when using the 4000.

Ctrl+Z launches the Show My Favorites window, but when that’s closed, performs the intended undo. (This happens consistently, as does the Ctrl+C.)
Ctrl+I minimizes the active window.
I had written down several other behaviors too (something to do with the ‘o’ key, and ‘r’) but at the moment don’t have the information on hand. Not that it would add anything useful; the above problems are show-stoppers enough.

What could be causing this? There are no recognized conflicts.

I would MUCH rather fix the problem than give up the keyboard.

Regarding a couple of recent posts, I have IntelliType installed–but there are two folders in my Program Files directory. One is labeled Microsoft IntelliType Pro, the other is Microsoft IntelliType Pro 5.3 and they’re both dated 12/9/2005. That was the day I first used the keyboard. Are both these folders supposed to exist together, or could this be the problem?

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I’ve been having many difficulties with my Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, USB version, with Win2K on a Dell Latitude D600.

I see you tried the same laptop with a different keyboard and it worked fine. So we can rule out the laptop as a cause. Have you tried the MS Ergo on a different computer to see if it exhibits the same behavior?

I can’t get a peep out of the feedback e-mail address provided by Microsoft.

I’m not sure. You could try uninstalling the current version, then installing the older version of Intellitype (try a Google search for the version you want) and then uninstalling that, too.

Also, have you tried your keyboard on a different computer to see if it exhibits the same behavior?

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Regarding the above question about IntelliType Pro…

I went back to Microsoft’s keyboard support site yet again (I check with them every so often) and found a new release of IntelliType, version 5.5, so I downloaded and installed it. It was then that I realized it doesn’t install over itself, nor is there an uninstall option except from Add/Remove Programs, which only contains the most recent installed version.

Now I’m convinced I need to remove those two older versions, but what more do I need to do besides deleting those two folders and contents? Surely there must be some cleanup involved before I do a fresh install of the new version.

For the record, after I installed the new version and tried my 4000, every application or URL tied to a Favorites button launched right away… no longer needing some random key pressed. (I know it’s not actually random, that some mapping misdirection occurs, but it just seems random.)

Sometimes multiple instances launched, so I really couldn’t get past all those launches to see whether anything else could actually be done.

Also for the record, the keyboard works just fine when I’m typing in my Windows password. It’s after Windows launches (or some other point in the startup) that it seems to begin its wacky behavior.

Help!!! I need some advice on where to go for help with this. I can’t get a peep out of the feedback e-mail address provided by Microsoft. I guess they only respond if you’re endorsing their shiny new product, not having problems with it.
:frowning:

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I’m having luck with the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 keyboard with an IOGear GCS1732 KVM switch, much like the reviewer at Amazon.com said.

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I was really liking this keyboard when I saw it on sale on one of the deal sites. The reviews looked good, but some of the comments on this blog have me wondering if I should purchase it.

Is the Spacebar always stiff, or does it get better after a “break in”?

Do the volume-mute-play-rev-fwd keys work with Winamp?

Im currently using a Belkin ergonomic keyboard, and some of the keys are pretty stiff and sometimes dont even register. Time for a new keyboard, is this the one? :slight_smile:

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You could try uninstalling the current version, then installing the older version of Intellitype (try a Google search for the version you want) and then uninstalling that, too.

Hmm. When I uninstall 5.5, it still leaves its folder there. I don’t have any good tools to tell what else it may have left behind. But I’ll go try reinstalling and uninstalling 5.3. The versionless folder must contain settings; it only has 3 files and is sitting in the Documents and Settings directory for All Users.

Back to the keyboard. I tried it on my cubicle neighbor’s computer, which is a desktop Dell Optiplex GX150 running Win2K SP4 (same OS version as mine). Same problems.

It finally dawned on me that it’s behaving as if my Alt key presses itself down after every keystroke. The key itself appears to move freely and there is no debris that I can see, but I wonder if it’s a hardware problem after all.

By the way, monkeyboy asked about the space bar (in one Amazon.com review, the reviewer mentioned stiff keys). Mine are all just fine, absolutely no trouble with stiffness anywhere… I just have trouble getting the keyboard to work! Maybe this Alt key thing is related, though. Maybe there’s a manufacturing quality control problem. (The design itself is superb, very well engineered.)

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I said “Same problems.” I don’t really know that for sure, but I do know there are still problems. I couldn’t test it out long enough to know whether the keystroke-repetition behavior still happens, but I did, of course, notice the alt-key thing. (Actually I’d figured that part out a few days ago, but noticed it again using my co-worker’s machine.)

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I tried it on my cubicle neighbor’s computer, which is a desktop Dell Optiplex GX150 running Win2K SP4 (same OS version as mine). Same problems.

If you can duplicate the issue with another computer, it’s very likely to be a hardware problem in my opinion. It is the only variable, after all…

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Just getting back to follow up on this—

Yes, it was a hardware problem. Or a combination of hardware problems… but anyway, right now I’m using a brand new replacement and it works perfectly. If I recall correctly, though, last time it took a little while for the errant behaviors to start—the keystroke-recognition-and-repetition thing. But I believe if it were going to happen, it should have by now.

So I am cautiously optimistic that this 4000 and I will be together for a very long time. I really do love how it feels (which, if you’ve read any of my earlier posts, you may have guessed :wink:

Cheers!
—Much happier Fox

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Nooo! I spoke too soon! It’s doing it again!

