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I'm not sure how to word the problem other than I can't use certain keys at the same time. For example, when playing games that require you to use the arrow keys to move and jump/duck I am unable to move to the left and jump (left arrow + up arrow) at the same time. As a result, I don't play many games when I get to a point where the jumps and what not are too far. This happens with other keys as well. In FPS I am unable to hold W to move forward and hit 2 to select my secondary weapon.

Some information that might help you:

  • I am using Windows 7 64-bit
  • I am using a Micro Innovations KB565BL keyboard

How can I fix this?

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    Consider buying a better keyboard (cheap keyboards have fewer wires, more keys have to share the same wires and thus the keyboard gets confused when multiple keys are pressed at once), or better yet, a gamepad/joystick... it was designed for this purpose.
    – Juliano
    Nov 22, 2009 at 2:38
  • Try using the PS/2 connection if possible. Might help.
    – ngen
    Feb 2, 2011 at 18:59
  • It's really nice to be here to give you a couple of useful bits of information. I bought the PC game sniper elite and when I installed it I just wanted to enter in the option _keystrock of game_but the fact some keys couldn't be changed for example "a" to change it to move left and "d" to move right and some others keys too. Unfortunatly couldn't work up so is there any idea for it ?..... please I need help
    – user65808
    Feb 2, 2011 at 22:47
  • I had this same problem, but thought it was an issue with Ubuntu: askubuntu.com/questions/493753/…. Turns out my keyboard simply has a combination of 4 keys that I use as a shortcut, and it's thus quite inconvenient.
    – jcora
    Jul 12, 2014 at 15:15

4 Answers 4

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This is a hardware limitation, as the other answers suggest. I used to have the exact same problem gaming with an older logitech keyboard that had a 3-key rollover. Cheap keyboards frequently have this problem.

If you want to ensure that you never have to deal with this issue again, I suggest purchasing a das keyboard, which has N-key rollover. In other words, you could be pressing every key on the keyboard at once, and all of the keystrokes would still register.

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  • Actually the n-key rollover maxes out at 12 keys. Still impressive, but not as impressive as what you said. :)
    – Marcin
    Nov 22, 2009 at 5:36
  • Yes, this. Also most keyboard get stuck at different numbers of keys. For example, I cant it DOWN and LEFT/RIGHT on the arrow keys at the same time. It works with UP though. (Yes, I can't go diagonal backwards in games :( )
    – sinni800
    Feb 2, 2011 at 18:47
  • Das Keyboard maxes out at 6 key rollover on usb (standard USB keyboard protocol limitation); and with ps2 ports starting to go the way of the dodo, 7+ key rollover is going to become increasingly less important as time goes by.
    – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight
    Feb 2, 2011 at 19:25
  • For some reason, as good as Logitech is at making mice, as bad it is at keyboards... Best computer mouse around: MX518.
    – polemon
    Apr 3, 2011 at 0:23
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Almost all consumer keyboards have combinations that don't work. It is unfortunate, but you just have to find the dead combinations and avoid using those keys for gaming.

However, even cheapo keyboards typically support 3-key rollover in which case you should not be able to hit a jamming combination with just two keys. If that's what's happening you have either a hardware fault or a spectacularly rubbish keyboard.

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For anyone still having this problem, I've run into a similar issue recently, and I found out something interesting. How many keys I could push was actually affected by the USB port I was using. I found this out after moving my computer, and apparently plugging it into a different port than normal, where two button combinations that normally worked no longer did. After switching to a different port, the problem was resolved.

Hope this helps.

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To my knowledge, this can actually be a limitation in the hardware, so you might have to get a new keyboard. Does it work correctly in other computers and/or with other operating systems?

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