Troubleshooting Tips and Techniques

Note:
In these answers we will follow a few shorthand conventions for describing user-interface procedures. Key combinations will be presented like this: Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which means that you should press and hold down the Ctrl key, the Alt key, and the Delete key at the same time. It is usually important to press them in order (e.g. press Ctrl first, then add Alt, and finally add Del).

· Contoured Keyboard Problems
· Programmable USB Footswitch Problems

Contoured Keyboard Problems

· Dead key
· Advantage keyboard not working after Windows computer goes to sleep mode
· How to turn off tones/click on contoured keyboard
· Embedded keypad doesn't work:  numlock off
· Shift, Ctrl, or Alt seems to be stuck
· Computer won't boot
· Row or cluster of keys not working on Contoured keyboard
· Unknown problem ("weird behavior") with contoured keyboard
· Function keys not working on USB Advantage Keyboard
· Thumb keys (Command/Windows, Ctrl, Alt/Option) not working on USB Advantage
· Advantage keyboard won't work with USB 3.0 ports

1. Dead Key
If you are using a programmable keyboard, determine if the key is producing the wrong character or if it is electrically dead. If you have a programmable product, try to reset the memory which may fix the problem.

For example, with a programmable contoured keyboard (Classic, Ergo Elan, Professional, Advantage), you can do a global reset or simply enter remapping mode, press the key in question and see if the rate at which the keyboards lights flash slows down. If so, press the key again (lights will change to flashing quickly), then exit from programming mode.  This may have fixed the problem (you just remapped the key to its factory setting).

If the key seems totally dead (no electrical click, can't be programmed), the switch could be defective or (more likely) it was not unsoldered well or (possibly) the circuit board to which the switch is attached is defective.  Contact Kinesis technical support.

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2. Advantage keyboard not working after Windows computer goes to sleep mode

We have learned of a widely reported problem with Windows operating systems (XP & Vista) using third party keyboards (even though the problem has been reported with the Microsoft Natural keyboard as well) where the keyboard does not function after the computer enters sleep or hibernation mode. Fortunately there is a easy solution:

Go to Start-Settings-Control Panel, double click Keyboard. Click the Hardware Tab, highlight the "HID Keyboard device" and select Properties. Click Power Management. UNCHECK the box that says "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby." Click OK. Now when your computer goes to standby or sleep mode, you will simply need to wake the computer by moving your pointing device. Your keyboard should now work perfectly fine.

For Vista users, go to Control Panel, Power Options, click "change plan settings" then "change advanced power settings" then go to "USB settings" and select "disabled."

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3. How to turn off tones/click on contoured keyboard
Recent keyboards (Model 120 and newer). Press and hold the Progrm key and briefly press and release the hyphen/underline key (just below the "Keypad" key) to turn off tones.  Press and release the pipes/backslash key to turn off keyclick.  Note for The Essential:  since these keyboards do not have a memory chip, you will have to reconfigure them each time you reboot your computer.

Model 100, Model 110 keyboards. Only the tone can be turned off.  Turn on the keypad and hold the Progrm key while briefly pressing and releasing the hyphen/underscore key.

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4. Embedded keypad doesn't work (numlock is off)
The most common cause of problems with the embedded numeric keypad is that Num lock is turned off. Num lock can only be turned on or off when the embedded keypad is active.  Num lock is normally on when most computers boot, and can be configured in the computers bios setup screen.

With a Kinesis contoured keyboard, press the keypad button to turn on the embedded keypad.  To change the state of Num lock, press the number row "7" key (Num Lk is printed on the front face).  Normally the keyboard will beep twice and the keyboard light next to the "1" will illuminate when Num lock is turned on.  The keyboard will beep once and the light will go out when Num lock is turned off.

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5. Shift (or Ctrl or Alt) seems to be stuck
Usually this happens when the computer thinks a modifier key is still pressed when it really isn't. Normally this is fixed by pressing both the left and right modifier key.   If the problem persists, please contact Kinesis technical support.

