Anyone have issues with Logitech wireless keyboards? Strange problem!

[drnick5]

Hey folks,

I ran into a really strange issue with a new install at a client. We've been using Logitech MK270 keyboard/mouse combo for a few years now on all of our workstation installs, and they've been pretty great. However this one deployment we started having an issue where sometimes the keyboard will stop working. It seems to happen when the user is logged off or the lock screen kicks in due to inactivity, or a you go to switch user. In each case, The mouse still works fine, so its not an issue with the receiver, but the keyboard won't type anything.

To make it even more strange, when this happens, the media keys on the top still work perfectly fine! (ex. you can raise and lower volume using the keyboards button and it works) you just can't type with the keys. So it doesn't seem to be low battery, or any sort of communication issue with the keyboard and the receiver.

Each and everytime, if you unplug the receiver and plug it back in, the problem is resolved. (until it comes back)

I've checked to make sure Filter keys isn't bring turned on (its not), I was able to catch the problem on a machine this morning, and remoted in, and my keystrokes over the remote worked perfectly fine.

Also went in to device manager and made sure that the power save options on the USB root hubs are unchecked, this didn't help either.

I've tried updating drivers with no luck. First made sure its using the logitech drivers, when the problem came back, I removed those and went back to the base Microsoft drivers, but the problem still returns.

Anyone else run into something like this? I keep a slew of these keyboards in stock, so some of these were brand new, but others were ones I've had in stock. Best I can tell its happening to all of them, but seemingly random. Sometimes they'll go a few days with no problem, othertimes it will happen multiple times a day.

 

[Sky-Knight]

They do go bad... just replace it.

The only other thing I can think of is to check if the system has another USB receiver on it, it might be picking up another keyboard.

 

[drnick5]

They do go bad... just replace it.

The only other thing I can think of is to check if the system has another USB receiver on it, it might be picking up another keyboard.

These were all brand new keyboards, I'd say the "oldest" might be a few months (wasn't used, sitting new in box on the back shelf) but some were brand new.

I don't think its some sort of interference, as the computers are all fairly far away from each other, and the media keys work without issue.

 

[JoelM]

Can you try swapping units and see if it follows the KB or the computer.

 

[Sky-Knight]

These were all brand new keyboards, I'd say the "oldest" might be a few months (wasn't used, sitting new in box on the back shelf) but some were brand new.

I don't think its some sort of interference, as the computers are all fairly far away from each other, and the media keys work without issue.

New unit doesn't mean it's not defective. But I'll ditto JoelM's suggestion and swap it to another system to see if the problem follows the keyboard.

 

[drnick5]

Can you try swapping units and see if it follows the KB or the computer.

I did try swapping with a brand new keyboard mouse combo out of the box on one of the computers, and it still happened a day later.

What makes this more difficult is it happens intermittently, so I'll try something, and do a few test log offs or restarts, and its seemingly fine, til it happens again a day or a few days later.
It's also tricky as it sometimes doesn't get reported (we all know how users can be) they'll just unplug the receiver, plug it back in and go on their way without letting us know.

I ordered a few Microsoft wireless combos to swap out some of these with, just to take the keyboard make and model out of the equation. But I'm more convinced its something software based as opposed to hardware, I'm just not sure what.

If the media keys didn't work, or the mouse didn't work, it would be much easier to blame the hardware (either the receiver or the keyboard itself) I did also try turning off the keyboard via its power switch and turning it back on, which didn't help.

 

[timeshifter]

Is it just one computer and or keyboard / mouse combo doing this, or all of them?

Can you try a wired keyboard and mouse combo for a few days?

Also, have you tested the batteries? Weak batteries can do this too.

 

[nlinecomputers]

More than one PC? Same model or different units? All at same location? If this happens after waking up from sleep mode then update chipset and graphics controlers.

 

[drnick5]

More than one PC? Same model or different units? All at same location? If this happens after waking up from sleep mode then update chipset and graphics controlers.

They are all the same exact computer, (intel NUC's) with the same model keyboard and mouse. I have another identical computer here on my bench with the same model keyboard and mouse that so far I haven't been able to reproduce the issue with. It's not when waking from sleep, seems to happen more on the login screen. (either when the computer locks due to inactivity, or when a user logs out / switcher user). It sometimes happens on reboot. But none of these are reliable ways to make it happen.

