ALT-N and ALT-E not working on Mac in 1.8

[tcab]

The shortcut keys for "New Preview Mode" ALT-N and also ALT-E are not working on Mac. 
Am running PixInsight 1.8 on a Mac El Capitan 10.11.6

[Juan Conejero]

Those shortcuts work perfectly with a standard (with numeric keypad) keyboard. Are you using a compact Apple keyboard? The Alt key may be labelled "option" on some Apple keyboards.

[tcab]

Ha - that's exactly the Mac keyboard I am using - with the good ole fashioned wire!   
And those keys are not working for me.

See my version of PixInsight in the attached screenshot.
Am running on a powerful iMac which is running El Capitan.

The other ALT commands work OK - viz. ALT-R, ALT-P, ALT-C, ALT-Z etc.
Just ALT-N and ALT-E that do not.
I've checked for any sowtware that might be conflicting but cannot find any clues.
Those keys work ok generally, e.g. in this forum editor those key combinations generate special characters. e.g. ˜´

Perhaps someone else running on a Mac can confirm this behaviour?

[pfile]

unfortunately this bug has been around for years. i think it might resolve itself with a restart of the pixinsight application, but not sure.

i have never worried about it too much, or have assumed it was my fault, because i use sun type 6 keyboards (i am an old-school emacs user from before the time that macosx let you remap the caps lock key )

rob

[Can Poyrazoğlu]

Is there any update on this? I'm having the exact same problem. I'm trying to create a preview dynamically with Alt+N, unfortunately nothing happens when I hit Alt+N. I'm on macOS High Sierra 10.13 and PixInsight 1.08.05.1352 Ripley. I am unable to create any previews other than entering pixel coordinates/width/height in non-dynamic preview creation window.

(By the way, I restarted PixInsight but the problem still persists even directly after launching PixInsight)

[Violetblue]

Is there any update on this? I'm having the exact same problem. I'm trying to create a preview dynamically with Alt+N, unfortunately nothing happens when I hit Alt+N. I'm on macOS High Sierra 10.13 and PixInsight 1.08.05.1352 Ripley. I am unable to create any previews other than entering pixel coordinates/width/height in non-dynamic preview creation window.

(By the way, I restarted PixInsight but the problem still persists even directly after launching PixInsight)

The same thing is happening to me as well. I've tried it on 3 different machines with different keyboards. I've tried restarting and still no help.

[Juan Conejero]

I cannot reproduce this. Alt+N and Alt+E work without problems on two iMac machines I have at hand now. You must have these key combinations assigned to other tasks, or you may be using a reduced keyboard where the Alt key does not work normally. We only support the standard keyboard with numeric keypad.

By the way, you don't need Alt+N to create a new preview interactively. Just click the New Preview Mode icon on the tool bar, or select Image > Mode > New Preview from the main menu, or from the image context menu.

[Can Poyrazoğlu]

I cannot reproduce this. Alt+N and Alt+E work without problems on two iMac machines I have at hand now. You must have these key combinations assigned to other tasks, or you may be using a reduced keyboard where the Alt key does not work normally. We only support the standard keyboard with numeric keypad.

By the way, you don't need Alt+N to create a new preview interactively. Just click the New Preview Mode icon on the tool bar, or select Image > Mode > New Preview from the main menu, or from the image context menu.

Hello Juan,

Is there any possibility that you can try it with a MacBook Pro? I don't have access to an iMac and the bug persists on MacBook Pro (tried both alt keys of the keyboard, it's the same). If I recall correctly, it also used to happen on some previous versions on my previous MacBook Pro too.

Thanks for the tip. I can verify that I can create previews dynamically using the New Preview Mode from the menu/toolbar, so the problem is isolated into keyboard shortcut only (which I can also confirm is assigned to Alt+N).

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Can,

No, I don't have MacBook machines. Currently we only use iMac machines to build and test PixInsight. To prevent future misunderstandings, I'll modify the System Requirements page on our website to indicate that we only support standard Apple keyboards (with numeric keypad) for PixInsight 1.8.5.

[Violetblue]

Hi Can,

No, I don't have MacBook machines. Currently we only use iMac machines to build and test PixInsight. To prevent future misunderstandings, I'll modify the System Requirements page on our website to indicate that we only support standard Apple keyboards (with numeric keypad) for PixInsight 1.8.5.

I have a new Macbook Pro and ALT-N doesn't work if this helps.

[tdgm]

I also am having the same problem as mentioned but I also can not drag and drop anything when I updated to 1.8. I am using a Mac Book Pro witha bluetooth keyboard. It also does not work with built in keyboard as well. Never used alt-N before updated but drag and drop did work.


Steve Herrman

[wornish]

Rather than make it clear on the system requirements why not try and develop a work around.    Wireless keyboards have been available for Macs for years now and in fact are standard.

[oecheverri]

I found I can get the keyboard shortcuts to work (ALT-N) and (ALT-E) if I hold the Fn key while pushing alt ie (Fn+ALT-N) FN+ALT-E).  Ran into this totally by accident but am relieved as it was a huge frustration not having access to these keys!

[JayS_CT]

So I'm new to PI.. and saw this thread from a Google post.  I cannot get a simple F12 key to work (turn stretch on and off) on Macbook Pro 15" Retina (with Sierra).  I have keyboard option checked in preferences to use those keys as standard function keys.  I hit F12 and see no change.  I've found some other key combinations not working. Does a full function wired keyboard have to be attached?

[pfile]

should be command-A to compute and apply an STF and control-s to toggle the STF on OS X
 
rob