Physical keyboard not working after custom ISO install

[tired-it]

I made a custom ISO (Windows 11 22H2) for testing purposes a few months ago and succeeded with a slimmed down image that ran well. Recently I wanted to incorporate the recent cumulative updates as well as tweak a few more settings via registry to create an updated ISO (Windows 11 23H2).

The updated ISO boots and installs fine, but the physical keyboard does not seem to work. If I reinstall the original ISO, the keyboard works. I have been trying to rule out what caused the issue, but I'm running out of ideas. Perhaps someone here has an idea?

The process for making the ISO is as follows:

1. Clean Windows ISO downloaded from Microsoft.
2. Latest cumulative updates applied. Process image, then reload it.
3. Remove components. Process, then reload.
   1. I also attempted a lighter removal that is reflected in a 'v2' file.
4. Add drivers. Process, then reload.
   1. Drivers were exported from an updated, working PC using a command. Just like with the original ISO, I added all of them into NTLite. Only 1 or 2 drivers had updated since the last time I did this.
5. Change settings via NTLite and registry files. Process, then reload.
   1. I recently added registry settings to disable CoPilot and remove its associated button. Several other unrelated tweaks were added too.
6. Add post-setup commands and files. Process, then reload.
7. Modify unattended settings. Process, then reload.

I actually have a preset saved for each step to streamline the process. The only modifications that I recall making to the new ISO versus the original were the registry tweaks and the newly added cumulative files. I have attached the related presets and registry files.

Edit 1: Might have finally found the potential goof up. I think the registry keys for turning off the filter keys were incorrect or interfering with the keyboard. I heard a beep when typing. Managed to get to the device manager using the touch screen keyboard. No errors there. Turning off the sound for filter keys in settings got the physical keyboard to type correctly. Will try to report back once I narrow it down.

 

[Hellbovine]

In the registry, some of the more volatile keys are presented as "Flags" and "Hex" data. The problem with those tweaks, is that their values can manipulate multiple settings at once, hidden behind these masks, so improper values can easily break things. In addition, these keys are often tied into other companion keys that rely on each other.

If it were me, I would try installing a default Windows and use a regcompare tool to snapshot the suspect keys to more easily find the culprit. You may learn that things aren't working as intended, because a companion key isn't tweaked correctly at this time.

While looking for the filter key you mentioned, I did notice that you have a minor conflict on the "Allow the shortcut key to start Filter Keys" setting, which sets a flag of 122, then immediately sets a flag of 127, overwriting the previous. One of those should be commented out or deleted, but won't be the problem. However, general errors like these could be the culprit here, so I'd just sift through all the stuff you added before the problem appeared and check for issues of this nature.

 

[Hellbovine]

Also, I don't think any of the CloudStore keys work, and may be a problem. Have you checked on a custom install to see if they are set as intended? The previous consensus (link1, link2) was that these keys can't be integrated into the image, else they either break things or don't take effect at all, and need to be moved into post-setup (user) for them to work properly. Maybe this changed in newer builds though.

 

[Hellbovine]

I had time to do some more quick checks and found additional issues. There are 2 values called, TaskbarDa and TaskbarMn which are surrounded in smart quotes, and offhand I believe that causes an error and the keys won't apply. I would have to test that further, but the other concern is what happens when integration reaches that error, it might abort the remaining tweaks or install them incorrectly. It's also possible the smart quotes don't hurt anything, but since we have previous threads that discuss unexpected characters in reg files causing problems, I would fix this regardless.

There is also a total of 1667 quote marks between all these reg files, which means one of those guys may be missing a partner. I'm not on a device I can do this for you, but using find/replace expressions you can probably locate this easily, or with syntax highlighting in an editing program. Like before, the big concern is what happens when this error is encountered, and how Windows handles the remaining tweaks below it.

