Why Light & Function Keys no longer working?

Function keys from F1 through F5 do not workon my Macbook. All others do, including the F12 Dashboard command. They did work before I cloned my prior laptop configuration onto the Macbook.
I was wondering if there was a way to fix this, such as reinstalling the system.
Thank you for the help.

did your prior laptop have the same function key configuration for f1 through f5? if not then you'll probably going to need to reinstall os x and use the migration assistant in order to get all functions working correctly on the macbook.
Martin's explanation sounds more likely to work for you, so definitely check that out first.
Message was edited by: walter9258

Similar Messages

Function keys no longer working with a new keyboard...

I got a new keyboard and my function keys no longer work with it. I am used to have them used in the standard format, i.e. F10-F12 control the voume, etc. I have the "Use all f1,f2, etc." button clicked. I have also tried restarting my computer. Any thoughts?

Try doing a SMC reset and PRAM reset.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

Yosemite upgrade: function keys no longer work, no keyboard lights and have to sign in twice after sleep mode. Anybody else having these problems?

Hi,
Since I did the Yosemite 'upgrade' last week I have been having problems with my MacBook Pro that never happened before. The most frustrating problems involve my keyboard which doesn't light up (checked my settings and they are correct) and the top row of function keys don't do anything so I can't adjust the volume, brightness, etc. Then if my screen goes into sleep mode, when I wake it back up I have to sign back in twice - I never had to sign in at all after sleep mode before.
I'm finding that in order to get it working properly I am having to completely shut down and start up again but when the keyboard problems are happening I can't get anything on the apple dropdown to work either (i.e. shut down, restart, etc) so I can only shut down by pressing and holding the on/off button.
I've never had problems with my Macbook before and feel like Apple have completely ruined it in one update! I've had a look through other posts on here but can't find anybody else having these problems so I would be really grateful if anyone could help me and offer me some advice on how to sort it out.
Thanks!

Reset PRAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18761
Reset SMC. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Choose the method for:
"Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".
Best.

Satellite Pro M - F5 Function Key no longer working

Hello all,
I have had many happy years using my Toshiba laptop without problem. The operating system is Vista Home Plus.
About a year ago, my son dropped the machine, which resulted in the display cracking. In order to keep using it I plugged in a spare mouse and keyboard, and linked it up to a flat bed monitor.
Using Fn+F5, it has worked perfectly as a defacto desktop for ages until relatively recently: the cable linking the laptop and the monitor became detached which resulted in the monitor going into sleep mode. When reattached, the display did not return and I have had persistent problems ever since. Using the F5 key now has no effect.
Points of note
- as the machine powers up, the external monitor displays the usual text, but when the Windows logo appears, it reverts to sleep mode and the laptop continues to boot up cleanly.
- when I boot up in safe mode the F5 key functions perfectly
- I have cured the proble previously by booting up in safe mode and restoring back to to a checkpoint taken a few days prior. This is a temporary fix, as whenever the machine is powered down it reoccurs. What is interesting though is that there always seems to have been a recent Windows Automatic update downloaded when I look at the list of recent system checkpoints and what triggered them!
Getting thoroughly fed up with the whole thing now. Any help very much appreciated.
CB

Hi
Its really not easy to say what the reason is for this problem but it would be interesting to know what notebook you have exactly.
Can you add this information, please?
Anyway, at the moment I would recommend to update the display driver and BIOS. Both you can find on the Toshiba website:
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com => Support & Downloads => Download Drivers
Before you start the BIOS update close all running background programs, also your antivirus and firewall. You should be logged in as administrator.
Furthermore I would recommend removing the old display driver before you install the newest one. After removing restart the notebook and clean it using CCleaner. Restart again and install the newest version.
I hope this can solve your issue and by the way: Have you installed SP for Vista?

Escape, Tab + Caps Key No Longer Work

I recently installed Windows XP SP2 under boot camp. Since then my escape key, the one below it, tab and shift key no longer work in both operating systems. I've had a browse through the forums and seen similar problems but nothing exactly like it. I did spill a small amount of tea on the keys arounfd the same time as the install but I'm sure thats not why they don't work anymore because the light on the shift key lights up on start-up.
Any suggestions?

Anybody? I've completely cleaned my keyboard so I know its not the tea thing.

