Mac OS X 10.2.x Disables Modifier Keys?

drunkToaster writes " Adobe's support pages note that Mac OS X 10.2.x fails to re-enable modifier keys after an authentication session. The keys are disabled during the user/password dance as a security measure. Adobe explains a workaround for the problem which drastically effects many of its applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc)." This makes no sense to me; I authenticate to various servers etc. all day long, and never have problems with modifier keys. The Adobe explanation seems wholly inadequate.

GetCurrentModifierKeys()

It's only true if the application in question uses GetKeys() to determine the state of the modifier keys. In some recent posts to the mac-games-dev mailing list (many games still use this function) this was acknowledged by Apple as a known bug (#3149605).

The proper way to do it is call GetCurrentModifierKeys(), as GetKeys() is one of the bits of rot that didn't get dropped when Apple moved to OS X.

They're on crack

When you activate an authentication process in Mac OS X (for example, you enter a password, access an SMB server, or allow access to password-protected volumes via the system preferences), the operating system switches to a secure input mode and disables the Shift and Option keys and the spacebar (also called modifier keys). Disabling these keys prevents other network connections from accessing the keyboard input stream and compromising security.

(emphasis mine)

If the password dialog caused the shift key to be disabled, how the heck am I able to log in with my mixed-case password, huh? I use my Mac OS X constantly and I've never run into any problem that looks remotely like this. They're on crack.

Re:They're on crack

I believe they mean that they disable the pubilcaly accessible API for accessing the keyboard, and use their own private API to make it more difficult for another app to intercept your password.

It sounds like a reasonable precaution.

They just forgot to re-enable an semi-deprecated function for getting modifier keys afterwards. Sounds like a fairly minor bug, and I'm sure it'll be fixed in the next point release now that it's gotten coverage on /.

Happened to me yesterday

I was reinstalling 10.2.4 on a Rev A iBook and as I was rolling up the various
updates to get things current, I had to authenticate several times. I've got
some punctuation in my password and suddenly it was rejecting my pass.
I thought it was a hardware problem with the keyboard. I finally figured out
what happened, rebooted, and things started working ok again.

Ah, so SMB is to blame

My friend, a fellow designer, has been complaining about this problem on his work machine for quite a while. It only affected me very rarely. This is odd because i have the same quicksilver g4 at home as he has at work. The key difference would seem that he connects to SMB/Samba servers daily, which I never connect to.

And for those of you questioning the validity of this issue . . as realgone mentioned, option and shift are vital to successful use of Adobe design products. Option allows you to de-select items and subtract from the currently selected pixel area while shift allows you to select additional items and and additional pixels. Also option is used to define the cloned area for the cloning stamp.

FileMaker, Stupid Solutions and the number 42

FileMaker Pro running under classic (at least versions 4.1 and 5.0) has a wonderful problem. When you drag things in layout mode, FileMaker drag copies. This problem began in 10.2.3 or possibly earlier, so I suspect this little keyboard problem is the cause.

The solution Adobe gives is a _bad_ workaround. I really don't like leaving my machine completely open to the world by turning off the screensaver password. They should have to know more than the average script kiddie to break into my machine. ;} Has anyone figured out a better workaround?

Yup, I deal with this every day.

This is absolutely the most infuriating OS X problem i've run into yet... Perhaps even moreso than having to reboot when you forget to trash a network drive after you've left the office. Why? Because it's _unpredictable_. I.E. right now, everything's fine. But will it be 15 minutes from now??

Lord knows.

I can't IMAGINE how Apple could leave this unfixed. Makes no sense.

Wow.

I know some director coders who were getting this error and couldn't track it down. Hopefully, this is the issue.

To whomever caught it, good catch!

Adobe and modifier keys....

Grrrr! I'm constantly annoyed that Adobe thought that it would be cool in Illustrator if Cmd-H hides/shows object edges, rather than hiding the application (unlike every other OSX app!) Even if I'm not getting the error in the story, that particular modifier key is useless to me because I can't remember to use some different key combination to hide Illustrator!

I've noticed this.

I noticed this, but couldn't figure out what caused the problem. (I have a new iBook).

There is a game called Deimos Rising bundled that uses modifier keys. When it stopped working moving from 10.2.3 to 10.2.4 I was damn angry, even if I never play it.

My photoshop is also effected. I can use commands like cmd-q, but I can't do things like hold the option to change my lasso type!

About time someone releases a knowledgebase. I'm dissapointed that it wasn't Apple however. There must be lots of apps effected.

I think it depends on the machine...

I use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign all day, every day. I am running 10.2.4. I even connect to SMB servers at work.

So what's the deal? I tried recreating the conditions in the Adobe article by doing exactly the opposite of their instructions. No problem here. I have logged out, back in, and have all 3 programs running...I'm using modifying keys all over the place! Wait a minute...let's reboot the machine and see...just a second...Oh yeah! I'm modifying, baby!

Maybe somebody out there enabled the root user, screwed up their permissions, and then complained to Adobe about it.

This IS a problem

I can verify that this IS a problem.

It doesn't affect too many people, and happens very rarely, but now and then I find that holding down shift in Photoshop does NOT cause a pen to draw in a straight line as it should. It's as if I have not pressed the key at all.

The only way out afaik is to reboot.

Becasue I have had extreme difficulty in reproducing the bug on command I can uderstand how this has taken a long time to get noticed properly.

-Nex

This problem has been around since 10.1.2

I had this problem in 10.1.2, then it went away in 10.1.3 and came back in 10.1.4 and has never left. A fix in the past was to turn on 'Full Keyboard Access' in the Keyboard preference pane. This is a temporay fix and requires a logout/login to take effect, and sometime a complete reboot. I have noticed that this 'modifier key strangeness' only happens when i connect to some SMB servers, and not all. I wonder if it depends on the version of Windows running on the box with the shared volumes and how that version of winbloz id authenticating. It sure pisses me off when it happens though, and I wish Apple would get off their collective asses and fix it.

Re:Effect or Affect?

If you're asking, affect ;)

Re:Wrong OS!

I'll bite.

Take your two button mouse. Set the second button to do... say... shift+click. Set the third button to do... option+click. Now, try using a contextual menu in Illustrator.

'But wait... you could assign both the left and right buttons, when clicked at the same time, to pull the contextual menu,' you say.

Yeah, that's convenient. But hey, at least it keeps your other hand free for spanking the monkey while you make graphics for your so-called 'Warez' site.

huh?

distain for Slashdot.

Try a little lemon juice, I hear it can be very helpful with stubborn stains. Otherwise, you might want to start using a bib.