 

[tired-it]

Also, I don't think any of the CloudStore keys work, and may be a problem. Have you checked on a custom install to see if they are set as intended? The previous consensus (link1, link2) was that these keys can't be integrated into the image, else they either break things or don't take effect at all, and need to be moved into post-setup (user) for them to work properly. Maybe this changed in newer builds though.

I've started combing through the files once again. I'll admit my eyes probably glossed over after doing this for hours last time. I do appreciate you taking the time to help!

By the CloudStore keys, are you referring to the Do not Disturb and Night Light keys? I have confirmed that they do indeed work on the target PC and nothing seems off about those settings when I checked them. The Night Light key was present in the first custom ISO I made and that one works without any issue that I can see.

 

[tired-it]

I had time to do some more quick checks and found additional issues. There are 2 values called, TaskbarDa and TaskbarMn which are surrounded in smart quotes, and offhand I believe that causes an error and the keys won't apply. I would have to test that further, but the other concern is what happens when integration reaches that error, it might abort the remaining tweaks or install them incorrectly. It's also possible the smart quotes don't hurt anything, but since we have previous threads that discuss unexpected characters in reg files causing problems, I would fix this regardless.

There is also a total of 1667 quote marks between all these reg files, which means one of those guys may be missing a partner. I'm not on a device I can do this for you, but using find/replace expressions you can probably locate this easily, or with syntax highlighting in an editing program. Like before, the big concern is what happens when this error is encountered, and how Windows handles the remaining tweaks below it.

Good catch there, I never noticed the smart quotes and am unaware if they cause any issues. So far, the other keys below them look like they took.

Additionally, those two keys with smart quotes were for turning off Chat and Widgets on the taskbar and I did not see those icons on the first logon. I checked the related taskbar settings and saw that they were indeed turned off too. So perhaps smart quotes don't cause issues? Either way I replaced them with the standard quote.

I have no idea how to find the missing quote mark without manually looking through them all, but I'll take a look. I wouldn't be surprised if I missed something haha.

Small edit: So far, in my limited experience it seems that whenever Windows encounters an incorrect registry key, it simply ignores it and moves onto the next one. Before I made a custom ISO, I was playing around with reg files and attempted to apply some files to a test PC.

I logged onto a local user account and applied a reg file that contained a mix of user and admin only keys. Only the user keys applied as expected. Granted, I did not thoroughly check every setting, but skimming through most of them seemed to confirm it.

 

[tired-it]

Guess I'll reply here for an update.

I have combed through all the reg files. Fixed a few typos and removed a few redundant settings. Also added a few safe tweaks. This time I had the test PC open next to me and I manually confirmed which keys were working. I only caught one, maybe two that did not have an effect. Nearly all of the new keys I added also worked without issue. Feels like progress.

Still couldn't find the missing quote though haha. Guess another pass is on the docket.

 

[garlin]

There was a Registry File Validator tool posted on XDA Forum, but it disappeared.
So I decided to test if offlinereg 1.0.3, which can update offline reg hives, could handle the task of checking for malformed entries.

While importing, offlinereg doesn't spit out a specific line number, or which value it barfed on, but you can approximate the bad line by looking at the last good line it accepted. Then work your way down the reg file until you see a possible error.

Here's a wrapper script which downloads/extracts a local copy of offlinereg, creates a temporary FAKE_HIVE, and tries to import every *.reg file it finds in the current folder (where the script lives).

UPDATE: I was trying to test some obvious errors, but offlinereg doesn't appear to care. Bummer.

 

[tired-it]

I appreciate the attempt. Sounds like it could have been a great debugging tool. I'll keep an eye out for anything similar. I finally have some time to parse through the files again so hopefully this time the error pops up.

 

[tired-it]

Another update! I used Notepad++ to help count the number of quotes in each file. Every single one was an even number so I suppose I must have fixed it last week while combing through everything. Going to attempt to remake the ISO with these new files and report back if the keyboard works.

 

[tired-it]

The final update! I think.. It was the filter keys registry setting alright. Setting the flag to just 127 did not work. 122 did work. The setting is successfully turned off without affecting the physical keyboard.