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Mac OS X 10.2.x Disables Modifier Keys?

Posted by pudge on from the works-for-me dept.

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.

4 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. GetCurrentModifierKeys() by calumr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  2. They're on crack by Ydna · · Score: 5, Interesting
    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.

    --

    "The great thing about multitasking is that several things can go wrong at once." -me

    1. Re:They're on crack by RalphBNumbers · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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 /.

      --
      "The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
  3. Ah, so SMB is to blame by Brendor · · Score: 5, Informative
    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.