Does anyone know of a way to get modifier keys to work across USB devices in OSX?
I have a USB footswitch that sends a left control key. It sends the signal as expected but does not register shortcuts. Pressing it and then pressing "left" does not trigger the appropriate shortcut, but when I hit control and left on built in macbook pro keyboard it works as expected.
I found the following on the kinesis website:
Note: Modifier actions from one USB device cannot modify the input of
a second USB device due to limitations designed into the Apple
operating system. Example: Shift, Control, Command, or Option
keystrokes programmed into the footswitch cannot modify the input of a
separate USB keyboard or mouse. However, a key sequence like ‘Cmd-W’
or ‘Cmd-Shift-left arrow’ will work on a Macintosh if the entire
sequence of keystrokes has been pre-programmed into the footswitch.
(Footswitch can only be programmed on a Windows PC).
This explains what I am experiencing. I tested it by trying the same thing with an external usb keyboard. I would press the left control on the external usb keyboard and the "left" arrow on the built in keyboard and it would not register. BUt when hitting the "left" arrow and the control key on the usb keyboard it registered as expected.
Does anyone know how to fix this issue?
Best Answer
I ended up creating my own "keyboard combiner". It lets me use the Kinesis Savant Elite Triple Foot Pedals for shift, alt, and command modifiers on a Mac.
https://github.com/davidbkemp/KeyboardCombinerArduinoSketch/wiki
It is quite easy to assemble, but I cannot guarantee that it will work for you. It certainly does not work with some pedals and some keyboards. For the Kinesis pedals, you will initially need to configure them to act as shift, alt, and command keys, and that means using a PC to do the initial configuration.