keyboard that no longer responds

[mirailleur]

Hello, I haven't found any previous posts discussing this issue. I'm currently playing on 2.0.43 experimental.
For about a month now, and on a 40-hour save, after about an hour of play, my wireless keyboard stops responding. No keys, nothing. It only happens to me on Factorio. What would be the solution to fix this? Thank you for your future responses.

[eugenekay]

So I'm not crazy!

I have anecdotally experienced dramatic periods of Lag or entirely dropped keypresses with Logitech Wireless keyboards using the Unifying receiver that presents as both a keyboard and mouse on the same USB Device, but not with "dumb" USB HID wireless keyboards, or with Laptop integrated keyboard + USB/Bluetooth external mice. This is using Windows 11, since approximately version 2.0.40. There was a fix for Shift-Click shortcuts; maybe the Input-handling code is allergic to change?

The behavior is most apparent when turning the K400 power on/off; while a Key is being held (Win-, Alt-, Spacebar). It seems like it gets stuck in the "Key Up" or "Key Down" state somewhere in the driver stack... but this does not always get passed to the Factorio window depending on whether the game was being opened/closed at the time.

I have not been able to get a proper Reproduction for a Bug Report yet.... this happens on one particular system which is also my TV when:

• Have Factorio and a Web Browser running at the same time
• Alt-Tab or Win-Tab to switch Windows
• Press "Space" to un-pause eg, YouTube video
• Turn off Physical Power button on keyboard to prevent accidental Input during Video playback
• Turn on Keyboard power
• Switch back to Factorio; some keys don't work anymore.

Once the game is in this state, it will sometimes "eat" all Keyboard input (the Mouse cursor and clicking still works, so there is signal between the Keyboard and the USB receiver), or it will buffer it for 10-30 seconds before rapid-fire playback (maybe the receiver radio or USB Driver is buffering it somewhere?), or only some Input will be blocked (Escape still works, usually). This occurs in both Factorio itself, and in other programs eg, Notepad.

Stopping the Factorio process usually fixes the issue. Restarting the computer always fixes it.

[mirailleur]

It's quite technical what you're telling me there, I didn't understand everything. But otherwise yes it's a USB dongle that manages the mouse and the keyboard (the brand is JOYACCESS). Once, the keyboard responded but not to the repetition of the same key and it produced a sound when I tried to repeat a key. I checked the box to run the game in administrator mode, I don't know if that will have an effect. Do you think the developers are aware of the problem? How can I contact them?

[NineNine]

Do you think the developers are aware of the problem? How can I contact them?

You should read this post, then follow the instructions:
viewtopic.php?t=52433

[eugenekay]

It's quite technical what you're telling me there, I didn't understand everything. But otherwise yes it's a USB dongle that manages the mouse and the keyboard (the brand is JOYACCESS). Once, the keyboard responded but not to the repetition of the same key and it produced a sound when I tried to repeat a key. I checked the box to run the game in administrator mode, I don't know if that will have an effect. Do you think the developers are aware of the problem? How can I contact them?

This Forum Topic is already the best place. This is not yet a “Bug Report”, since there is not a 100% reliable (or even 10%) way to Reproduce the problem, and show that it is Factorio’s fault - the fact that I sometimes have to restart Windows completely makes it seem like hardware or Windows Drivers.

I will look at some other wireless & wired USB Keyboard/Mouse combinations that I have an available to try to reproduce this issue reliably myself, now that I know this is not just my one Keyboard being janky - I was sniffing with a SDR dongle to determine if there was RF interference, but it seemed pretty normal…. I still have not ruled that out.

[mirailleur]

I'm just a newbie but a bug report doesn't get deleted when you close factorio? Because being able to recover it when the keyboard becomes a placebo is ironic lol.Thank you in any case for all these details and the time you spend.maybe i should get a wired keyboard

[eugenekay]

I'm just a newbie but a bug report doesn't get deleted when you close factorio? Because being able to recover it when the keyboard becomes a placebo is ironic lol.Thank you in any case for all these details and the time you spend.maybe i should get a wired keyboard

There is a Subforum for Bug Reports - but this Post is already in the right place, if it’s a Hardware problem.

I was not able to reproduce the problem after 15 minutes of fiddling this morning. Random issues are always a pleasure to debug.

Wired mice/keyboards are the most Reliable & have the least Lag because there is no Radio chips involved. The speed of light and electrical signals are essentially the same at this scale, but it takes extra time to translate back & forth to USB, and Microwaves don’t play nice. I like Logitech brand products, they generally Just Work.

[NineNine]

I only use IBM Type M keyboards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard). Because they're so old, I have to plug them into simple little PS2 -> USB converters. Invariably, they glitch on me every so often. Usually, that glitch is that they'll repeat a keyboard character a few times. Sometimes, I have to unplug the keyboard and plug it back in. I chalk this up to the USB conversion thing. I think that a wired, USB keyboard is always going to be the most reliable.