Hi Cheryl, On Dec10, 2007, at 06:47AM, Cheryl Homiak wrote: >Hi. >I just a few minutes ago opened my new wireless keyboard from Apple; it's >really cute. Just to clarify: does this keyboard have problems or just the >fixed aluminum keyboard?
I don't know whether the wireless keyboard has the same problems as the fixed, but both share the new keyboard control mappings for the function keys: F7-F9 control playback, F10-F12 control sound mute and volume, F3 and F4 control Expose and Dashboard. In Christian's case, applying the latest system software updates (always a good thing to do) fixed his problems. There really wasn't a problem with the volume keys. He had switched on the keyboard preference option to use software functions for the F1-F12 keys for easier VoiceOver use, so hardware functions like volume control required pressing the "FN" key first. On the fixed, full-size keyboards the "FN" key is in a totally unexpected place. That isn't the case for the wireless keyboards, which are like the ones on laptops. What may be more of a problem for you is Ubuntu. I searched Google on "aluminum wireless keyboard Apple problems" and the second entry to come up was a report on problems installing and using Ubuntu with this keyboard: http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/ubuntu-and-apples-aluminum-wireless-keyboard Ubuntu and Apple's Wireless Keyboard <begin quote> Last night I went down to the Apple store with Dr. Doval and I used my iPhone rebate to snag me one of them shiny new compact Bluetooth keyboards. It's very nice, it takes up almost no room on my desk, ... and I love how it feels when I'm typing - the spaces between the keys are great for touch typing. You almost never hit two keys at once. Setting it up with Ubuntu, however, is so far a complete pain in the ass. This post is sort of a warning for those who are curious if the keyboard will work with Ubuntu out of the box - the answer is "no". First, it took me a while to get the thing even paired with Ubuntu - even with Gutsy Gibbon's spanky new Bluetooth dialogs to help out. After I paired the keyboard, it still wasn't actually being recognized as a keyboard so I couldn't use it. I had to go into the /etc/default/bluetooth config file and manually add a connect string with the Bluetooth ID of the keyboard in order to get it to work. You can find the details on the Ubuntu forums. After I got it working to type, the function keys are still wonky. The Fn key, for example, isn't recognized yet, and the Command keys are being completely ignored. Additionally, I wasn't really paying attention when I got the keyboard, so it didn't dawn on me that it lacked Page Up and Page Down keys. Apparently you can hit the function key and arrows on a Mac to do this, but that's not working yet on my box. Also, there's no Print Screen key (no more screen shots) and no Insert key (so shift-insert for pasting in terminal windows is gone) and no dedicated Delete key (so deleting forward isn't easy). I'm sure I'll eventually work out how to get stuff working and find workarounds, but it's sadly not plug and play. That said, the keyboard is still *really* nice. I love the tactile feedback, the spacing and the general compact size. However, I'm thinking that I probably should have just gotten one of those bigger 101 key keyboards instead... I'll update this with more specific solutions if I figure stuff out any time soon. :-) <end quote> This won't affect people who only use the Mac, but since you want to boot multiple partitions that include Ubuntu or Debian linux using this keyboard could be a problem. HTH Cheers, Esther
