G4 iBook keyboard entering bizzarre letters

Hello, I have an iBook G4 that was loaned to a student here at my school. It was working fine, but now the keyboard is very funky. When I type an a, for instance, a weird combination of letters appears. The same happens for all the letters. I did plug in a usb keyboard, and it works fine. I have picked up the keyboard, and don't see anything obviously spilled there. Sadly, the student who borrowed it refuses to admit to what happened, so it's hard to diagnose.
Any ideas at all? I'd hate to pay to have it replaced or repaird if it's a simply fix. I cannot create a new account and try that because I can't enter the password to create one.

Without knowing more, one would guess there was a spill, maybe?
If the USB keyboard gave the same odd results, I would wonder about settings.
Perhaps a replacement keyboard would cure the problem?
You also may want to try posting in the iBook G4 Forum.
You have posted in the iBook G3 (Dual USB) Forum.

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Keyboard enters extra letters

13" MacBook (Early 2008) - every time you press the "P" on the keyboard, you get "p\", two characters are entered. It appears to be a hardware issue, as I recently upgraded the OS and the error still continues. Any solution short of replacing the keyboard?
Running Mac OS X 10.6.8, 2 GB RAM.
Thank you!

When having problems of a nature that appear in multiple applications, the bios settings would be the first place to start.
If it occurs in only one application then likely a bug or some form of character substition you may have accidentally setup. Reset progran to defaults,
Restart your machine and save you current bios settings if you can and then reset the defaults.
Once rebooting into windows, go into control panel and reset the defaults for you keyboard and make sure you nationalization setting is correct.
If you remember any type of utility that you may have loaded that might use macros, uninstall any utilities you may have installed.
Also think of all the things you tinkered with, maybe window shell script or other feature most common users don't know exists.
I am old, so I open a console window and type set to see all the environment variables setup up. If any look odd check into them. Make sure something has not modified your path allowing something to be used instead of what should be by default,
Reboot the machine again and see what happens.
If you still have problems, I personall would save my data,, reset the entire system hardware back to the defaults reformat my hard drive and reinstall my software paying close attention to any possible odd options requested rearding your keyboard.
But before doing that if you would like to avoid it.

All of the sudden my keyboard is not working. the trackpad is working, but i can't enter any letters/numbers?

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Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: How to back up
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.
If still problem, make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store since it appears you have a hardware problem. Likey a bad digitizer
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[shameful mode on]
Sorry. I don't have my Mac in front of me.
I'm using windows right now.
[shameful mode off]

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Hi Rastapote, and welcome to the HP Support Forums!
I understand that you are having a problem with the numeric keypad on your HP Compaq 6830s Notebook PC. This is a business Notebook and you would get the best answer to your question on the HP Enterprise Business Community forum as they deal with the Business products.
I hope this information helps.
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Have you tried the caned product the blows air on the keyboard? Sorry, I can't remember what it's called. never use any cleaners, try Mr Clean magic eraser. Geof

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Not Charge
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iPod touch: Hardware troubleshooting
iPhone and iPod touch: Charging the battery
- Try another cable. Some 5G iPods were shipped with Lightning cable that were either initially defective or failed after short use.
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Keyboard producing extra letters when typing and impacting system performance

