--- Forwarded Message from Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]> --- >Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 17:07:18 -0600 >From: Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]> >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: #7291.2 Disappearing Keyboard Icon in OS X (!) >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> >References: <[log in to unmask]> ------------------ I know of three different issues affecting the menu bar keyboard icon in Mac OS X. As David and others pointed out, there is a nifty design feature in the OS, which allows quick rotation between selected input methods and/or keyboard layouts. > Yes. Almost certainly you're inadvertently hitting > command-spacebar, which is the command to rotate among the > installed (selected) keyboard layouts within the currently > selected input method. You also have the option of turning on > command-option-spacebar which will select the next installed input > method. In addition, there is the dubious design feature, which may automatically switch keyboards, when you switch applications. For example, suppose you are working in a program that supports Unicode, and you have selected a Unicode keyboard. If you switch to an application which doesn't support Unicode (and sadly, many apps still don't), your keyboard will immediately change to a non-Unicode keyboard layout (probably a Roman layout). When you change back to the first application, the selected keyboard will _not_ change back to Unicode. I find this very annoying, when I am cutting and pasting between apps with different capabilities. A work-around is to create a keyboard layout that registers itself with the OS as a Roman layout, but can generate Unicode characters. I do this at the website <http://wordherd.com/keyboards/>. >> but I've noticed that switching to a new app will require resetting the desired keyboard. For example, if you are typing in Japanese with kotoeri input in Word, then switch to Dreamweaver, the keyboard will switch back to US, and you'll have to reset it to kotoeri. << Finally, I believe that there is a bug, which sometimes causes the OS to lose track of which, if any, keyboard or input method is selected. On starting up the computer, there may be no keyboard icon visible at all. Or it may have reset itself to a different choice than when you shut down. Or it may have set itself to a keyboard that you never even selected as an option. My G4 seems to like Turkish, for some of its periodic flights of fancy. The most frequent symptom of this bug, for me, is for the menu bar keyboard icon to disappear entirely. Sometimes restarting will restore the icon. Sometimes it will cause the problem. I mentioned earlier that Repairing Permisions seems to help, but it isn't guaranteed. Going to System Preferences>International>Input Menu, and selecting or deselecting any keyboard will bring back the menu bar icon, at least for a while. When my computers are in this state, pressing <command-space> has no visible effect. In contrast to another posting, I have observed this on machines which don't have Carbon Copy Cloner installed. It has happened to me even after a completely clean install on a newly initialized disk. I haven't yet observed the problem on OS 10.2.8, but I have only been running it for a few days. A tangential problem: Final Cut Pro 3 and 4 will instantly crash when I have certain custom keyboards selected, and use key combinations like command-S. If you have problems with Final Cut crashes, try switching back to the US keyboard, and see if that helps. Derek Roff Language Learning Center, MSC03-2100 Ortega Hall Rm 129, 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885 Internet: [log in to unmask]