Keyboard Illumination Keys

PB G4 1.67 Ghz 17in OS 10.4.7
The keyboard illumination keyes do not function at all.
the on off key (F8 does function) but the F9 & F10 keyes do not.
Checked with caps lock on or off, checked with nmubers lock on or off all with the same results.
Check the System Prefs, all seem correct.

Thanks, Found the answer...
For those needing to know, you must be in an area where the ambient light is low enough.
The keys then become active.

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Sound and Keyboard Illumination Keys Not Working!!!

This is very strange...
I just spent a few days in the hospital. Fortunately, one of the amenities provided was free Wi-Fi. As it turned out, many people took turns using my Powerbook while I wasn't using it myself.
Most of the people that were there visiting, are not Mac-savvy, and when I got my Powerbook back, I discovered a strange surprise.
I have no sound. But it goes further than that, because the sound keys have been completely disabled! So have the keyboard illumination keys!
The icon is grayed out, and there is a circle, with a slash through it, beneath.
Here's a pic:
http://homepage.mac.com/theconfuzed1/.Pictures/misc/no_sound.png
I can't for the life of me, figure out how to fix this!
I am running 10.5.2 on a Powerbook G$
Message was edited by: Robby Cochran

Hi,
Try this:
The little 'do not enter' symbol you see means that is turned off...
For sound, the F3 key toggles the sound on and off (but does not adjust the volume). If the sound is on, the F4 key turns the volume down, and the F5 key turns the volume up. But with this, the F3 has to be touched to be on, and that symbol will disappear... then use the F5 key (you have to keep tapping it for it to move the volume. Only tap the F3 key once to turn it on, and once to turn it off.
The keyboard is much the same way. The F8 key turns it on or off, while the F9 lowers the intensity and the F10 raises the intensity. Again, one tap on the F8 for on and another for off... with multiple taps on the F9 and F10 to decrease or increase illumination.
That same screen you saw, should be seen but with hash-marks either grey (off) or white (on)... for both. While the sound has the arching sound waves from the horn if it is on, not when it's off. The keyboard has the curved hash marks around the top.
You do have it, if that screen shows... it's just to keep tapping the F5 and the F10 to increase both so you can see/hear the effects.
Enjoy

Keyboard Illumination keys don't work on my Macbook Pro

On my 2008 MacBook Pro the keyboard illumination keys don't do anything. The screen icon that comes up has a circle with a slash through it. Any Thoughts?

Uncheck the Automatially illuminate option in System Preferences > Keyboard. See if you can adjust manually then.

How do I fix a dead trackpad & keyboard illumination?

Hello,
For over a year now, the trackpad & ambient keyboard illumination hasn't worked on my 17" PowerBook G4 1Ghz. I initially assumed it was just a software misconfiguration, but I installed Leopard clean and now I want to get to the bottom of this.
Here's the background:
* The failure has gone from being intermittent (seemed to be related to returning from sleep at one point) to permanent. However, during one of my few false-starts installing leopard the trackpad came alive--but I haven't seen it since.
* I've reset my PRAM and Power Management Unit.
* I even booted in to an Ubuntu LiveCD and the trackpad didn't work there, so I'm pretty sure this is a hardware issue.
* I did upgrade the hard drive and was pretty careful with the cabling (the trackpad & keyboard illumination didn't work before this and didn't work after either).
So what do you guys think? Is this hardware related? Are there any other software approaches I should try? If it is hardware related, what do I need to replace?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
- Jake

Sadly this post won't be helpful. Instead, it's just a "me too". I had working illumination under Panther, and I installed Leopard yesterday (clean install). I skipped Tiger entirely.
Pressing the keyboard illumination keys (F8 through F10) do cause the illumination icon to appear on the screen, but they all have the "n/a" symbol (that circle with the slash through it) on them.
Since I'm entitled to 90 days phone support I've been trying to reach telephone support, but it's Thanksgiving week and I've just been on hold an unusually long (for Apple) while. If I get an answer I'll be sure to post it.

How to disable keyboard illumination

I really like Expose. I really don't care for keyboard illumination. When I try to use the Expose keys (F9 and F10) I affect the keyboard illumination, but do not trigger Expose.
How can I disable keyboard illumination to allow me to use those keys for Expose.
Yes, I know that I can Function-F9 and Function-F10, but I'd rather have a single keystroke.
I've turned off keyboard illumination in the Keyboard system pref, but it still won't let me use those Expose keys.
Clues?
TIA -

I really appreciate all the help you folks have put in here.
It seems that the Function key behaviors I loved so much on my G4 PowerBook are just hosed forever with the oh-so-nifty backlighting on the MacBook Pro.
It's kinda sad, because Expose is really useful and the backlit keyboard, while I'm sure it makes for an eye-catching demo, is at the edge of useless for touch typists.
Maybe Apple can be persuaded to reconsider, maybe flipping Expose and the backlit so that Expose is the one-key functionality and backlight controls will require the multi-key contortions.
Hey, I can dream, can't I?
I was going to post the suggestion to feedback.apple.com, but it looks like feedback is 404....

