Neo Alphasmart - Weird Dvorak Problem

[Vivian]

I'm not sure this is the appropriate forum for this question, since it deals with reading devices rather than writing devices, but since I'm already a member of this forum, I figure I'll give it a shot.

I have a Neo Alphasmart which I bought used. I have it set to Dvorak format, and when I try to use the Delete key, it produces W's rather than deleting. Not very useful. I know it's specifically the Dvorak format that's the problem, because when I switch back into QWERTY, the delete key works fine.

It's hard to believe nobody before me has had this problem, but I haven't found anything relevant in an Internet search.

I tried emailing the company, and got a response saying that they don't support that device anymore, but I should make sure I'm typing the comma key if I want a W. Because, you know, customer support people seldom actually read the emails they receive. Soooo annoying!

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for it?

[Vivian]

Eventually, somebody else at Renaissance Learning with more of a clue started responding to me, and suggested a factory reset. That didn't work, so she then said she thought there could be a problem with the control panel, and I should try reinstalling it, through Neo Manager.

I didn't already have Neo Manager, so I had to download the installation files from renaissance.com. Even though they're no longer supporting the Neo, the software and manuals are still available on the web page.

I installed and ran it, plugged the Neo into the computer, and installed Control Panel via the SmartApplets tab. Once it was done, I turned on the Neo, typed some stuff, and tried to delete it with the Delete key, and... it worked! No w's.

So here is the fix in case anyone else runs into this problem.