Can only type numbers

[Mr Anders]

I've searched for this issue in other posts with no luck, so forgive me if this problem has been answered 5000 times and I missed it.

Whenever I try to play a DOS game, whether on DOSBOX or in WinXP, I can only type numbers. That is, whichever key I press, the game will interpret it as a digit. Furthermore, I can only type the digits in order (1234567890123 etc). If I use shift I can type !@#$%^&*(). For some of the games it's not a big problem, but it makes most of them unplayable.

And no, I have never experienced this issue outside of DOS games - my computer keyboard normally works fine. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Lulu_Jane]

Silly question, but do you have numlock enabled?

[Wicky]

Does this also happen outside the game, ie. when you just start Dosbox and see just the command prompt?

[Eagle of Fire]

It is impossible to help you without more information.

BTW, it really sound like a problem on your side... I've never heard of such a thing. What kind of keyboard do you use? You might be using one which is simply not backward compatible with old software.

[Dave]

Don't know but maybe you can check the DosBox keymapper (Pressing CTRL + F1 inside dosbox) and the respective tutorial of DosBox 0.74.
You may find useful info.

http://www.dosbox.com/DOSBoxManual.html#KeyMapper

[Ohne Mitleid]

... If I use shift I can type !@#$%^&*(). For some of the games it's not a big problem, but it makes most of them unplayable...Come to think of it, this has happened to me before, but only within DosBox after playing a particular game (I don't remember which game). When being brought back to the DosBox command prompt, some of the special characters (referenced in your post as " @#$%^&*()") didn't display correctly. This was simply solved by exiting and restarting DosBox.

Also, I don't recall having played a game that required those characters for either gameplay or text input. It just seems a little odd to me.

It is impossible to help you without more information.This is too true.

@Mr Anders: Unless you could provide a specific game or recount the circumstances when/how this occurred, everyone can only suggest "guess" solutions to a problem that seems to be quite unique.

[barracuda_1]

maybe check your config.sys of dosbox;

check http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/numlock.html

or if you are working on a notebook check your FN lock

[The Fifth Horseman]

DOSBox doesn't have a config.sys equivalent.

[Mr Anders]

I guess this isn't a common problem then. Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. Here's some more specific information per your questions:

Yes, typing into the DOSBOX command prompt is also only numbers.

To be clear, it's not mapping each key to a certain number. The typed number will always be the NEXT digit in sequence, or the related symbol if I hold shift/capslock. I can still use the arrow keys correctly, however.

I'm using the keyboard built into a lenovo ideapad.

I'm not a computer expert, but I'm pretty sure that this is unrelated to NumLock or Fn.

Here are a couple of examples. I haven't tried to play too many games yet for reasons which are hopefully evident.

Advanced Civilization - when I play it in XP, the keyboard works normally fior a little while, usually 10-30 mins, after which I can only type the numbers in order. The game is still playable because you only use the keyboard to name save games. In DOSBOX I can only type the numbers from the beginning.

King's Bounty - in XP I can type exactly one letter correctly, which selects a character or loads a game. Since this is a keyboard-only game, its unplayable in this state. DOSBOX doesn't even give me that first keystroke correctly.

Railroad Tycoon/1830; same issue, only can type numbers. 1830 is barely playable if I am careful.

Let me know if there's anything I'm forgetting. I'm trying to articulate the problem as best I can. Again, this has never come up in any other aspect of using my computer.

[Wicky]

This sounds similar like a program recognizing the shift-key pressed as if you'd like to type 123 when it reads !"§ on screen.
If that happens then you are in problems deep, on the other hand, DosBox is a stand-alone executable that has it's own keyboard driver. If downloading the newest DosBox and forfeiting all previous configs should not help, then I would not exclude the possibilty that you are infected with a trojan/keylogger. Reinstall Windows and install DoxBos in first place to see if the problem is fixed and then drop me a line.

[Eagle of Fire]

I would also advise in trying using an older keyboard to see if the problem solve itself. You seem to be using a specialized keyboard which might not be backward compatible.

[Lulu_Jane]

I have the same laptop as you, I'll give King's Bounty a go later tonight/tomorrow and see what happens.

[Eagle of Fire]

Hummm... I didn't realize you were talking about a laptop.

In such a case, I still think trying a real keyboard might help. They sell USB keyboards all over the place now, and you can plug that in a laptop no problem.

If you can test this out and you still have the same problem then we will know that the problem is driver based.

[Ohne Mitleid]

Railroad Tycoon/1830; same issue, only can type numbers. 1830 is barely playable if I am careful.
Ummm... as far as I can tell (having worked on the crack for this myself) this game is mouse driven. You cannot type numbers in to rename the character at the beginning of the game... this much is true. The crack for the copy protection only requires pressing the Enter key for all screens presented. This is only a requirement for the first time you play the game on whichever system it was installed. The information relating to this is posted at the bottom of the Review for the game and also in the ReadMe.Txt file within the game archive posted on site.

Another possibility exists since your operating system is XP. This would have to do with the Ease of Accessibility "features" of XP, mainly Sticky Keys and Filter Keys interfering with the game's performance. This would probably involve having those functions active and the alert warning messages for their automatic activation turned off, but who knows? Just another possibility.

[The Fifth Horseman]

After the issue begins to occur in DOSBox, check if it also happens in Windows then.

I'd say you should shut down any extraneous processes running in the background and try again. If that still doesn't help, run a malware scan. No malware? Update your keyboard/motherboard drivers.

[Unregistered Dustin]

I have been running DOSBox for awhile now with no problems on Windows 7. I wanted to play Ultimate Doom that I had installed on my computer a long time ago but it wouldn't run in Windows 7 so I tried to download an emulator to run it and that's when I first noticed it. I tried mapping my own keys but every key I press just puts in a number and it's always in sequence 0 through 9. I then tried to run DOSBox and it does the same thing... I have deleted the emulator but it still doesn't work.

[Unregistered Dustin2]

Nevermind that last post, I ran an anti-malware program and removed one infected file and now everything works perfectly

[SibbyDibby]

I've been having the same issue using a Lenovo G555 and that's how I came across your post. My keyboard's fine for everything except when I get into dos editor mode. Typing commands @ the prompt - no worries, but as soon as I type 'edit' and that other section comes up where a file can be created in DOS text editor mode - all hell breaks loose. I recently discovered that's the reason I'm not able to do what I want in NFS Shift 2 Unleashed.