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I have a Logitech MK250 keyboard I use with my Macbook. One day the "minor/mayor than" and the "back slash" keys flip their functionality, so I have to hit "backslash" to get a "minor than" symbol and press the "alt + minor than" key to get the "backslash". Is there any way to reverse this annoying behavior? I often switch to Windows, where the keys work the expected way, and I'm always missing the right key.

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Telling us your keyboard layout might be helpful. There's no single key for less-than and greater-than on both US and International keyboard. – Daniel Beck May 11 '11 at 6:22
Does the internal keyboard of the Macbook behave differently than the Logitech? – Daniel Beck May 11 '11 at 6:29
I have spanish ISO layout. Opening Keyboard Viewer I see the top-left key (left of 1 key) displays "minor than" symbol, when it should be "backslash". The "minor than" key (betwen left shift and Z keys) does not even show, although it works as "backslash" key – David Casillas May 11 '11 at 7:06
It just happened on my father's iMac, probably due to the automatic keyboard recognition procedure... – user87324 Jun 24 '11 at 6:48
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closed as too localized by random♦ May 7 at 13:05

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2 Answers

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Open System Preferences » Language & Text » Input Sources and

  • Make sure the correct keyboard layout is selected
  • Enable Show Input menu in menu bar and Keyboard and Character viewer.

Click the Input menu item and select Keyboard Viewer, and check to see what the system thinks your key assignments are.

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I have spanish ISO layout. Opening Keyboard Viewer I see the top-left key (left of 1 key) displays "minor than" symbol, when it should be "backslash". The "minor than" key (betwen left shift and Z keys) does not even show, although it works as "backslash" key. – David Casillas May 11 '11 at 7:04
@David Please answer my question regarding the Macbook's own keyboard layout. Also, did it behave differently before? It sounds like your international-style keyboard gets recognized as US-style (with larger shift key, and different return key), does that sound about right? How does Keyboard Viewer display these layouts when you disconnect the external keyboard? Did you install Logitech drivers or software for the keyboard? – Daniel Beck May 11 '11 at 7:10
MacBooks layout is basic the same as Logitech's one. The Us-layout is what it looks like in keyboard viewer, but some only spanish keys are displayed (and work) like "ñ" and "¡". When disconnected, the viewer shows the correct MacBook layout. I didn't install drivers since no support is offered for MacOSX, (but they used to work fine). When I switch to VirtualBox/WindowsXP the keyboard works fine. – David Casillas May 11 '11 at 7:58
@David So the keyboard layout displayed by Keyboard Viewer changes depending on whether you have your external keyboard plugged in, switching from 102 (extra key next to left shift) to 101 keys? – Daniel Beck May 11 '11 at 8:10
When I use Logitech keyboard, keyboard viewer displays a 101 keyboard. When I use MacBook's keyboard it displays a 102 keyboard. It's not when I unplug the keyboard that the layout displayed changes, but pressing a key in one keyboard or the other. The MAcBook keyboard works perfect. – David Casillas May 11 '11 at 8:21
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Delete file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboardtype.plist and reboot, then recognize the keyboard again with the Assistant.

To delete that file, you can open up a Terminal and type:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboardtype.plist
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That approach seems right. Fortunately after Lion clean install the keyboard return to normal behavior so I cannot test your approach and confirm it works to mark it as solved. – David Casillas Oct 9 '11 at 11:26
ok never mind. Might be useful for others, too. Have fun with Lion! – gd1 Oct 9 '11 at 12:36
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