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Hello,
I am using a Surface Pro with Type Cover.
When I am selecting multiple items e.g. in Outlook or Windows Explorer I apparently hold down the Ctrl-key and left-click the items with my mouse.
When I select many items it takes certainly a while to select -- if that time span is let's say 10 seconds (may be it's just 5 sec) then my CTRL key locks, meaning, I do not have to hold it down in order to select multiple items. Problem is that you e.g. can't even hit the Windows button on the keyboard and not even the hardware Windows button on the Surface. If your machine falls into Sleep mode you cannot type the password any more. You have to reboot.
It took a while to find out that the Ctrl key was the trouble maker -- then after identifying it as such I tried to unlock it by hitting it 1 more time which works.
So, that is a remedy, however, if you do not notice that the Ctrl key gets locked then your machine also slows down, even the Task Manager (e.g. Performance tab) doesn't update any more. That looks like an overload -- may be because Thousands of 'key down' messages are processed, even if the key is not pushed any more? Just a speculation.
One more thing: the Ctrl key gets only locked when I make the selections with the mouse -- if I select them with the Surface Pen the Ctrl key gets NOT locked.
BTW, I tried two mice: bluetooth and wi-fi -- both deliver the same result, it doesn't matter.
Anyway, I am not aware that something like a 'sticky key' would exist for the Ctrl key? Does it? At least I have not turned on or seen such access feature activated. Also, no, my keyboard is not filled with crumbs. And it is unlikely that it would lock when I use the mouse but not if I use the Pen...
And the Ctrl Lock-down seems wrong -- is it?
Type cover bug? or am I unaware of the 'sticky key' feature?
Frank
The Surface family includes Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and other Surface products. Surface is designed to help organizations, students, and consumers be more productive.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Greetings all,
New update: 5/21/14
We are still investigating this issue and hope to make progress soon.
Just a quick update (2/10/14).
We are actively investigating this issue and will work on a resolution to ensure our customers have the best possible experience on their Surface devices.
Very interesting to know. Thank you.
I don't think I'll be buying a Surface Pro 3 until they address this problem.
I hit this problem outside the normal context: We use a PC based computer in a piece of hardware we deliver to US Military. Project has been in produciton for 10 years (over 1000 units). We're testing a new version and went to a new computer and are now using Windows 7 (from XP). In one system, (of the 6 recently built) we encountered the stuck Cap-locks and/or Control key.
As an Engineer, I suspected electrical fault with the keyboard but did not find anything obvious. Started the web search and came upon this uSoft page. So I would like to inform MicroSoft of what I discovered.
First, it's NOT a fault with worn-out keyboards (or the membrane). I can easily reproduce the problem with multiple external keyboards on ANY PC-based computer running Windows 7. I'm using a Mildef keyboard model KE89B which comes up as a SUPERGATE Keyboard/USB/etc device (http://www.mildef.co.uk/products/keybord see their IP54 keyboard) . I only have the problem with OLD vintage keyboards, not their newer units (Built beyond 2013). II noticed the newer vintage keyboards come up identied as CYPRESS devices. The SAME drivers are used for both vintages, however.
I connected 'normal' external USB keyboards to the computer and saw that they worked fine. Using an O-scope, I recognized that the keyboard was a FULL bandwidth keyboard. When I watched the old (bad keyboard) I noticed that it was functioning as a LOW bandwidth keyboard. Since I have both old and new KE89B keyboards and the old fails while the new passes AND they are both low bandwidth, we can state: Low Bandwidth keyboards may cause the stuck Caps Lock key depending on the type of device it is identified as. In other words, it would appear as if USB chips in some keyboards, are not fully compient with USB protocol such that they are 'fooling' the uSoft drivers into thinking that the left Shift and/or Control keys are pressed.
BTW: You can avoid/correct the problem by simply hitting the left shift key each and every time AFTER you press the Caps Lock key. That ensures the case is correct (and matches the Cap Lock LED). The left shift key also unlock the stuck Control key if that happens.
My advice for MicroSoft is to attach a USB protocol analyzer to the keyboard USB bus and look for timing issues that can confuse the driver. Obviously, a bad keyboard would be most helpful, so I would suggest trying to locate a device like what I used: SUPERGATE USB, Low bandwidth. BTW:, the drivers that come up for 'bad' keyboard are:
SUPERGATE USB Keyboard w/ PS/2 Mouse Port: 6.1.7601.17514
SUPERGATE Composite USB device: 6.1.7601.18328
SUPERGATE USB Keyboard Mouse: 6.1.7600.16385
I suspect that it's a corner-case bug with the Low Bandwidth protocol in that somehting is being 'dropped' out because of the much slower rep rate (16 msec vs 1msec). Makes me wish I knew more about USB protocol....
Hope this helps the Microsoft Engineers!!
-Mike
PS: Perhaps other folks that have this problem can provide uSoft with what device type their keyboards/Human Interface Devices/USB controllers are being identied as - Maybe their all Supergate!!! LOL
This problem is still not fixed for me. I bought an original Surface Pro and had the problem, but only with the type cover. The touch cover never had this problem. I tried the proposed fixes and could not get it to go away.
I bought a surface 2 and type cover 2. The same problem still exists. Periodically, the shift, alt, or control key sticks for no apparent reason. It seems random and does not seem to be related to accidentally holding the key down. I notice it when I am typing fine in Word, outlook or some other application and suddenly the keyboard starts to misbehave. Suddenly, menus and side bars start to open as I type. I then bang on the shift, control, and alt key and continue on my work. It is extremely annoying to still have this problem. I even exchanged the type cover 2 keyboard for another on and still have the same issue.
I have tried the fix outlined in the thread that keeps getting posted here as a fix. But this fix does not work for the problem I am experiencing. (Perhaps there are two different problems that look similar but have two different causes?) When I tap and hold a key, the key repeats fine and does not stop
I suspect there is a hardware problem, not a software problem. I notice this happens most often when I am typing on my lap. I suspect that in an effort to create a low profile keyboard, there is something with the design that shorts out a key or causes it to mechanically stick somehow.
I was encouraged by the post that stated they did not notice this behavior on the surface pro 3. However, there is an adage the covers this for me: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I want the surface line to be successful, but this is a deal breaker for me. This has been going on since November according to this thread. The keyboard is defective. Microsoft need to fix it or compensate for defective design. At this point, it appears that Microsoft is unable to fix it, so it might be time for compensation by allowing us to at least exchange our type cover 2 keyboards for one that works. (Does anyone know if the Power keyboard cover suffers from the same issues? I have not seen any such posts.)
Stops for me. Mind you: I am NOT using a Surface or Surface Pro. This is on a regular Acer PC with a Microsoft Sculpt wireless keyboard.