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Cuthbert 80 · Dec 6, 2006, 09:53 AM

Hello there, I'm new to these forums and I wondered if someone could help me out.

I have a PowerBook G4 and last night I tried to highlight and select a program in my 'Mac HD' and it got stuck in one place all the time and I couldn't do nothing about it. I also tried using the scroll bar to go up & down but it would still get stuck in the same place.

At first I thought it was my touch pad playing up but it wasn't as I found out in 'Safari' while browsing the net. I was able to move the scroll bar up & down without no problems but then I found another serious problem.
When I tried to type in a new web address, the keyboard automatically typed in lots of letter k's like 'kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk' for example.
I then thought, maybe it's a problem with my keyboard costantly pressing down the 'k' key but I don't think that was the problem cause when I manually deleted all the 'k's, instead of highlighting them all, I was able to write whatever address I wanted without any 'k's

I tried going into 'System Preferences' and I was unable to click any icon but again, I noticed 'kkkkkkkk' at the top where you would normally type in a keyword or letter to find something quickly that you wanted.

Later on I discovered there was a link with the letter 'k' to almost every action I chose. As I first mentioned when I tried to open a program in my 'Mac HD', the cursor always become stuck on a set of pics which began with the letter K. I tried going into 'itunes' and when I tried to go into another playlist, it would always get stuck with the playlist that began with 'k'.

What confused me after was that while trying to open an application, the highlighted cursor got stuck on something beginning with the letter 'L'.
Also remember that I was able to write whatever I wanted in my Safari web browser address bar after manually deleting all the dreaded 'k's like I mentioned before...

Sorry for this poorly constructed description, any help would be greatly appreciated...

chabig · Dec 6, 2006, 10:30 AM

1. You certainly don't have a virus, because there aren't any.

2. It does sound like you have a bad keyboard, but...

3. You should start with the standard troubleshooting tips.

Chris

ghporter · Dec 6, 2006, 10:31 AM

chabig is right. This is not a virus-there are NO current viruses that affect OS X in the wild. (There are some in existence, but they're lame and not a threat.) Basically the virus writers don't seem to feel like tackling the rather large learning curve for picking up how OS X works and then figuring out what (few and tiny) weaknesses to try to exploit.

Have you done anything like, say installed something recently? And have you tried restarting your PowerBook? I"ll bet a restart will solve everything.

Cuthbert 80 · Dec 6, 2006, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

chabig is right. This is not a virus-there are NO current viruses that affect OS X in the wild. (There are some in existence, but they're lame and not a threat.) Basically the virus writers don't seem to feel like tackling the rather large learning curve for picking up how OS X works and then figuring out what (few and tiny) weaknesses to try to exploit.

Have you done anything like, say installed something recently? And have you tried restarting your PowerBook? I"ll bet a restart will solve everything.

Thanks for your help ghporter and chabig.

The first thing I did was restart my Mac but made no difference.
I didn't install anything new recently too.

The problem just came out of the blue and I'm really confused....

Sherman Homan · Dec 6, 2006, 10:52 AM

As has been noted, it is not a virus. Do you have access to another keyboard and mouse? Plug and play, see what happens.

Javizun · Dec 6, 2006, 11:01 AM

its funny that now that mac is gaining market share the discussion about viruses are at an all time high.

but like 1 our community members explained to you there are currently no viruses for mac.
So thats out of the question i had the same problem with my keyboard it locked up did everything yours is doing-i unplugged everything did a restart havent had any issues since.

Cuthbert 80 · Dec 6, 2006, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

As has been noted, it is not a virus. Do you have access to another keyboard and mouse? Plug and play, see what happens.

I haven't got access to another keyboard now but I have a mouse, will try when I get home from work soon...

Thanks Sherman

WOPR · Dec 6, 2006, 11:38 AM

Sounds like a duff keyboard to me. What PB is it? TiBook? Aluminium? Some are easy to work on, others most definitely are not.

Cuthbert 80 · Dec 6, 2006, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by WOPR

Sounds like a duff keyboard to me. What PB is it? TiBook? Aluminium? Some are easy to work on, others most definitely are not.

Aluminium. I haven't had any problem like this up until now...

PER3 · Dec 6, 2006, 01:58 PM

What happens if you open TextEdit? If it's "kkk" there, too, then the suggestions about your keyboard sound close to being correcttttttttttttttt

Cuthbert 80 · Dec 6, 2006, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by PER3

What happens if you open TextEdit? If it's "kkk" there, too, then the suggestions about your keyboard sound close to being correcttttttttttttttt

After a hard struggle, I managed to open TextEdit and the was no problem with any kkkkk's BUT I got them while writing this reply!...

larrinski · Dec 6, 2006, 04:11 PM

it sounds like a bad keyboard to me as well. If you have a friend with a USB keyboard, you can test out the theory...

SierraDragon · Dec 6, 2006, 08:26 PM

Everyone should own a spare keyboard and mouse because they do fail, always when some large project is due in an hour, or while a client is watching over your shoulder...

-Allen Wicks

pcummins · Dec 7, 2006, 03:55 AM

Check your keyboard with a known working one. Also, check to see that Easy Access/Accessibility is not on, this can cause bizarre effects with typing and entering data. I just had someone rip their Apple and Space key off their laptop as they thought the Space key was jammed. Turned out a book had landed on their BlueTooth keyboard that was a good meter or two away and switched on and sending data to their PowerBook. Managed to save the Apple key, the Space key lost a few clips but is OK, bit weaker than what it usually is, but I think they're too embarrassed to buy a new Space key for $5 to make it like normal again.

Cuthbert 80 · Dec 7, 2006, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by pcummins

Check your keyboard with a known working one. Also, check to see that Easy Access/Accessibility is not on, this can cause bizarre effects with typing and entering data. I just had someone rip their Apple and Space key off their laptop as they thought the Space key was jammed. Turned out a book had landed on their BlueTooth keyboard that was a good meter or two away and switched on and sending data to their PowerBook. Managed to save the Apple key, the Space key lost a few clips but is OK, bit weaker than what it usually is, but I think they're too embarrassed to buy a new Space key for $5 to make it like normal again.

I did in fact find out what the problem was and it was nothing to do with the keyboard, it was my Gamepad Companion software which caused havoc to my Mac. That software lets me use my Playstation 2 pad via a usb converter to play games.

I reinstalled my OSX from dvd and it sorted out the problem temporarily, then it came back again.
To stop the problem completely I just had to press one button on the configuration screen!
I'm an idiot!

Thanks again to everyone that helped me out, was much appreciated...