Strange keyboard problem

haspfallbazz wrote on 9/26/2006, 8:47 PM
I'd been using VMS Platinum 6 on my old computer (HP Pavilion zt3000, WinXP) with no problems. I had to get a new computer (HP Pavilion 5230, WinXP Media Center), installed VMS (version 6.0b, build 126), and found this little glitch:
the CTRL+ALT+arrowkey combination doesn't work to move the cursor to the start & end of events, even though CTRL+arrowkey and CTRL+SHIFT+arrowkey combos work fine.

I just upgraded to VMS Platinum 7, but the problem persists. (The ALT key works on my computer, as does the CTRL+ALT+DEL combo, so it doesn't seem like a hardware problem). HP customer service says it must be an issue with the program; Sony customer service says it must be an issue with my computer.

Anyone have a similar problem and/or suggested solution?

Comments

rustier wrote on 9/26/2006, 10:52 PM
never hear of your problem before.

Just a mad stab in the dark here - but is is possible for you to use the old keyboard - to to eliminate the weird possibility of some defect (even though other combos work)? {who knows, maybe it was made on a friday just before 5pm on the beginning of a long holiday weekend and something "happened".

the only other thing that comes to mind is to check and see if you have all the latest drivers (for your "human interface"). even though its a new computer it is possible the driver is out of date

thats all I can think of at the moment.
haspfallbazz wrote on 9/26/2006, 11:05 PM
Good suggestion, but no, I can't use the old keyboard: (1) the old computer was a notebook (which I no longer possess in any case), and (2) the new computer is a notebook with no external keyboard port.

All drivers are up-to-date.
IanG wrote on 9/27/2006, 1:07 AM
You should be able to connect an external keyboard via a USB port. If you've got MS Word installed, try assigning <ctrl><alt><left> as a shortcut to one of your styles - it should help identify where the problem is.

Ian G.
Chienworks wrote on 9/27/2006, 4:30 AM
It could be some program pre-installed on the new computer that is "stealing" that key combination. I use Trillian for instant messaging and it always grabs Shift-Ctrl-A for some obscure function even when Vegas is the active window. It was pretty annoying since i would never use the Trillian function it maps to, but i would really like to use that key combination in Vegas. Alas, Trillian is useful enough to me that i've suffered with it for years.

Fortunately, the latest Trillian update that just came out a couple of weeks ago finally allows key combinations to be changed or disabled. So now i finally have my unselect all back in Vegas!
haspfallbazz wrote on 9/27/2006, 8:22 AM
I could try an external USB keyboard, but while that may help to see whether it's a hardware issue (which I doubt), I couldn't carry around an external keyboard to do work.
I don't have MS Word - I use OpenOffice, which doesn't seem to use any CTRL+ALT combinations. I've tried finding another program on my computer that uses some CTRL+ALT combo but can't find one.
haspfallbazz wrote on 9/27/2006, 8:33 AM
BINGO!
The culprit: the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver program. I disabled the "Hot Keys" option, and now all is well in VMS.
thanks!