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What I mean is it’s doing the random bouts of not registering keystrokes and then wildly repeating strokes.

If the same thing happens this time as with the other 4000, its behavior will degrade over the next few days and will bring in the other problems (such as the Alt key default, and launching programs). Right now I can type for 5-10 minutes before the problem kicks in. Soon I will have to start rebooting to get it to stop, and then rebooting won’t work… the problem will continue across boots.

So why did getting a new piece of hardware make any difference? And why did it take so many hours for the original problem to begin?

Once again it’s looking like a driver conflict of some sort—but that leaves us wondering which driver, and why, and what to do about it, and how the problem behaviors could have built up from one session to the next.

—Crushed and saddened Fox

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Poor Fox!~

Fox I would suggest trying it on a machine with a different OS, possibly without Intellitype installed.

Hardware wise perhaps there is an issue with the usb port current/voltage that is cooking your keyboard? Borrow your Pointy Haired bosses’ thumb drive and plug it into the same usb port you’ve been using for the 4000. If the thumb drive gets fried too just tell Mr. Pointy hair that it needs a new battery.

Finally a Grand Hurah for Gary. Gary if I may suggest you could write a little code to make the registry patch and then you can then sell it to Microsoft and retire to some friendly programming environment such as India. I hear they treat programmers well there and apparently lots of jobs.

I love this keyboard. I will fight for it. I will die for it. I will call it Julie and marry it. I sing to it every night when we’re done coding.

-s:)

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So i recently bought this keyboard (ergo 4000) and after having it for a day i returned it…

It was extremely nice to type with( wow duh ) BUT PROBLEMS involving using more than 2 keys at a time ie. games.

You could hold down the first two, lets say W and A in a game like Desert Combat (BF1942 mod) and your plane would Fly and use Rudder to turn left, but you cant roll at the same time…

Same goes for any other game, no more than 2 KEYS AT A TIME!

Even though i returned it, i liked it so much that if anyone knows a fix for it, i will HAVE to buy it back.

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It was extremely nice to type with( wow duh ) BUT PROBLEMS involving using more than 2 keys at a time ie. games.

Hmm, that’s strange. There are a handful of key combinations that don’t work. One is listed above:

I’m trying to reverse the car while looking backwards (involves pressing 3 keys): Q, E, and Down (arrow key). You can’t push this combination of keys together!

However, I play Battlefield 2 a lot with WASD and I haven’t had any problems at all.

Use the “Key This” program to test key combinations:

http://www.retroblast.com/files/keythis110.zip

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I have the natural ergonomic 4000, it is connected to an IBM thinkpad that is running xp. My problem is that the system is not seeing the keyboard. It sees it but the driver is not being installed correctly. I have tried loading it from the CD ver 5.3 no good, and I have downloaded ver 5.5, still no good. Any suggestion on what else to try to see if it works? Software seems to be loaded correctly, but it is just the driver that is not loading correctly.

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I got one of these a week or so ago, it’s great…

Someone mentioned the spacebar being stiff; don’t worry, after a few hours it smooths out nicely.

I couldn’t get the previous/next track buttons (the back/forwards button remapped in IntelliType 5.5) to work in Winamp 5. Worked fine in cdplayer and Winamp 2. Eventually fixed the problem; enable Winamp’s Global Hotkeys, then, in winamp.ini, change the appropriate bit beneath [gen_hotkeys] to:

action13=ghkdc prev
hotkey13=2214
action14=ghkdc next
hotkey14=2215

This maps the browser forward/back buttons (the codes you actually get) to previous/next track.

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TO MICHAEL:
are you sure it’s the bar that broke in, or is that you got used to it? mine is still stiff after 5 hours of intense using (and to be honest i find every key much stiffer than my logitech g15 :frowning: )…after how many hours did yours get smoother?
thanks

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My first impression is that it’s very comfortable. This is my first experience with a natural keyboard. But I too find that you have to press the spacebar unbelievable hard to get it to go down. Very, VERY annoying and might force me to return it. Maybe it’s the way I type because sometimes I almost press forward with my thumb when I press the space bar down, but it’s almost as if the plasic from the spacebar is pressing against the center dividing plastic. I might have to try a little lubricant or something. I’ll be curious if others find that it goes away.

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Does anyone have the issue with pressing the letters c, z and period? When ever i press c, cz is inputted and vice versa for z. When i press period,
./ is displayed…

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Fox I would suggest trying it on a machine with a different OS, possibly without Intellitype installed.

I only have access to the one OS, Win2K, but did try uninstalling Intellitype. Didn’t help. :frowning:

Hardware wise perhaps there is an issue with the usb port current/voltage that is cooking your keyboard? Borrow your Pointy Haired bosses’ thumb drive and plug it into the same usb port you’ve been using for the 4000. If the thumb drive gets fried too just tell Mr. Pointy hair that it needs a new battery.

I use the USB ports frequently for such things… my jump drive, PDA charge cable, a little handheld neck massager, a heated cuff to wrap around my wrist or elbow, a mini optical mouse (can you tell I like gadgets?)… so I know for sure they’re good.

Still stymied. I wish I could raise someone, anyone, at Microsoft to help debug this behavior. (I know, I know. Silly thought.)

But thanks for the ideas!
—Fox (still trying whenever I have time)