Keyboard locked up

Keyboard locked up: a reader asks…

Hi. I hit my Logitech Ultrathin keyboard and it has locked up and I do not know how to unlock it. I have also lost the scroll “up ” and “down” function on my iPad. Have switched on and switched off, but nothing is happening. Please Help!!!!!! Thank you.

When you say ‘hit’ I’m assuming you inadvertently pressed some keys, not that you damaged it. I’ve found that there are two common ways that people can mess up their technology, one is by inadvertently pressing key combinations that activate hidden controls, and the second is by inadvertently tapping or clicking on something. That’s why for computer touchpads (both Mac and PC), the first thing I suggest is to turn off the tap-to-click feature, so that only a physical click will work.

I’m going to assume that you’ve charged the keyboard – I’ve often found that some folks simply didn’t realize the keyboard has its own battery which needs recharging from time to time. It may be that you’ve accidentally turned off the bluetooth function on your keyboard or iPad (so it can’t communicate with the iPad). For the iPad, here’s how you check:

1. tap Settings, look to make sure that the entry beside Bluetooth says “On”. Then tap the Bluetooth entry on the Settings page.
2. Look at the list of My Devices. You should see an entry for your Logitech keyboard. If you don’t, then try turning the keyboard off and back on again. You should see the blue light above the delete key light up for a second, then go solid blue for a second (showing you’re connected) before going off. If you see a red light, you need to charge the keyboard.
3. Wait a few seconds and see if the Logitech keyboard shows up on your iPad’s list of My Devices.

If the above doesn’t work, then you should plug the keyboard into its USB charger, and leave it charging until the green light on the keyboard is solidly lit (not blinking). Then unplug the keyboard and turn it off and back on again.

Another thing to try is to turn off the iPad and turn it back on again. To do this, press and hold the power button till the ‘slide to power off’ indicator comes up on the iPad screen. Slide it to the right, then wait until the screen is completely blank. Then press and hold the power button until the screen lights up and then release the power button.

You’ll want to wait until your Pad is fully booted up before you check on the Bluetooth connection with your iPad, following the above 3 steps.

If none of the above work for you, then there’s probably something wrong with either the iPad, or more likely the keyboard. Repairing the keyboard hardware is generally not an option, the cost of repair would be as much as simply replacing it with a new one.