10.5.2 problems: Safari bookmarks and keyboard illumination

I have 10.5.2 bugs to report that I haven’t seen reported elsewhere yet: On my Intel Macbook Pro, since installing the 10.5.2 and graphics update, the illuminated keyboard has been permanently on regardless of ambient light, unless I switch it totally off in my system prefs. More importantly than that though, Safari hangs unrecoverably if I try to view my bookmarks.

I have the same keyboard illumination issue as well after upgrading from 105.1 to 10.5.2. While te F8-F10 keys function correctly turning on/off/dimming the lights. If I'm in a well lit environment, the keyboard lights up. If I put my hands over the speakers (where the light sensor is) the keyboard illumination dims. Definitely seems like the setting is backwards.

SPACES PROBLEM//KEYBOARD ILLUMINATION PROBLEM

Hey Guys,
I have some problem. I have my MacBook Pro and the keyboard usually lights up when its dark but its not for some reason?
Also for the Spaces I set everthing up and I want to switch up to different spaces by control arrow or number key but it does not work. Only number key for space 1.

not sure about your spaces issue (perhaps some clarification is needed?)
i would check to make sure your keyboard illumination is enabled.

Need constant keyboard illumination on pre unibody 17" MBP

Hi,
I have a mobile user stuck in an office with horrible lighting that is just bright enough that you can't make out the lettering on the keys but the keyboard illumination won't activate. Is there a way to manually activate the illumination for the keyboard?
regards
Dan

Yes, check out Lab Tick

No keyboard illumination in dark?

All,
I have been having some problems with my keyboard illumination the past couple days. I have checked to make sure it is turned on in the keyboard/mouse pane of sys. prefs. Tonight, I came into my dark office and flipped up the screen to remove my PB from sleep. The room was completely dark, but when I opened the top, the screen did not dim and the keybaord illumination did not turn on. I then pushed the F10 key to try and get the illumination to come on, but it was giving me the "prohibited" sign and would not allow me to turn the illumination on. Keep in mind the room was completely dark at this point and it should have allowed me to turn it on.
Suggestions, comments?
Thanks,
Joe B

have you searched the forums. There has been another thread dealing with the same problem.

Keyboard illumination help

My keyboard lights up when i use it but goes off the minute i don't how do i stop it from going off?

System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard tab. Uncheck the Automatically illuminate keyboard... option. Drag to set it to turn off Never. Quit System Preferences, then using the keyboard illumination Fkeys, adjust intensity as desired. In my Oct'11 MBP, these are the F5 and F6 keys, yours may be different; they have a flat bar and rays emanating up as an icon. The round sun icon is for screen brightness.

Keyboard Function-Key mapping in Forms 10gAS

Greetings,
Can anyone help with a quick outline of the way keyboard function keys are implemented on the Application Server in Forms 10g?
My situation is that I have two unix servers, one for Development, one for Production. When running my Forms from a browser window, one of the servers responds to the F8 key for Execute-Query, the other server does not.
I presume the mapping is done on the server, with some sort of configuration file. Perhaps something's been overridden by mistake somewhere. I have checked forms.conf, forms.properties, formsweb.cfg and frmweb.res, and cannot see anything that might relate to these Keyboard Function-Key settings. I've also tried finding a Developers Reference Manual online, but have had no luck.
It's bound to be something really simple, but I can't seem to crack it. Do you know what I'm missing?
Pete ?:|

There are two basic versions of key mapping fmrweb.res files. Forms is released with a fmrweb.res file that has Ctrl+S for commit.
But there is also a fmrpcweb.res file that can be used in place of the other -- you just rename it as fmrweb.res in the other's place.
Both files are simple text files you can edit with Notepad or other simple text editors.
You can find more about fmrweb.res in the first post (a ways down) in this thread:
Forms 10g installed and running on Windows Vista

Problem with keyboard - several keys no longer working

In the last few days my Macbook running OX X 10.5.6 stopped allowing me to switch applications via Cmd-tab (now jumps to the toolbar highlighting the first button) and switching between windows within the same application - Cmd-` does nothing now.
Also, none of the F key responds to the associated tasks.
I've checked the following
* Rebooted machine - reseated the keyboard USB into different USB port
* Screen Shared from my Macbook and tried same key combo (making sure keyboard not at fault) - same response
* Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard - "Use All F1, F2 etc keys as standard function keys" is un-ticked
* Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts - Clicked on "Restore Defaults"
* Universal Access -> Keyboard - Sticky Keys OFF, "Enable access for assistive devices" is un-ticked
Still the problem remains. Any help will be gratefully received.

Thanks a lot for helping. I did a software update and plugged the keyboard in a different USB port. After restarting, everything was working again! Not sure which of the actions fixed the problem, but I'm relieved.
Thanks again.

