Keyboard beep / key doesnt respond when pressing 3 keys

[Logi7]

ive always known this but it hasent really bugged me till i started playing soem games on my t42

the keybord only recongizes 2 keys at a time
if i press a 3rd it just beeps at me and doesnt respond

what can i do?


or do i just have to accept this

[lfeagan]

There are a lot of PS/2 keyboards that don't accept more than 2 key presses at a time. As hilarious as it might sound initially, there are actually gamer keyboards that accept like 8 simultaneous keypresses on them and they advertise this as a "big feature".

This might provide some more insight:
http://twomix.devolution.com/pipermail/ ... 41486.html

[Logi7]

other lap tops dont seem to have this problem

[Kenn]

I posted about this same topic a while ago:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

I got a lot of (un)helpful responses such as "it doesn't happen to me, you need to learn how to type." What, 100wpm isn't fast enough for you people? Sheesh.

I first noticed this as a problem on my desktop keyboards more than 10 years ago when I was playing Doom, but you're right that it's been a non-issue for so long that I had forgotten all about it when it happened to me on the thinkpad.

In the end, I figured c'est la vie. I don't play too many games anymore, and the tactile response of the thinkpad keyboard is so much better than anything else out there that I'll live with the occasional beep.

If you're gaming, I recommend maximizing mouse button usage (but do so with the thumb and third/fourth fingers so you can simulatanously press them if needed) to take over some common keyboard commands. Also, you'll notice that because of the serial layout, some keys can be pressed in >2 combinations. "OUN" doesn't work, but many long combos such as outesab can be struck without problems - so you can remap the conflicting keys to allow more simultaneous presses.

Best,
Kenn

[lfeagan]

The link I posted earlier does do a decent job of at least getting the point across about why this happens. It's all about the gridding of the keyboard. To those who have ever looked at the traces on their keyboards this should come as no mystery.

[Logi7]

i cant belive that nobody bring this issue up

for me its pretty big... even when im not playing games
just tested a few dells - none of which have this problem

[n3il]

Give this a bash....

Device manager -> View -> Devices by connection -> Show Hidden Devices -> Right click on "Beep" and Disable.

That should stop it.... the beep at least...I think.

[Kenn]

Give this a bash....

Device manager -> View -> Devices by connection -> Show Hidden Devices -> Right click on "Beep" and Disable.

That should stop it.... the beep at least...I think.

True, but I didn't mention this because it's not a solution - the beep may go away, but 1) this stops all system error beeps, and 2) it doesn't prevent the keyboard from choking on the >2 key problem, which is what the OP actually cares about. I'm quite surprised that this long-dead problem has popped up again, and on the the best laptop keyboard available at that.

[apoll0]

Yeah, this really sux. I thought IBM didn't have this problem (like the HP did). I can't NOZ accelerate & steer at the same time (NFSU-2)

[Kenn]

Hey, all the more reason to get a USB wheel

[Logi7]

Yeah, this really sux. I thought IBM didn't have this problem (like the HP did). I can't NOZ accelerate & steer at the same time (NFSU-2)

hahah thats where i found out
keeps beeping and crap

i remapped the wasd keys for nitrous/shifting/handbrake and works ok now

but still pretty stupid problem for such an expensive machine