Function keys are not working correctly

I've been looking all over the various threads and I can't find an answer that solves my problem.
Here are the details:
I bought the computer in the U.S. where I live.
I have a iMac 2.4GHz intel Core 2 Duo EMC 2133 with a 20" screen. Bought it new in February 2008.
I have Mac OS X 10.5.8 (I am waiting for my order for OS Snow Leopard to come in!!)
I have been using a wireless mouse and Keyboard (Love not having cords!)
Recently, my wireless keyboard got a short and quit working. I went down to the apple store and got a new wireless keyboard.
I had the computer with me at the genius bar so, yes, the apple employee saw exactly what I have.
I took it all home got the thing all put back together and got the new keyboard paired up and working with the computer.
Here are the problems:
Went to go use the function keys while using iTunes and found they weren't working properly. The F10, F11 and F12 do not control the volume of sound as the keyboard indicates they would, they instead activate dashboard, spaces, and application windows.
Following the advice of other threads, I looked over in the system preferences and made sure the "Use all F1, F2 etc." box was unchecked (it was unchecked), things still didn't work.
I tried the fn key but it appears to not work at all it has no effect on the functioning of the function keys.
I went under keyboard shortcuts in system preferences and found the F10, F11 and F12 keys, it confirms that those keys control spaces, dashboard and application windows as they are performing but shows no options to either reassign to volume control (as marked on the keyboard) or make the fn key work.
I've gone back and forth trying various combinations of checked and unchecked boxes to see if anything would work, so far I've come up with nothing.
A couple more important or interesting facts:
Yes I have turned off and taken the batteries out of the old keyboard. My bluetooth connection currently shows it as disconnected.
I have restarted the computer.
One thing I find odd; when I go under preferences and go to Keyboard and Mouse when I go under the section "Bluetooth" it shows Bluetooth mouse with the name of the mouse and the battery level. BUT nothing is showing up under bluetooth Keyboard, I can't figure out how to change this and don't know if it is contributing to the problem.
When I go under the bluetooth logo on the top bar I find the mouse and both keyboards referenced, the old keyboard is shown as disconnected and the other two are connected. I have tried to update the device's name but it doesn't seem to let me.
I have double clicked on the device under bluetooth and it shows the new keyboard as discoverable, paired and connected. Hence, I am using the new keyboard to write this inquiry.
Please, any assistance would be of great help. I have tried to be thorough in order help narrow the possible problem. Thanks!!

Hendry
Just thought I'd let you know. Our suspicions were correct, it was the OS. After I installed Snow Leopard (10.6.8) all the problems were corrected. I also updated the RAM from 1 gb to 6 gb. The mac is working all around better. Sorry it took so long to get back to everyone. My superdrive had pooped out. Rather than replace it I got an external drive from OWC connected with firewire 800. So far everything is running very well, as far as I can tell this external drive is better than the original superdrive. My superdrive has always acted funny, infact I returned the first mac I got after a week because its superdrive was also malfunctioning. Anyway, all that to say everything seems to be fully functioning again.
Roy
Re: Function keys are not working correctly

All of a sudden my Enter key no longer works in SQL Developer.

All of a sudden my Enter key no longer works in SQL Developer. I don't know how I managed to disabled it. Can anyone tell me how to re-enable it?
I already tried the following:
- I closed the application and re-opened it. - It didn't work
- I re-started my machine. I didn't work
Help! Thank you

The same thing has just happened to me and this was very useful to correct the problem --- but now I am wondering why or how this happened. To the best of my knowledge, I haven't make any setting changes so why did I lose the Enter action?

Backlit keys no longer working...

After recent SMC? firmware auto update, my backlit keys no longer work.
When I try to turn them on (dim/bright) via keyboard shortcut keys, I get a circle with a slash thru it on the on-screen keyboard logo...

NeoTranc3 wrote:
Hah, Im not sure but I may have the opposite to your problem. I'm here in a very dark room, so the back light comes one, but *I am watching videos* so I'm not touching the laptop. The keys would go dark until I touched the laptop again or that is what I thought. Now the back light comes on randomly. I'm going to have to research this keyboard to see what sets it off.
It occurs to me that you're getting a light show based on overall brightness fluctuations in the program content of your DVD! Do the keys light up when a dark scene is on the screen? Then go off once the light level in the flick goes back up?
Take your Apple-branded black cleaning cloth and drape it over the iSight camera, which is where the ambient light sensor is. Sort of like playing peek-a-boo with the MB! (We have a 2 1/2-year-old daughter [not MacBook]). Great way to test the KB backlight (which we didn't get ourselves, BTW).
''86