BUG: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS DO NOT ALWAYS ACTIVATE A SERVICE (A WORKFLOW)

BUG: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS DO NOT ALWAYS ACTIVATE A SERVICE (A WORKFLOW)
When you assign a keyboard shortcut to a Service (such as a Service Workflow created in Automator) using the System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts, if that shortcut key combination includes the Command key, pressing that shortcut will always successfully activate the Service. No problem there.
However, shortcut key combinations that do not include the Command key (for example, the shortcut key combo Ctrl-Shift-D) WILL NOT activate the Service in any newly opened application, until you click on the Services Menu option in that application.
As soon as you click on the application's Services Menu, this seems to bind the shortcut key combo to the Service, and thereafter, that keyboard shortcut will activate the Service in that particular app. But if you then quit and reopen the app, you'll find the Service will once again lose its binding to the shortcut key combination and will thus fail to work again.
This means that shortcut key combinations such as Ctrl-D, Ctrl-Shift-D, F15, Alt-F15, etc are not really viable shortcuts for Services, because they will not work in any newly-opened application until you click on the Services Menu in that application.
This bug thus greatly limits the shortcuts that you can employ for Services, because you can only reliably use shortcut key combos that contain the Command key. This is a fault that Apple really needs to fix. This is a very old glitch: I notice it is present in Snow Leopard 10.6.8, as well as Yosemite 10.10.1.
This bug does not apply to application shortcuts, however, or to other shortcuts in the Shortcuts Preference Pane, just to Services shortcuts (including the Mac's default Services, or any Services you make yourself using Workflows on the Automator software).
To give some examples:
The following keyboard shortcuts for Services WILL NOT work until you click on the Services Menu in the application you are using (and they will cease working again when you quit and reopen the app):
Ctrl-X
Ctrl-Shift-X
Ctrl-Alt-X
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-X
Alt-X
Alt-Shift-X
F1, F2, F3, etc
So until Apple fixes this bug, the above type of key combinations, that do not contain the Command key, are best avoided as shortcuts for Services. It is particularly unfortunate that function keys F1 to F19 do not work reliably, as these would make great single-key shortcuts to Services.
However, the following sort of keyboard shortcuts for Services, all containing the Command key, once set up will always work without fail:
Command-Alt-X
Command-Ctrl-X
Command-Shift-X
Command-Ctrl-Shift-X
Command-Alt-Ctrl-Shift-X
Command-F1, Command-F2, Command-F3, etc
So all the above can be reliably used as shortcuts to Services.
Here X denotes keyboard keys such as A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, =, \, [, etc.
Note that even for keyboard shortcuts containing the Command key, you may very occasionally need to click the Services Menu to get them to work initially in an application (notably in the System Preferences application itself). But if this is necessary, it is just required once when they are first set up, and thereafter the shortcuts containing the Command key will always work without fail.
The above was tested on Yosemite 10.10.1, but most likely applies to other versions of OS X as well, as I believe this bug is an old one. This bug is definitely present in Snow Leopard 10.6.8, because I have observed this same fault in an old Mac I have that runs Snow Leopard.
I have reported this bug to Apple, so hopefully they will see my report and act upon it. However, it might be an idea if others also report this problem of Services shortcuts not working property, to ensure that Apple get the message. You can report a bug to Apple via their bug feedback page here.

Exactly where do you want to use a GO BACK "shortcut" in Bridge? Maybe I don't even understand what you mean by Go Back. Bridge is only a file browser, nothing more. It doesn't open, edit, manipulate or save files at all.
Are you simply referring to going back to view a folder that you viewed before?
Please don't take this a criticism. As someone who will gladly pay money not to have to learn any shortcuts at all, I'm just puzzled and curious, that's all.

Keyboard hardware key not working

hi,
i'm trying to set the keyboard hardware keys of my vaio, this is the output of a few commands;
sto cercando di impostare le hardware key del mio vaio, butto qua qualche comando per capire meglio:
cat /sys/class/dmi/id/sys_vendor
Sony Corporation
cat /sys/class/dmi/id/product_name
VPCS11E7E
xev: no output.
showkey -k
keycode 360 press
keycode 360 release
showkey -s: no output
/lib/udev/keymap -i input/event6
scan code: 0x49 key code: vendor
xbindkeys -mk: no output.
is there something useful?
- i've created the file "/lib/udev/keymaps/module-sony-vpcs11e7e"
with this text:
0x49 vendor # VAIO
and i've inserted it in "/lib/udev/rules.d/95-keymap.rules" without results.
- i've created a "file" with this text:
keycode 360 = Super_R Super_R Super_R
and then i used the command
xmodmap file
without results.
what i've to do??
Last edited by syco (2011-08-05 13:06:16)

What happens if you press the key in question then perform a dmesg | tail
Any messages like these:
[136424.699297] atkbd serio0: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x94 on isa0060/serio0).
[136424.699303] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e014 <keycode>' to make it known.

My keyboard repeat key doesn't work. How do I fix it in O/S Lion?

My keyboard repeat key doesn't work. How do I fix it in O/S Lion?

The only way to get it back is with a Terminal command hack.
I don't know if it's acceptable to post here. But, a search engine is your friend.

Keyboard Illumination Keys

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