Filed under: Peripherals, How-tos
Fix those Aluminium Keyboard woes
For those who are comfortable with Pacifist, all you need to do is simply download the Apple Keyboard Software update 1.1, and install the relevant contents of the package via Pacifist. If you've never used Pacifist (and truth be told, I hadn't before tonight) here's what you need to be doing.
Click "Open Package", choose the "Apple Keyboard Software" disk image, and then double-click "AppleKeyboardSoftware.mpkg" to bring the Installer package into Pacifist.
As you can see above, there's actually 3 sub-installers inside this installer, one specifically for each Mac architecture and then a common installer. You'll need to select the relevant PowerPC or Intel installer and the common installer, and then choose 'Install' in the top left of the window (you'll probably need to authenticate before it'll fully run).
Now this is where it might put you all off. A number of prompts saying "Do you want to overwrite file x?" will appear (including one for Dock.app which made me gulp before clicking replace). I was gung-ho and simply chose to replace, update and overwrite in all circumstances and don't appear to be suffering any adverse effects. That said, overwriting any Apple-supplied applications may freak you out (even if the update is from Apple themselves) so here's the disclaimer: In my experience this has not caused any adverse effects, but you try it at your own risk and agree not to hold me, TUAW, Weblogs Inc or AOL responsible in the unlikely event of something going horribly wrong! It's likely that you'd need to update all the necessary files to ensure the installation works, so just let Pacifist do its thing. Once the installation is complete, restart and you should be all set.
Thanks Ian for the tip!
Now this is where it might put you all off. A number of prompts saying "Do you want to overwrite file x?" will appear (including one for Dock.app which made me gulp before clicking replace). I was gung-ho and simply chose to replace, update and overwrite in all circumstances and don't appear to be suffering any adverse effects. That said, overwriting any Apple-supplied applications may freak you out (even if the update is from Apple themselves) so here's the disclaimer: In my experience this has not caused any adverse effects, but you try it at your own risk and agree not to hold me, TUAW, Weblogs Inc or AOL responsible in the unlikely event of something going horribly wrong! It's likely that you'd need to update all the necessary files to ensure the installation works, so just let Pacifist do its thing. Once the installation is complete, restart and you should be all set.
Thanks Ian for the tip!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Leanda said 3:33PM on 8-26-2007
Brilliant! This worked, it's driven me bonkers since I got the keyboard.
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Ben said 3:27PM on 8-26-2007
I believe that Dock.app needs to be replaced because Exposé and Dashboard are actually components of the Dock application (as is Command-Tab).
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PerfectCr said 4:26PM on 8-26-2007
Never had an issue with it. I just got a new Mac Mini and Wired Keyboard and F3 and F4 worked out of the box.
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Scott said 5:09PM on 8-26-2007
There's also been confusion over whether the USB ports on the keyboard can power iPods. Apple has revised their Keyboard page on their web site. Before, it unequivocally listed an iPod in the list of devices you could plug into this keyboard’s USB ports. Within the last couple of days, it’s been changed. It now reads as follows:
——————————–
Two USB 2.0 ports enable you to easily connect your Mighty Mouse as well as a high-speed peripheral such as a digital camera or printer.*
*Devices that draw high power from the USB connection, such as iPods, hard drives and some flash drives, can only be used with the new keyboard when it is attached to the aluminum iMac.
——————————-
So that explains my confusion, as someone who has only read about these. Originally, Apple said the keyboard would power iPods. Now, they’ve made it clear that it will ONLY when attached to the new iMacs. Considering how stingy Apple is with USB ports on iMacs, this is helpful to know.
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Greg P said 5:33PM on 8-26-2007
I believe doing so will disable some of the widgets and make other widgets unusable as reported by many users on other website that posted that trick, beware.
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Brian K said 5:53PM on 8-26-2007
Yeah, this method makes it work, but it killed my dashboard. If I open it, there's nothing, and if I add something, DashboardClient quits unexpectedly. Do not try this if you want to actually be able to use dashboard after hitting the hotkey.
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Rhywun said 6:08PM on 8-26-2007
What about the other two Exposé commands? I don't understand why the current four keyboard shortcuts (F9 through F12) have been replaced by just two, so rather than deal with the whole mess I just re-assigned them to F16 through F19. This way I get to keep them in the same order as I am used to, just pushed all the way over to the right side of the keyboard where frankly I find them easier to access anyway. Then I set the option to reverse my function keys (it's it System Preferences somewhere--I forget exactly where) so that I have use of all the function keys for myself and I have to hold down the "fn" key to get at the Brightness and Volume controls (which I hardly ever use) and the new iTunes controls (which I have never used because I already use another controller with different shortcuts). Overall I like this setup. My only remaining complaint with the new keyboard is that I dislike the tiny lettering on the function keys. It's almost impossible for me to hit the right function key without moving my head in and examining them closely. Oh well, I guess I'll get used to it :)
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Aleks said 7:13PM on 8-26-2007
Yes, this killed my Dashboard too :( I'm not formatting anyways.... Leopard is just around the corner which is definitely going to be a clean install!
