FULL DISCLOSURE: This has been cross posted from discussion.apple.com
Good Day,
We have a number of iPads (Air 2) mounted inside of custom aluminium enclosures at several locations. The iPads are plugged into a third-party charger with multiple USB ports so that we can use a single 120V AC plug to connect both the iPad and it's accompanying credit card reader to the same power source. The iPads are used for our customers to sign up for our loyalty program.
The problem we are encountering is that at some locations the on-screen keyboard does not work reliably - frequently it either does not register a tap or produces multiple letters on one tap. It happens at least once (often several times) every time a customer signs up and it is very frustrating for them to try to sign up.
Some things that appear to correct the problem are unplugging the iPad and cc reader from the power source or using your hand to touch the back of the iPad. Neither of these are permanent solutions and aren't acceptable for our use. Since not all iPads exhibit this problem, something must differentiate between the working iPads and malfunctioning ones.
Things we have tested:
- Changing settings in the iPad (from brightness to input settings). No settings appear to be correlated with the tapping problem.
- Using different apps. Tapping problems occur regardless of application.
- Removing the iPad from the aluminum enclosure. The tapping problem still occurred.
- Replacing the malfunctioning iPad with a tested one. The new iPad simply 'inherits' the old one's problems.
- Completely replacing the iPad, charger, and cc reader. Same story as above.
- Exchanging third-party charger with official Apple charger. iPad still exhibits same problem, just with reduced frequency.
- Different users. Problem still occurs regardless of user.
- Disconnecting only the iPad or the cc reader. If either of them are plugged in, the tapping problem occurs, meaning it "goes through" the audio cable connecting the cc reader to the iPad.
- Using a metal cable to connect the rear of the iPad to a grounded object. This seems to have no effect.
- Using a power conditioner or UPS between the iPad and power source. This just reduces the frequency of problems.
The power source appears to be important, since that's the only common factor with all malfunctioning iPads. Unplugging them always fixes the issue, but we need a solution that will work in a kiosk. If there is any other information you require please don't hesitate to ask. Any suggestions or recommendations will be very valuable.
Thank you!
EDIT FOR UPDATES/BUMP: We're still unable to resolve this problem, but we've researched additional posts that are similar to our problem:
- Very Similar Issue - This thread seems to have ended just when a breakthrough was made on the problem, but no conclusion was reached.
- Similar But Bad Resolve - Here user walk0080 offered a solution we had already tried, and didn't solve it for others.
I have to provide links from Apple Discussions since there is little on the StackExchange websites that have any information on this. There is more available out there however I cannot post more than two links without more reputation.
