Scult ergonomic keyboard numberpad stopped responding

Anonymous
2014-01-20T12:29:32+00:00

Hi,

I have a new microsoft sculpt ergonomic keyboard. It comes with a separate number pad, which after working perfectly in the current set-up, suddenly ceased working. No input from the numberpad is received by the computer (numbers, num lock, calculator, delete etc).

I have a Dell U2312HM VGA screen with USB adaptors, which I have the keyboard and mouse USB receivers plugged into.

The USB ports work with other devices.

The keyboard itself still works, just not the numberpad.

The numberpad still doesn't work if I have the USB receiver plugged directly into the laptop.

The drivers are up to date (Apr 2013)

This set-up worked perfectly for the first month. Unfortunately I didn't notice exactly when the numberpad ceased working, so I don't know if something specific triggered it, but the set-up has not been changed in any obvious way.

Laptop: Acer Aspire 5742, Intel i3 CPU, M370@2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 64 bit OS

Running: Windows 7 Home Premium, SP 1.

The most obvious thing is a battery issue - but it's a special flat battery, clearly not designed to be changed often, and the keyboard is less than 3 months old, I would be surprised if the battery had run down already. The AAA batteries in the keyboard section are still working fine!

Any suggestions very gratefully received.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2014-05-25T09:28:16+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

Did you try using suggestions provided in the previous post?

I would suggest you to try using steps provided in this Microsoft knowledge based article and check if it helps.

Refer:

Troubleshoot wired keyboards that don't respond or that type wrong characters

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258826

I would also suggest you to install the latest software from the following link and check if it helps.

Refer this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/downloads#keyboard

I hope this helps.

Thank you

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-09-03T06:27:01+00:00

    I am on a late 2014 macbook pro running OSX 10.10.5. I have been using the sculpt for maybe six months or longer, and definitely out of warranty.

    I pressed a bunch of keys last night (trying to assign a keyboard shortcut to a Character Style in InDesign), including shift, control, option, functions, letters, numbers, some in combo with the number pad. I know I did press the NumLock on the Number Pad at some point, more than once, and sometimes in combo with other keys (my shortcut ended up being Shift+0, but only the zero on the number pad and not the main keyboard because who knows why but that is the only way I could get a shortcut to work). But the Number Pad continued to work, tho I don't know if the light was still on, and I happily used my shortcut for an hour, so I didn't attach any consequence to any of the key pressing.

    Flash forward to today and the light is off and the Pad does not respond. I checked the battery and it's reading at 2.7v, so it's fine. Pressing NumLock, Clear, alone and/or with Shift, none get the pad to work or to get the light on the pad to light up again.

    I'm unsure if this is an issue where I pressed the wrong thing and need to press the right things again, or if I'm having the same hardware failure as everyone else on this thread. Do you have any mac solutions?

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-01-11T19:54:14+00:00

    After reading this and other threads, I'm guessing the real problem is physically stuck keys (keys that may not be obviously stuck; maybe only partly stuck down, or may have some kind of detritus causing the signal of a key-press).

    This would explain why changing the battery sometimes fixes the problem (because the keyboard got turned upside down and perhaps jarred/reset the stuck key), and then sometimes the problem reappears after a short time (because really the key is still stuck, but a fresh battery or system reset makes things functional for a while.

    This explanation fits in cases where the problem occurs in either the keyboard or the keypad alone, while the other devices seem fine.

    It would be nice to find a diagnostic app to help with trouble-shooting this, or if the keyboard had a status light, or something like that.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-01-11T19:57:34+00:00

    I have tried all the above and it still doesn't work!! it must be a product defect so, Microsoft needs to step up and tell us what we need to do to replace or fix this defect.

    Buddy

    After reading this and other threads, I'm guessing the real problem is physically stuck keys (keys that may not be obviously stuck; maybe only partly stuck down, or may have some kind of detritus causing the signal of a key-press). 

    Try fiddling with each of the keys (and looking for full rebound on each), &/or gently tapping the keyboard upside down, &/or giving a bad review and buying another keyboard.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-01-11T19:59:30+00:00

    I am on a late 2014 macbook pro running OSX 10.10.5. I have been using the sculpt for maybe six months or longer, and definitely out of warranty.

    I pressed a bunch of keys last night (trying to assign a keyboard shortcut to a Character Style in InDesign), including shift, control, option, functions, letters, numbers, some in combo with the number pad. I know I did press the NumLock on the Number Pad at some point, more than once, and sometimes in combo with other keys (my shortcut ended up being Shift+0, but only the zero on the number pad and not the main keyboard because who knows why but that is the only way I could get a shortcut to work). But the Number Pad continued to work, tho I don't know if the light was still on, and I happily used my shortcut for an hour, so I didn't attach any consequence to any of the key pressing.

    Flash forward to today and the light is off and the Pad does not respond. I checked the battery and it's reading at 2.7v, so it's fine. Pressing NumLock, Clear, alone and/or with Shift, none get the pad to work or to get the light on the pad to light up again.

    I'm unsure if this is an issue where I pressed the wrong thing and need to press the right things again, or if I'm having the same hardware failure as everyone else on this thread. Do you have any mac solutions?

    After reading this and other threads, I'm guessing the real problem is physically stuck keys (keys that may not be obviously stuck; maybe only partly stuck down, or may have some kind of detritus causing the signal of a key-press). 

    Try fiddling with each of the keys (and looking for full rebound on each), &/or gently tapping the keyboard upside down, &/or giving a bad review and buying another keyboard.

    Was this answer helpful?

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