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Michel said 7:33PM on 8-26-2007
true
the dock is controlling exposé and dashboard and others things. basically everything about applications controls and switching.
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Michel said 7:33PM on 8-26-2007
true
the dock is controlling exposé and dashboard and others things. basically everything about applications controls and switching.
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Liberalguitar said 7:39PM on 8-26-2007
Totally screwed up my Dashboard! The dashboardclient will unexpectedly quit every time I bring it up. Sure, the keys work, but now I have to archive and install my 20 inch core duo iMac. Boo!
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Reg Muffet said 7:41PM on 8-26-2007
Surely Steve is enough of a power user to know that Exposé is far more useful assigned to a screen corner...
I use bottom left screen corner for "Desktop" and bottom right screen corner for "All Windows."
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Joshua said 4:04PM on 8-30-2007
"Surely Steve is enough of a power user to know that Exposé is far more useful assigned to a screen corner..."
Actually, since I do everything fairly quickly, I use the corners as reference points when moving the pointer around the screen. Up to the top right, then to where I want to go in that quarter, etc.
I assigned command + corner to all my corners. Works great.
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Matt said 8:41PM on 8-26-2007
It killed my Dashboard as well. Would quit unexpectedly every time. I tried to run the same procedure again and then right-click wouldn't work on my Dock and every time I tried to launch Dashboard the dock would restart. If any of you have access to another Mac to get a clean dock.app file here is how you can fix it without having to format your drive and reinstall Tiger.
Under Macintosh HD>System>Library>CoreServices>dock.app
Right-Click and get Info (or Command + I) Under permissions set yourself as Owner with NO ACCESS. Then Go to Spotlight (or Command + Spacebar) and Type in "Activity Monitor" (Or if you have AM on your dock or what not) once there, if you're not on all Processes make sure you select "All Processes" from the drop down at the top. Find Dock.App that is running and Force Quit. Since you have changed it to No Access, OS X will not relaunch the Dock.app because it is a service launched at the user level, not system; So it will not relaunch since you made your username NO ACCESS. Now you can safely delete the File from the directory and replace it with a clean Dock.app (If anyone else can upload one for the people who ran into this issue and don't have access to another Mac, that'd rock) . Empty your Trash to remove the corrupted Dock.app and then restart your computer. After the reboot your computer should be fixed of this nasty problem!
Take care guys!
Matt
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Bryan Smith said 9:28PM on 8-26-2007
Never had a problem with the F3 & F4 keys (though I did find that the keyboard fails to power an iPod), but the aluminum keyboard doesn't seem to allow us to use Boot Camp because the Mac Mini doesn't recognize the keys until after it has booted Mac OS X. Nice...
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Bryan Payne said 9:51PM on 8-26-2007
http://joemullins.com/archive/2007/08/21/fix-for-apple-aluminum-keyboard-dashboard-and-expose-keys-not-working.php
Those directions should fix the keys and keep Expose and Dashboard working properly.
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JeffDM said 10:24PM on 8-26-2007
Just two Exposé commands? I use three of them. It's not hard to add them though, and I use the hot corners most often.
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alin Steglinski said 11:18PM on 8-26-2007
and one more thing... the APPLE SYMBOL IS GONE, AND I USE THAT ON TECH SUPPORT CALLS!!! i say "ok hold down the option and the key with the apple logo on it" NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO APPLE!!! YOU SCREWED UP ON THIS KEYBOARD!!! RECALL THEM AND REMAKE THEM!!!
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Nik Fletcher said 3:28AM on 8-27-2007
Hi Guys,
Sorry to hear some of you have experienced some issues with this - when I tested it on my MacBookPro it worked just fine (and my Dashboard is working just brilliantly).
Matt, thanks for posting the information above. My routine worked just great on my system, but it does appear some people are experiencing issues, so thanks for taking the time to help them out!
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Ranu said 4:24AM on 8-27-2007
With all the reports of dashboard problems brought on by this fix I'm going to live without F3 and F4 until Leopard comes out (presumably a clean install of Leopard will fix this).
It's pretty poor that Apple haven't issued a software update to fix this, let alone acknowledged the problem. The main thread for this on Apple's support site shows the issue as "fixed" - far from it Apple.
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