I also have an odd problem with my new keyboard. When I type the “3” (above the keyboard part) or the “/” key it comes through as “/3”. The 3 on the numeric keypad works fine. [Enter] and “x” both come though as x[Enter]. Very frustrating.
I even plugged the keyboard into another (much older) computer and got exactly the same results.
New machine: Dell GX620 - WinXP Pro /w IntelliType 5.3
Old Machine: Dell GX200 - Win2000 Pro, IntelliType not installed.
As a follow up to my post on March 7 (about 6 posts above)…
I’ve had the keyboard for about a month and a half now and the sticky space bar went away after about 2 weeks (I can’t remember how long exactly). It’s no longer a problem to me.
Remember all those problems I was having? (If not, look for all the Fox Cole posts above… if you can stomach it.) It seems they’re fixed. It was a hardware issue, but not the keboard’s.
I’m not sure “fixed” is the right word, because my solution was accidental and—well, a bit unconventional. I was using my laptop undocked, got up to get coffee, caught my foot in the power cord and pulled the machine off my desk. (Broke the housing around the battery and skewed the monitor a little, both fixed by tech support.)
No problems after that!
Well, maybe that solution is a little conventional, after all. The traditional fix for poor TV reception used to be to whack the side of the set.
“If it doesn’t work, hit it.” I’m sure somebody said that once upon a time.
Anyway, I’ve been using my 4000 trouble-free for over two weeks now and am very happy with it. And relieved that I don’t have to go back to the old clacky Elite with its tiny keys.
I used Microsoft Keyboard personally, it was a real fun and It’s an excellent keyboard. But if you say, there is a lot ergonomic sense in it, i am sorry i will not agree on that…:), i mean it.
Thank you, JM! I was thinking of trying the USB port of my Raritan SwitchMan and for whatever reason hadn’t done it yet. I think after spending most of the night extracting my old ps2 kvm set-up from the cable rats nest and so on my brain is getting squishy. Anyway, my special keys now work! Thank you!
This keyboard at present is somewhat of a bitch to configure, as there is no proper xkb geometry template for it, rendering a lot of the keys utterly useless. Xev doesn’t register keypresses for any of the function keys, nor the back and forward thumb keys, or any of the silver multimedia keys up top. And of course, getting the zoom switch to work is a complete mystery.
The only support I can find for it is in a kde helper app called ‘lineak’, although its rather lacking at the moment.
A proper xkb geometry file needs to be created that includes all the keys, and a solution needs to be found to turn the flock key into a modifier and/or level changer, rather than dysfunctional altogether as it appears is the present solution.
Unfortnately, microsoft does make the best and cheapest ergonomic keyboards on the planet. Unfortuntaely, they of course don’t consider linux users into the equation.
Just picked mine up from Staples ($10 rebait, whoohoo) and I’m really digging the wrist rest.
Unlike most of you I seem to have avoided the fubar’d key cluster above the arrow keys as I just lost my natural keyboard elite to an errant glass of water. It lasted me 7 years, unbelievable.
I tried to take it apart and clean it but it looked complicated inside, and I figured it was time to move on. Anyone with some cleaning tips, let me know… maybe I can revive it.
My beef with it so far is the smaller enter key and I can’t get the thing to work with my KVM at all. The box does say USB on it with no mention of P/S2 and I tried an adapter with it to no avail.
Maybe I’ll go back and see if they have a USB/PS2 version.
Re: Microsoft Egronomic 4000 (wired - USB not wireless)
The hot keys don’t work until I open up the Keyboard’s properties and click “ok” … then they work. Shouldn’t the keyboard load on bootup? How can I get it to do that?
I have one of these marvelous keyboards. I absolutely love the feel of it. I’m enamored with the leather palmrest.
Tragically, it is totally useless for gaming. Flying in the Battlefield series with WASD and the arrows is totally impossible, you cannot hold more than 2-3 keys at once. Also, SNES games on SNES9x are unplayable, like in Mario where you have to hold right, up, and then jump. It just doesn’t work!
If anyone has suggestions on how to fix this please let me know at
dpresteg at gmail dot com
I was able to resolve the problem with my Natural Egonomic Keyboard 4000 (see my August 6, 2006 posting).
It was solved by simply getting an updated (5.50661.0 12/1/05) driver from Microsoft’s website. The driver that came with the keyboard was something like 5.3.
Ooooh yeees, this keyboard is a great stuff.
It replaced my previous very old no name split keyboard.
I was looking for a replacement for some time, but there was no good one (I mean with PGUP/PGDOWN placed correctly - even Logitech didn’t suit my preferences).
What is interesting many manufacturers incorrectly split the keyboard letting the “6” key be on the right side!!! Sic!!!
I’m not a shill, but Best Buy has these in today’s (1/21/07) Sunday ad for $29.99, down from $59.99. I had already purchased one on eBay for $19 ($34 after shipping) just a few days ago. I may re-sell the one from eBay, or keep both, just to have a spare. I haven’t decided yet. FWIW, I owned the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard (IIRC, the first keyboard with the “reserved for future use” Windows key.) in the pre-Win95 days. I still have it in storage, although it’s become quite discolored over the years. The difference between this keyboard and the Natural Pro was the row of blue keys at the top, which were missing on the original.
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.