2

I am using a Retina iMac 5K running Mac OS X El Capitan connected with a Apple A1843 wired (USB) keyboard with F1 thru F19 and numpad.

I expect (as per icons on key-tops):

F1 dim brightness F2 brighten F3 mission control F4 multiple windows ...etc... F10 mute F11 sound quieter F12 sound louder, and F13 - F19 not assigned

What I get:

all F keys do nothing, except F14 (old F1, dims screen), and F15 (old F2, brighten), regardless of state of fn modifier key.

A complication:

I cannot get the function keys at top of the keyboard to work as advertised, even with the modifier keys (fn, control, shift, option, command). I tried to check the box for Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys under System Preferences → Keyboard but the option is missing.

screenshot of Mac dialog

A test of key scans:

I ran the xev program in XQuartz (X11) environment and verified that the system is responding to keypresses on the function keys (see comments).

Q: How do I reset the function keys to do what they advertise?

Eric O
  • 131
  • What steps have you tried so far to fix this? Also, is this the keyboard that came with your iMac? – Jake3231 Mar 30 '18 at 22:50
  • I have tried different kbd combinations and rebooting. The keyboard is an Apple kbd but it did not come with the iMac (which uses a Bluetooth one). – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 00:03
  • Have you attempted to use a different wired or wireless keyboard? – Jake3231 Mar 31 '18 at 00:06
  • Those keys may not be functioning. See this post for a way to determine if macOS is seeing the key presses. – Allan Mar 31 '18 at 00:08
  • @Allan I installed XQuartz and ran the xev command as specified. The system sees F1 thru F13 but has no symbol for F14 thru F19. – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 00:27
  • @Jake3231 no other kbds available – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 00:27
  • model A1843 USB kbd with numpad – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 00:36
  • Yes I am seeing the keypresses - reread the comment. SE wants us to stop this extended comment. – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 01:21
  • Do you get a scan code(s) when you press F14 - F19? Not symbols, scan codes. – Allan Mar 31 '18 at 01:23
  • yes I get scan codes for F13, and F16-19. F14 and F15 adjust the screen brightness like F1 and F2 were supposed to do. This seems to be getting off track. I just want my functions back. – Eric O Mar 31 '18 at 01:29
  • It's off track because details are missing. This is the first we're hearing about F14/15 now adjust brightness. From your question and everything up to that point was that, as you stated "I cannot get the function keys at top of the keyboard to work,". Please edit your question and describe specifically the issue you're having. – Allan Mar 31 '18 at 01:35

0 Answers0