I’m having some issues with my Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 15. The Apple tech guy was baffled at the symptoms I was experiencing; he was unable to help (the MacBook Pro itself has not been inspected) so I thought I would see if anyone else had a view as to what the issue could be. I’m happy to fix it myself if possible (I’m quite comfortable with doing repairs/upgrades/general maintenance on Macs and PCs at large) and would rather avoid a hefty fee from the Apple store or other repair services if it can be avoided (unless the error is due to faulty hardware where Apple will fix free of charge).
The issue lies with using the internal keybaord. Most of the keys on the keyboard work just fine, a couple don’t, however when I use the internal keyboard it significantly slows down animations (i.e. clicking on the Applications icon on the dock will take a good 5-7 seconds for it to finish the pop-up). There hasn’t been any liquid spillage or suffered from any falls so I’m not quite sure how this problem came about. These are some of the issues/symptoms I’m having which may help in a diagnosis:
-Shift key is stuck and the Mac will boot into Safe Mode on its own. Holding down the Option key upon pressing the power button until the spinning gear appears will allow the Mac to boot normally. I can use an external keyboard and the Mac runs just fine. However, if I use the internal keyboard....
-Animations run slowly and it cannot load graphics programs such as iMovie. (An error message pops up, but I do not have this latop with me at time of posting this to find what it is. If you need to know what the error message is, let me know and I will post it here when I get home). Even though I’m in ‘normal mode’ for less of a better term, using the internal keyboard will result in the Mac performing like it is in 'safe mode' until…
-Pressing any key on an external keyboard. The slow animation issue is resolved (i.e. clicking on the Application icon on dock pops up in less than a second as per normal) and the Mac will return to running as normal and everything is very responsive. iMovie will now load correctly (without the error message).
-Some letters when pressed on the internal keyboard will type another letter directly after it (e.g. If pressing ‘q’ it will type as ‘QT’ (in caps due to the Shift key being stuck), same for pressing ‘t’ will display as “TQ”. This also happens to ‘a’ as it will type ‘AB’ and ‘b’ where it will display ‘BA’. In total about 6 or 7 keys around the keyboard are affected where pressing one key will result in it being typed in caps AND a second correspoding letter. Pressing that second corresponding letter will also type in caps and it's "linked" key.
-Selecting individual files with the track pad (after pressing a key on the internal keyboard) will pick multiple items within a folder as if you were clicking and dragging to select multiple files. If I click on one file and move the cursor (without holding the click or ‘touch to drag’) to a file below, it will select everything between the two selections. Pressing a key on the external keyboard returns everything including the track pad back to normal
I’ve performed a clean install of Snow Leopard which took a little longer than usual. The install disc took some time to actually load into the installation screen, roughly 5-7 minutes longer. The external keyboard doesn’t appear to work on boot up until I get to the log in screen. I’ve cleaned inside Mac from what minimal dust was there. Finally, I’ve been unable to reset the PRAM or SMC as the laptop boots into Safe Mode due to the Shift key being stuck and the external keyboard not being recognised until I reach the log in screen to enter my password. Other keys don’t appear to be working (i.e. holding down C to boot from disc and other key commands on start-up do not work), the only key on the internal keyboard that appear to work on boot is Option which allows me to bypass the 'auto-safe mode' boot.
I’m quite sure this is hardware related and if feasible I will fix myself, if not I’m happy to use an external keyboard (except when needing to perform boot commands which is where I’ll run into some issues).System specs are as follows:
MacBook Pro 15 - Mid 2010 (April)
2.4GHz Intel Core i5
4GB RAM
160GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT330M 256MB
I’d appreciate any possible answers you have. Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, I’m quite sure this is a unique issue so I’d be surprised to learn someone else has had this problem too after all the hours of research I’ve done!
Thanks.

lol, I was going to add "as long as it's not doing that all the time" ...but was hoping for the quick fix. You might want to check your Activity Monitor and see which program or background process is causing the activity ...have you installed anything lately that coincided with this problem? You also might want to try booting into Safe Mode to see if things still persist.

IBook Keyboard.

I just recently got an iBook G3 for collage. I am using my iMac G5 20'' for more heavy things like Photoshop etc. I am interested about getting the G4 keyboard as I do not like the G3 ones. It is a 700mhz model so has teh exact same look as the G4 except for the keyboard. Is it possible to replace my G3 keyboard with a G4 one? I saw this on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/iBook-G3-White-Keyboard-for-12-or-14in-iBook_W0QQitemZ8705 740911QQcategoryZ4602QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
But I am unsure as to wether it would work, even though it says G3.
Thankyou for your time.

