num lock disabled

[resonance]

Hi. I've started to dabble in the MyGesture editor and have created a few customizations. Nothing extreme, just changing a few of the default cmd-key macros.

After uploading the changes, my num lock key doesn't work, and this is a pain because I use the num pad a lot. I reverted to defaults and uploaded those, and still the num lock key doesn't work.

What did I do to break my num lock key? More importantly, how can I unbreak it?

[as an aside regarding the num lock/caps lock keys: it really would be good for the next version of the hardware to have some kind of LED to indicate if either of these locks are on. The LEDs don't have to be on the keyboard surface; I could see small ones perhaps mounted into the bezel. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've tried to enter a password after coming out of a screensaver, only to find out that one or the other (or both) of the locks were on! It's kind of like shooting in the dark...]

[Syzygies]

I too couldn't get the Num Lock key to do anything. I corresponded enough with tech support to understand that my Mac OS X 10.3 won't play nice with the key. I never made it clear that it wouldn't work in "toggle internally" mode either, which it should.

Nevertheless, there is an easy solution that works like a charm: For your favorite keyboard layout filter (should be Dvorak) redefine the Num Lock key to the internal function macro "Turn NumLock On". For the NumberPad layout filter, instead redefine the Num Lock key to the internal function macro "Turn NumLock Off". (This same principle can be used to make a single key advance through any cycle of keyboard layouts, such as between Dvorak and QWERTY. I love the NumberPad, etc, for storing arbitrary text and command strings, and I wish that like arbitrary gesture sets there could be an arbitrary number of user pads.)

It is also useful to assign a left hand gesture like "Word Pointing" or "Number-Row Chord" to the internal function macro "Hold NumberPad On", for short bursts and to access custom strings such as name-tab-password-return combos for frequently accessed web sites. I find the "Word Pointing" gesture most valuable, because it is an easy two fingers that work independent of position, so I recommend saving it for the most valued layout filter.

[resonance]

Syzygies, your tip about the word pointing gesture is fantastic. I'm new to the gesture editor, so my awareness of the power behind the touchstream is extremely nascent.

I couldn't get the num lock workaround you described to work, however. The word pointing modifier works like a charm, but redefining the numlock key to the internal function "switch numlock on" wouldn't work.

Am I doing this correctly? I go into the Editor, scroll down the surface keys until I find "numlock", select the "querty" layout filter (since I use the keyboard in querty), click the "change" button and change the default macro from "keystroke: numlock" to "internal function ref: switch numlock on".

Is that correct?

[Syzygies]

Yes, that's what I did, and it works for me. Try experimenting with both states of "toggle numlock internally", perhaps that key is special and my approach only works in one of the two modes?

I do think something is wrong with Num Lock that will get fixed in future firmware. The programmer in me wants to obsess until I understand, the rest of me just wants to move on. I thought I was ready to move on until my advice didn't work for you. If you can't get anything to work, contact tech support. They will tell you as they told me that using a left hand modifier is handier, but e.g. when I'm entering grades for a class of 250 I just want my custom numpad stuck on. Also, I can't scratch off the Windows-only keys but it bothers me to have something that says Num Lock but doesn't work, hence my workaround.

[resonance]

Ah, a fellow teacher. Indeed, that's why I want to get the key working.

As for the Windows-only keys, I've changed most of them to something useful. Print Screen, for example, issues a cmd-shift-3, which on my machine calls up Snapz Pro. When used in combination with DragThing, which allows me to assign hotkeys to apps or documents, the extra keys come in handy quite a bit.

I'll mess around with numlock over the weekend. Thanks much for your help.

[resonance]

Fingerworks folks--anything that can be done about numlock on the LP under OS X 10.3.2?

[DoctorJack]

Originally posted by resonance
Fingerworks folks--anything that can be done about numlock on the LP under OS X 10.3.2?


The numlock key should work to enable/disable the embedded numpad on OS X 10.3 . We've tested it for both the LP and the MacNTouch. To enable the numlock key you should check "Toggle NumLock Internally" on the Typing panel of the MyGesture Editor. If you use the Feature Selector to make this selection you may be inadvertently deleting this function when you later use the MyGesture Editor to make other changes. Any feature that was enable with the Feature Selector that is not mirrored in the Editor will be disabled when you download the new Editor file to the TouchStream. The only way to preserve all your settings is to make them in the MyGesture Editor.

[resonance]

Dr Jack,

The typing panel of MyGesture Editor was the trick--"toggle numlock internally" was unchecked (though for the life of me I don't know how it got that way; I've never seen that panel before).

Thanks a bunch. This will make the work I have to do this weekend much better.

[resonance]

OK, this is getting a little tiresome.

I can change the settings in MyGesture Editor's typing pane to have the "toggle numlock internally" checked and I can reset the numlock key to default macro settings.

The changes work for a while but don't stick. After a few hours if I hit NumLock, the system responds with an alert sound, and no lock occurs.

I have to reload MyGesture Editor and resend the xml file to the TS. And it all happens again.

Any ideas?

[fingerworks]

Are you using a 'Hold Numberpad On' chord in the lefthand number row too? What if you just replug instead of reloading settings from MyGesture Editor?

[RJ Wiese]

I just updated the L4F on the numeric key row so it turnes on the Numeric keypad as long as I am holding the cord. It is working very well. That is a great improvement as I do a lot of data entry that uses both Alpha and Numeric. Even less movement now.

[Syzygies]

After applying the 1.36 update, the default NumLock assignment still doesn't work consistently for me; my work-around posted above continues to work.

[fingerworks]

Yes, Mac OS X 10.3 simply doesn't recognize the USB Numlock key (unlike 10.2). So you must either use a 'Turn Numlock On' macro as you suggest, or make sure 'Independent NumLock Toggling' is checked in the Feature Selector Typing pane.