Menu key no longer working

Since I first used my Nike+ with my ipod a few weeks ago the menu key no longer works.
Can anyone help please. I use my ipod all the time and im desperate for it to work again

mdcoley wrote:
Cheers! Store is now working. I didn't quite do things in your order as your post came in after I started experimenting. This is what I did:
Three-finger reset again.
Installed the .sisx file above (cwrt core).
Installed the Nokia Store from Betalabs (with Qt 4.7.4).
Read your post, so deleted those two files you mentioned from installated apps.
Installed earlier version of Nokia Store from your link.
Ran this, which prompted me to upgrade.
Can now log in without the black screen.
It seems remarkable that doing a factory reset means the phone doesn't work.
That's the question;Nokia advise to never do a 3 finger hard reset.this process delete some files that isn't recoverable even reinstall software.
I have a C7 as well and already perform a 3 finger hard reset,but a software reinstall put it back as 2out of the box".don't know why this do not works in Nokia 701
At least you have the store back again right?
As far as i know it should be missing in your phone,the photo and video editor right?
That's why i took mine to Nokia Care Center,they put the phone as out of the box.
Nokia Lumia 820
Nokia 701

10.8.4 Screen Brightness Keys No Longer Work

I ran updates this morning and I assume it updated to 10.8.4 from the app store updates tab.
After this update and booting back up the screen brightness keys no longer work. F1 and F2 keys do nothing and they worked fine before the update.
Anyone else experiencing this? If so know a way to fix it?
Thanks
Patrick

I have been having the same issue and even with updates have continued to have the problem. I was able to find a chck box under the keyboard settings that I never noticed before. When checked it only allows you to use the function keys on the top of the keyboard when pressing the fn (function) key. Simply unchecking this (not sure how it got checked in the first place) solved the issue immediately.

Function keys does not work as they should.

The function keys has worked as they should since I bought the computer.
When I turned on the computer yesterday, the function keys didn't work as they should.
Example:
Before: When I hit the F5, the light in my keyboard was turned on/off. When I hit Fn + F5, I refreshed the browser page.
Now: When I hit the F5, I refresh the browser page. If I hit Fn + F5, I still refresh the browser page.
I used to control the volume on the computer with F6-8, but now I have to click the speaker icon in the lower right corner and manually "drag" the volume up or down.
Does anyone know how this can be fixed?

Hi @Andy19955 ,
Please try disabling Action Keys Mode in the BIOS, using the steps in this document:
Disable the Fn + Function Key Combination on Certain Models
Please click the thumbs up button to say "Thanks!"
Clicking "Accept as Solution" on a reply that solves your problem makes it easier for other people to find solutions.
I am an HP employee.

Control key no longer works after update.

After updating Lion the control key no longer works. It beeps when pressing control and then a number key but nothing happens.
This is left control key though. Right still works?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software -- potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions -- they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.
These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.
Below are four lines of text in monospaced type, which are UNIX shell commands. They’re harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of running these commands, search this site for other discussions in which they’ve been used without any report of ill effects.
Some of the commands will line-wrap in your browser, but each one is really just a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.
Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.
To begin, launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search.
Step 1
Copy or drag -- do not type -- the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
kextstat -kl | awk ' !/apple/ { print $6 $7 } '
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.)
Step 2
Repeat with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|com\.vix|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Step 3
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
Step 4
ls -1A {,/}Library/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Sta}* 2> /dev/null
Important: If you synchronize with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, change it to something like “[email protected]” before posting.
Remember, this is all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer -- no typing, except your password.
You can then quit Terminal.

Return Key no longer works in sql windows or procedure editors.

The <return> key no longer works in my SqlDeveloper editors. Is there an easy fix? I tried resetting the Option for the carriage return but it did not change anything.

So if you go to your shortcut keys (Tools > Preferences > Shortcut Keys) and search for "Enter", what commands are associated with the Enter shortcut? If you have tried remapping the Enter key to something else, it may have removed the standard association with the "Insert New Line" command.
You can reset to the default (which should fix the problem, but lose any custom shortcuts) with More Actions (top right) > Load Keyboard Scheme > Default.
theFurryOne

I and K keys no longer working on Macbook keyboard

The I and K keys no longer work, it seems. I've restarted, attempted to clean out the keyboard, restarted again, etc. No dice. Sometimes when I push I or K I'll get an odd string of characters--'YIOU' or a bunch of symbols--but mostly I just get no response. I wasn't doing anything unusual when this started and I didn't spill anything on it.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I have heard around the message boards about this kind of problem, and no one seems to know what the problem is. Your best bet is to take it into Apple and they can fix it for you. If you are in warranty, they shouldn't charge you, especially since you didn't spill anything into the keyboard (also a common problem). if you are out of warranty, you're looking at around $90 or so (still better than not being able to finish that email or that final report!). i had my keyboard replaced for a different reason, but the receipt said I would have been charged said amount had I not been under warranty.
hope that helps!
-MD55

Command, Control, and Option keys no longer works with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5

At first my keyboard did not work with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5 and I found the workaround by using "cmd + tab," however, once my keyboard work within Citrix, the "command, control, and option" keys no longer work. Does anyone have a remedy for this?

Keyboard no longer works with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5

Why Light & Function Keys no longer working?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for