Return and delete don't work in OS X

May 24, 2006 7:35 PM

I've just copied all my data from an iBook G4 to a Macbook. For some reason, the delete and return keys don't work in Safari and Mail.app on the Macbook. I think I've solved this before but I can't remember how and can't find the answer.

I've updated everything to the latest binary. Only Saft is installed as an input manager. Application Enhancer is not installed.

posted by Mo Nickels to computers & internet (4 comments total)

PS: I tried it without Saft uninstalled to no avail. Saft shouldn't affect Mail.app anyway. The two keys work fine in other programs such as BBEdit and Firefox.
posted by Mo Nickels at 8:15 PM on May 24, 2006

Here's the most drastic elimination troubleshooting that I've done all at once:

Removed all user-added pref panes from both PreferencePanes folders.

Removed all Input Managers (including Saft and SIMBL) from both Input Manager folders.

Removed all login items.

Removed all startup items.

Moved the entire user Preferences folder out to the desktop.

Moved the entire user Application Support folder out to the desktop.

Rebooted into Safe mode.

At login, continued to hold down the shift key in case somethng had been missed.

And yet the problem sill persists. What could I have missed? Is there something inside Safari and Mail.app? Is there a rogue Service? Kexts are used for all profiles, so it's not one of those, right?

The next step is to get a snapshot of all running processes in the other user profile, which works, and compare it to the running processes in this profile, which doesn't. I'll do a similar comparison with the Services menu.
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:45 AM on May 25, 2006

Did you simply clone the drive onto the new macbook, or did you use the migration manager?
posted by lovejones at 6:29 AM on May 25, 2006

Also something you didn't try: Make a new user account, log in as that user, and see if the problem persists.
posted by xil at 11:57 AM on May 25, 2006