Macintosh users sometimes need to hold snag keys at startup to redirect the boot process into Open Firmware, to boot from CD-ROM, etc. However, fingers held stationary on any key during TouchStream power-up are invisible to the sensors.

Snag Key Circling

Our solution is to circle the desired TouchStream key with a fingertip at startup, rather than hold a finger stationary on the key. For best results:

1. Before touching the surface, first wait for the Mac power-up chime (which should come about 5 seconds after you hit the power button).
2. Circle the desired key (see table below) a few times during the power-up chime.
3. Lift your finger off the surface and wait for the desired Mac boot screen to appear. You don't need to keep circling while waiting for the boot screen to appear.

You can also zig-zag your finger back and forth across the desired surface key rather than circle it, if you find that easier.

NOTE: You'll need to upgrade your TouchStream to Firmware v1.30 or higher for key circling to work. Firmware v1.30 only enables boot snag keys on TouchStream MacNTouch and Touchstream LP/ST models that are less than 1 year old.

Key Circling invokes Symbol Pad Macros

Some of the multi-key Snag sequences are quite tricky to perform on a mechanical keyboard, but with Snag Key circling you don't have to worry about holding down multiple keys. These multi-key sequences are pre-programmed into MyGesture Editor SymbolPad macros for the surface keys shown below. Just circle the surface key indicated in the table below and the entire snag sequence will be sustained automatically.

If you need to modify these or create additional snag sequences, just select a surface key in the MyGesture Editor, select the SymbolPad event filter and edit the key list.