Hi Will, Simon, Anne, and Others
I thought of one more obvious thing to try before asking for sighted
help. Since the problem with the original Input Menu shortcuts is
that they are simultaneously set to both these items and the
Spotlight shortcuts, first try unchecking the checkbox for the "Show
Spotlight search field". This is the basic Command-Space Spotlight
shortcut that conflicts with the original shortcut for "Select the
previous input source" that we are trying to re-assign. I would try
to uncheck the boxes for both actions that use the same "Command-
Space" shortcut before trying to reassign the shortcut sequence for
"Select the previous input source". The other thing I might try to
do is move my mouse cursor to the check box and check it by pressing
the trackpad key, and I could try double-clicking on the keyboard
shortcut by moving my mouse cursor to the keyboard shortcut and then
pressing the trackpad key twice quickly in succession. I don't think
this is the problem, and I'd only try this if assigning the new
shortcut with the "Show Spotlight search field" shortcut unchecked
doesn't work. However, I think this is the ONLY thing that a sighted
person does differently in making these reassignments, unless there
is a genuine bug that can only be caught visually - like the box
becoming unchecked, and having to repeat the assignment.
So, starting from the table of the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the
Keyboard & Mouse Menu, try the following:
1. Navigate to the end of the table (scrolling if necessary) with VO-
keys-Fn-Shift-Right Arrow (this is VO-Shift-End on a desktop).
2. VO-left twice to the description column
3. VO-up to "Show Spotlight search field"
4. VO-left to the checkbox and uncheck it (VO-space)
5. VO-right past the description to the current keyboard shortcut
assigned and verify this is "Command-Space", then VO-left back to the
description "Show Spotlight search field"
6. VO-up to "Select the previous input source"
7. VO-left to the checkbox and uncheck it with VO-space (so both
keyboard assignments for "Show Spotlight search field" and "Select
the previous input source" are unchecked at the same time)
8. Check the checkbox for "Select the previous input source" (VO-space)
9. VO-right past the description to the keyboard shortcut
10. Route your mouse cursor to your VoiceOver cursor (VO-keys-Command-
F5 or VO-keys-Fn-Command-F5 on older laptops)
11. Doubleclick with VO-Shift-Space by holding down the Control,
Option, and Shift keys and tapping the space bar twice quickly
12. Press the Option, Shift, and Space keys to assign the new shortcut
13. VO-left to the "Select the previous input source" description
14. Move your mouse cursor to the description (and off the shortcut
key) as a precaution with VO-keys-Command-F5 (or VO-keys-Fn-Command-
F5 for older laptops).
15. VO-right to check whether the new shortcut is now "Option-Shift-
Space"
16. VO-left to make sure the checkbox for this shortcut is still
checked.
17. VO-right to the description column, then VO-down to the "Show
Spotlight search field" shortcut.
18. VO-left to the checkbox for "Show Spotlight search field" and
check the checkbox (VO-space).
19. Stop interacting with the table (VO-keys-Shift-Up Arrow)
20. Tab to the Show All button and press (VO-space) to navigate back
to the System Preferences menu
21. Type "I N" to go to the International Menu button and press (VO-
space)
22. VO-right to the "Input Menu" tab and press (VO-space) to select
23. VO-right past the table. The Input Menu shortcuts should be
listed as:
Select previous input source: Option-Shift-Space
Select next input source in menu: Option-Space
24. Command-W to close the System Preferences Window
These instructions work for me with the latest version of Tiger
(10.4.11). We know that Leopard changed at least one set of options
for the Input menu, because you can only use one input source in all
documents, and on Tiger I get additional entries after the Input menu
shortcuts for Input source options with radio button:
Use one input source in all documents
Allow a different input source for each document
The other thing that is different about the Leopard setups is that
Simon and Will both have other software (from Ultralingua) that could
potentially use the same shortcut key. I think this is very unlikely
to be the source of the problem.
If anyone who is experiencing this problem of assigning a new
shortcut key to "Select previous input source" under Leopard has a
second user account on their machine, I'd be very curious to learn
whether the problem assigning the shortcut exists on that account,
which doesn't have multiple language inputs, language software
preferences, etc. I keep a test account on my machine for these
purposes.
If you want to try creating a second account for test purposes,
Apple's instructions on how to create a new user account in Leopard
are given in this article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8235.html
(Mac OS X 10.5 Help: Creating a new user account)
The quick Voice-Over specific comments that I'd give to summarize
those detailed instructions are that you'll have to first tab to the
lock button and press it (VO-space) in order to add an account once
you have navigated to the "Accounts" page in System Preferences.
(You hear something like "Click the lock to make changes" and then a
window comes up so that you can authorize your changes by typing in
your (Administrator) password and press return)
After you unlock, I'd VO-left to the button for adding an account and
press (VO-space). You'll be prompted for Name, Short Name, Password,
Retyped Password for Verification, and Password Hint, and there will
be a checkbox for to allow the user Administrator privileges that you
can leave unchecked. For these purposes you can just make the Name
and Short Name something like "test", then VO-right and press the
"Create" button. If your machines are set to automatically log in
when you start up, you may want to use item chooser to bring up
"Login Options" and uncheck the box for "Automatically log in as"
and choose one of the options for Display login window as either list
of users or Name and Password. The checkbox for "Use VoiceOver at
login window should be checked." Tab back to the lock button and lock
it again (VO-space) when you've made all your changes, and before
closing the window.
HTH
Cheers,
Esther
On Aug 22, 2008, at 1:54 AM, will lomas wrote:
hi can i just say, snap!
For the next input source I double clicked the next input source
shortcut and heard text, so typed option space and indeed it works
but I too, can not get the Previous Input Source item to be the
same as the next item option space
even for me it is stubborn and is remaining at command space
On 22 Aug 2008, at 12:38, Simon Cavendish wrote:
Dear Anne,
I have carried out the suggested actions but the result is I fear
the same: I cannopt change the coomand+space shortcut for changing
thep previous input source. On top of that, the check box next to
this item be comes unchecked when I try to change the shortcut key
to a new one. It is strange indeed. The only other option is to
try to do this with a sighted person. I haven't had a chance to
grab anybody yet. I will let you and Esther know what happens if a
sighted person attempts to change the shortcut using the physical
mouse. I have tried all comibinations: routing the mouse to the
voiceover cursor and linking the mouse to follow the voiceover
cursor via the Voiceover utility. Both have failed.
Many thanks for bearing with me in trying to solve this strange
behaviour.
With best wishes
Simon
On 21 Aug 2008, at 15:16, Anne Robertson wrote:
Hello Simon,
Your machine seems to be behaving oddly. Perhaps it would be a
good idea to zap the PRAM. To do this, shut down your computer,
then hold down the Command, Option, P and R keys and press the
power key. Keep the four keys held down until you've heard the
chime three times, then let them go and your machine will boot
normally.
After that, do Repair Disk Permissions. I can't promise that this
will help, but it's worth a try.
Cheers,
Anne