I've installed probably 30 or so of these same model computer, with the same model keyboard and mouse, and haven't run into this before. The only difference I can think of is that these are using the latest Win 10 build (2004) when most of the others were on 1903 or 1909, although like I said, my test unit I have here is on 2004 and I haven't had the problem happen so far. It's almost as if it has something to do with their domain or a GPO, but I'm sort of grasping at straws with that.

I did see a bunch of threads out in the wild on this issue, but no real resolutions. The few things people recommended (like changing the driver, or making sure sticky keys isn't accidently enabled) I've tried, with no luck.

 

[drnick5]

Is it just one computer and or keyboard / mouse combo doing this, or all of them?

Can you try a wired keyboard and mouse combo for a few days?

Also, have you tested the batteries? Weak batteries can do this too.

Multiple computers are having the problem, because its so random, I can't say if its all of them, but its the bulk of them at 1 point or another.

I did try changing the batteries in one as a test, but the issue came back the next day. I don't think its a battery issue as the mouse works, and the media keys work just fine. Also the fact that unplugging the receiver, and plugging it back in gets it working again for a day or two until it crops up again. So i'm leaning more towards it being something software side, I just have no idea what.

 

[timeshifter]

May be time to call Logitech support

 

[glennd]

Don't they run on 2.4 GHz? So it's conceivable they are suffering from radio interference from some other equipment.

 

[NJW]

Don't they run on 2.4 GHz? So it's conceivable they are suffering from radio interference from some other equipment.

Most likely, imo.

Are the NUCs mounted on the back of the monitors? If so, try a short USB extension to drop the Logitech receiver just below the bottom of the monitor frame. Line of sight will give the keyboard a better chance of being louder than everything else in the room.

Another thought – how random are the Logitech pairing keys? Is it possible that there's a collision between multiple keyboard/mouse combos? (Not very likely, I suppose, but not impossible.) Try re-pairing each set.

 

[drnick5]

So an update to this.... I still have no idea what the problem is!

I replaced 3 of the keyboards with New Microsoft wireless keyboards as sort of a test to see if it was something with the logitechs or not. 2 of these computers have still had the problem come back. So at this point, I don't think Its anything with the keyboards itself, but something with Windows possibly. But the problem is so intermittent its very tough to nail down. Whats crazy is I've deployed so many of these NUC's the past year or so, and this hasn't happened before.

The only thing I can think of is it has something to do with the Windows image I created. (I set up 1 NUC, installed all drivers and software, and did a sysprep with generalize, then took an image of that and deployed it to the others) I've done this in the past with a few larger clients, and never had an issue.

Anyone else have an idea, or see anything like this before?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Event logs?

 

[drnick5]

I combed through them after having a user report the problem, but found nothing out of the ordinary that indicates theres a problem.

 

[mikeroq]

I would reload Windows fresh from USB on one of them and see if it goes away.

I had a Windows 7 Pro image years ago that I thought was fine. Until I used it for one client. They used an web based system that had some client side helper software. It would just flat out not work properly. Everything seemed OK but when you tried to do reports something went wrong (can't remember exactly what it did). I installed my image on a spare computer at the shop, installed updates, nothing else. Then installed the software and it did the same thing as it did on their computers. Reloaded fresh from ISO and installed the software and it worked just fine.

Still don't know what went wrong in my image. I had used it on tons of computers before never had any issues. I made up a new image from ISO, installed updates, sysprepped, captured. Installed it on the spare PC and installed their software and it worked just fine.

 

[drnick5]

I would reload Windows fresh from USB on one of them and see if it goes away.

I had a Windows 7 Pro image years ago that I thought was fine. Until I used it for one client. They used an web based system that had some client side helper software. It would just flat out not work properly. Everything seemed OK but when you tried to do reports something went wrong (can't remember exactly what it did). I installed my image on a spare computer at the shop, installed updates, nothing else. Then installed the software and it did the same thing as it did on their computers. Reloaded fresh from ISO and installed the software and it worked just fine.

Still don't know what went wrong in my image. I had used it on tons of computers before never had any issues. I made up a new image from ISO, installed updates, sysprepped, captured. Installed it on the spare PC and installed their software and it worked just fine.

This is what I'm REALLY trying to avoid. They have so much specialized software, a few require me to get vendors involved to reinstall. They also have 12 computers, so if I ended up doing all of them.... oof!

What's super odd, is not every computer has this problem, and the ones that do have it, could go days in between the issue cropping up. But I'm getting to the point where I'm not sure I see another option.