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6. Computer won't boot
Check keyboard connections. Make sure the keyboard is connected directly to a PS/2 or USB port on the computer, depending on which model you're using. If you're using a non-Kinesis PS/2 to USB adaptor, it may not be compatible. For the best results, we suggest to use a Kinesis adaptor.

If you have ruled out the adapter cable, try connecting to a different computer (preferably a different brand and/or model) if possible.

7. Row or cluster of keys not working on Contoured keyboard.

If your keyboard has a serial number starting with a "5" or below, it could be possible that the side of the keyboard (keywell) with the failed keys has become slightly loose from the main circuit board causing one or more of the traces on that side to lose contact.

The best solution is to contact Kinesis Technical Support to setup a repair, however if you're willing to open the keyboard we can also provide step-by-step instructions on how to reset the keywell.

8. Weird behavior with contoured keyboard
Stuck modifier key. Sometimes the computer misses the upstroke from keys that are held down in key combinations.   The result is a "stuck" key.  Try pressing both Shift keys, both Ctrl keys, and both Alt keys. If this problem happens to your contoured keyboard more than once every few weeks, you may need a firmware upgrade or new main circuit board. 

Check your firmware version (serial numbers 20,000 and higher). Open a text editor other than Microsoft Word (e.g notepad, wordpad or equivalent). Press both Shift keys plus F12. The keyboard will produce a sentence which ends with the firmware version number and version date, such as:
        copyright 1986 - 1998 by interfatron-bbc, ltd., rev 2.48 08/13/98.

Circuit board may need replacement. If your contoured keyboard was built before April, 1998, it may need a new main circuit board. The old boards look brown if you look past the thumb keys at the underlying circuit board.  The new circuit boards look green with a gold grid. 

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9. Function keys not working on USB Advantage Keyboard

It's possible the "Multi Media" features of the keyboard have been enabled, which changes some of the function keys.

To check, open up some kind of text editor and press and hold the equals key and tap the letter "s". You should see some text on the screen. If you see any of the function keys listed inside the brackets [F3 F4 etc. ] then you know the Multi Media features are active.

Normally, this is turned on by holding down the equals key and tapping the letter "n."

To disable the Multi Media feature, enter the Instant Configuration you're currently in.

So for example, if your keyboard is in Windows Mode, select Windows mode by holding down the equals key and tapping "w" (=w). (=m for mac mode and =p for PC mode)

This will clear the settings and your function keys should behave as expected.

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10. Thumb keys (Command/Windows, Ctrl, Alt/Option) not working on USB Advantage

It's likely the Instant Configuration Settings of your keyboard has been changed, which swaps some of the top four thumb keys.

The Advantage keyboard has three different Instant Configuration Settings: Windows Mode, Mac Mode and PC Mode. Each mode changes the top four thumb keys.

-To enter Windows Mode, press and hold the equals key and tap the letter "w" (=w). The top four thumb keys while in Windows mode, from left to right are: Ctrl | Alt | Windows | Ctrl.

-To enter Mac Mode, press and hold the equals key and tap the letter "m" (=m). The top four thumb keys while in Mac mode, from left to right are: Command | Option | Ctrl | Command.

-To enter PC Mode, press and hold the equals key and tap the letter "p" (=p). The top four thumb keys while in Windows mode, from left to right are: Ctrl | Alt | Alt | Ctrl.

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11. Advantage keyboard won't work with USB 3.0 ports

We have seen compatibility problems with our Advantage keyboard & USB 3.0 ports made by Intel, running Windows 7, although these very same Intel USB 3.0 ports will work perfectly fine with our keyboard and other operating systems, such as Linux, Mac’s and Windows 8. This suggests a Windows 7 driver that needs to be updated/fixed by Intel.

In the meantime the only solution is to have the Advantage connected directly to a USB 2.0 port. If your computer does not have an available USB 2.0 port, please contact Kinesis Tech Support for possible solutions/workarounds.

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Programmable USB Footswitch Problems

1. Both Red & Green lights are on

Make sure device is in Play mode. If trying to program device make sure programming driver has been installed and computer has been restarted since. If problems continue, please contact Kinesis tech support for assistance.

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