When I type a colon using the right shift key, it works normally, but when I try typing a colon using the left shift key, nothing happens (nothing types). Sometimes, I can type a colon by first, pressing the left shift and semicolon/colon keys together then releasing them, then clicking only the semicolon/colon key again, but this works only intermitterntly. Both shift keys work normally for typing upper case letters. Neither shift key works for typing a pipe (vertical line). This problem started recently. All was normal with the keyboard not long ago. Any ideas? I exoerimented with different sticky key settings and keyboard layouts, and rebooting, but no fix. I am running Linux Mint 14 with Mate desktop on an Acer Aspire.

Hi,

Do you get the same thing when you change to a different keyboard? If not then it's the keyboard.