Karabiner-Elements: Karabiner Elements not working on Monterey

I have upgraded to Monterey and Karabiner Elements is no longer working. Everything seems to be running find but keys are simply not remapped at all.

Mac OS Version: 12.1 Karabiner Elements version: 14.3.0

What I tried:

Completely uninstalled and reinstalled Karabiner Elements, approving the security alert on install
Tried both simple and complex modifications
Tried a different keyboard
Checked all permissions in Privacy and Security (see below)

I couldn’t find anything useful/alarming in the logs either. Attached below

[2022-01-17 08:56:47.353] [info] [grabber] virtual_hid_device_service_client_ virtual_hid_keyboard_ready_response: true
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.372] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.378] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.379] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.387] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.390] [info] [grabber] caps lock is found on USB DEVICE
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.390] [info] [grabber] USB DEVICE (device_id:4294970539) is grabbed.
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.390] [info] [grabber] caps_lock_led_state_manager is started: USB DEVICE
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.391] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.391] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.393] [info] [grabber] caps lock is found on USB Receiver
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.393] [info] [grabber] USB DEVICE (device_id:4294970535) is grabbed.
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.394] [info] [grabber] caps_lock_led_state_manager is started: USB DEVICE
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.394] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.394] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.395] [info] [grabber] USB Receiver (device_id:4294969628) is grabbed.
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.395] [info] [grabber] caps_lock_led_state_manager is started: USB Receiver
[2022-01-17 08:56:47.395] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-17 08:56:49.380] [info] [grabber] hid_event_system_monitor set_caps_lock_delay_override for pqrs.org:Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDKeyboard

About this issue

Original URL
State: open
Created 2 years ago
Reactions: 7
Comments: 15

Most upvoted comments

My issue was that karabiner_grabber needed full disk access because I have my configuration folder symlinked.

0x3333 on Mar 25, 2022

I am having the same issue for my Intel - 2019 MacBook Pro 16".

nicholasRenninger on Jan 24, 2022

My issue was that karabiner_grabber needed full disk access because I have my configuration folder symlinked.

I also encountered dropbox symlink problem. This actually solved it.

willbchang on Jan 9, 2023

Same 2018 MacBook Pro 15 Monterey 12.1 Karabiner 14.3.0

Log says it failed to open karabiner.json but all modifications seem in place once I open the app.

I’ve deleted all modifications and added a simple default modification of disabling the Cmd + H command, but it doesn’t work. Neither do any other modifications.

The one thing that changed was I was using Mackup to update settings, then updated Dropbox to the beta which moved the folder and messed up some permissions.

On restart, allot of apps were asking for elevated permissions.

However, I’ve copied the files over so they are no longer symlinked, so not sure what the issue is here.

MacBook-Pro-2:karabiner dan$ ls -lh
total 40
drwx------@  3 dan  staff    96B  3 Apr  2020 assets
drwx------@ 16 dan  staff   512B 28 Jan 16:03 automatic_backups
-rw-------@  1 dan  staff   8.0K 28 Jan 16:13 karabiner.json
-rw-------@  1 dan  staff   8.1K  6 May  2020 karabiner.json.backup

2022-01-28 16:18:31.243] [info] [observer] Karabiner DriverKit VirtualHIDKeyboard 1.6.0 (device_id:4294969869) is observed.
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.255] [error] [grabber] failed to open /Users/dan/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.255] [info] [grabber] core_configuration is updated.
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.258] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] create_virtual_hid_keyboard_io_service_client
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.258] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] io_service_client::async_start
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.259] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] driver_version_ is changed: std::nullopt
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.259] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_keyboard_ready_ is changed: std::nullopt
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.260] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (keyboard) client is added (size: 1)
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.260] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.263] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] driver_version_ is changed: 10600
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.263] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] io_service_client::opened
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.263] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] io_service_client::async_virtual_hid_keyboard_initialize
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.283] [info] [observer] device_id:4294969869 is terminated.
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.287] [info] [observer] rescan devices...
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.287] [info] [observer] matching device:
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.287] [info] [observer]   registry_entry_id: 4294969882
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.287] [info] [observer]   manufacturer: pqrs.org
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.287] [info] [observer]   product: Karabiner DriverKit VirtualHIDKeyboard 1.6.0
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.288] [info] [observer]   vendor_id: 5824
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.288] [info] [observer]   product_id: 10203
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.288] [info] [observer]   location_id: 0x0
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.288] [info] [observer]   serial_number: pqrs.org:Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDKeyboard
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.290] [info] [grabber] hid_event_system_monitor set_caps_lock_delay_override for pqrs.org:Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDKeyboard
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.313] [info] [observer]   is_keyboard: true
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.351] [info] [observer]   is_pointing_device: false
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.364] [info] [observer] rescan devices...
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.387] [info] [observer] Karabiner DriverKit VirtualHIDKeyboard 1.6.0 (device_id:4294969882) is observed.
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.405] [info] [console_user_server] Check for updates...
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.679] [info] [grabber] `system_preferences` is updated.
[2022-01-28 16:18:31.915] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_keyboard_ready_ is changed: true
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.362] [warning] [grabber] virtual_hid_keyboard is not ready. Please wait for a while.
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.363] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.375] [info] [grabber] caps lock is found on Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.377] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.421] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.678] [info] [grabber] virtual_hid_device_service_client_ virtual_hid_keyboard_ready_response: true
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.683] [info] [grabber] Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad (device_id:4294968948) is grabbed.
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.683] [info] [grabber] caps_lock_led_state_manager is started: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.683] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.687] [info] [grabber] TouchBarUserDevice (device_id:4294969280) is grabbed.
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.687] [info] [grabber] caps_lock_led_state_manager is started: TouchBarUserDevice
[2022-01-28 16:18:32.687] [info] [virtual_hid_device_service] virtual_hid_device_service_clients_manager (pointing) client is removed (size: 0)

dnordberg on Jan 28, 2022

@dnordberg can confirm that it’s caused by the mackup+dropbox integration. I was able to fix it by removing the file link, removing the ~/.config/karabiner folder, and reinstalling karabiner. Not sure what was the exact issue but that did the trick

Alex-Just on Feb 12, 2022