HI Joe, I looked very closely at the keyboard on the e-bay page and the key directly beneath the escape key(esc) and the key above the return/enter on my G3 iBook are different than the e-bay page--it appears that they moved them which may not be a problem but they added a key--The one below the escape is not present on the G3 keyboard--this is a problem unless apple used a universal cable that was used on all keyboards and just opted not to use that contact on my type of G3--
I'm not saying it will not work, but I wouldn't go through the hassle of buying,trying,returning----good luck
If you care or not, Ijust plug in a regular iMac keyboard via usb for all my long inputs.

Water on iBook keyboard

Nearly a year ago my girlfriend spilt a glass of water on my iBook while it was on! I was outside so it took me a few minutes to rush in and turn it off. I disconnected power & battery and turned it over for a few days. It has not worked since, I have tried a few times over the months. I did buy a used motherboard from Ebay but that didn't work as it had the dreaded logic board problem. So Yesterday I tried the original motherboard it and it worked as normal! It was on for 14 hours, today it started but after 6 hours went off and is dead again. Is there any hope, why did it work so well yesterday? Should I try and dry it out with hairdryer? maybe if I give it more time but surely it would be dry after 10 months?

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Do NOT use a hair dryer on it. The heat can melt electronic components.
Unless you live in a very humid climate, after 10 months it is as dry as it's going to get.
Here is the recommended procedure for handling spills:
Turn it off, but leave it open.
Turn it upside down, rotating the display toward you so that any liquid runs away from the display. From this point on in the procedure, leave it upside down and work on it in that position. Gravity is your friend and will keep the liquid from getting any further down into your iBook if you leave it upside down.
Unplug it from the adapter.
Remove the battery.
Remove the keyboard. With a clean lint-free cloth or paper towel, gently blot (don't rub) away any visible liquid.
Leaving it open and upside down, allow to sit and air dry (no fans or hair dryers) for another three days before reassembling it and trying to use it.
Never try to use a laptop that has been spilled on before disassembling and drying it out. Doing so can allow the liquid to come in contact with circuit boards and permanently short them out.
If, after allowing to dry for several days, it does not work right, try reviving it by resetting the NVRAM and PRAM in open firmware:
Start up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.
If you get the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
Press Return.
When prompted for your password, enter it and press the Return key.
It responds OK.
At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
Press Return.
The computer restarts (hopefully).
I post this for others who may come here, searching for what to do in the event of a spill.
After this long a time, I would suggest trying to reset the PMU and see if that does any good.

IBook keyboard problems

Recently our iBook died during a restart after upgrading iTunes. It got halfway through the startup process and then just became a brick. I reset the PMU and it started up all fine and dandy, except now the keyboard is all jacked up. It seems like half of the keys are mapped wrong but also it will go crazy for a little bit. I'll start typing and it will start repeating things like thislk3333kkkkkkkkkkk3333333k3333l.
What can I do? Is this a mapping issue that I can reset? Can you replace these internal keyboards? Please help!

Sorry if i was unclear. the keys aren't simply repeating, they're making stuff up. So if I tap 'o' once it prints 33k3kllakdnnfdk:{. and if I hit enter it prints :0:=} then exposes. in general the whole upper left side of the keyboard is mixed up.

IBook Keyboard Layout

Hello.
I am looking to purchase a replacement keyboard for my iBook G4 (bought June 2005) and I have come across many sites that sell them, new, however, they all have an odd layout, in which the enter key is horizonal. My keyboard has a vertical enter key, like most other iBooks do. I am puzzelled as to why I cannot find any keyboards with the vertical enter key.
Thanks for your time.
Joe.

Hi Joethomsom,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
I am confused about what exactly are asking. The enter key is vertical rather then horizontal? It should be right next to the command key correct? Where did you get it? Do you have a picture? I would like to see this. Is it the return key?
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

G4 iBook keyboard entering bizzarre letters

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