arduino keyboard does not release cause freeze - arduino

Question

When I upload this script, my normal keyboard is not usable anymore and I think the right alt key is stuck in, even if I unplug the arduino the problem is still there.
The goal of this is to have a push to talk pedal for teamspeak. I was able to get around the problem using another script that passes itself as a controller but this causes other issues with games since they think I am using a controller all of a sudden.
From what I understand, this code should loop, while the pin is active, it should simulate the right alt key being pressed. When it is done it should release all key pressed by the script. It is hard to debug this since whenever I upload it I have to spend 10 minutes to be able to use my keyboard again.
Any help would be appreciated. Extra info, I am using the arduino leonardo.
#include <Keyboard.h>
void setup() {
// Initialize Button Pins
Keyboard.begin();
pinMode(9, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
void loop() {
Keyboard.releaseAll();
while (digitalRead(9) == HIGH) {
Keyboard.press(KEY_RIGHT_ALT);
delay(500);
}
delay(500);
Keyboard.releaseAll();
// wait for new window to open:
}

Answer 1

Note: without the actual hardware at my disposal for some tests, it is hard to know what is going wrong, so I'll try to review your code looking for possible point of failures.
According to the docs, press() functions as if a key were pressed and held down on the keyboard.
According to these other docs, INPUT_PULLUP effectively inverts the behavior of the INPUT mode, where HIGH means the sensor is off, and LOW means the sensor is on.
Therefore, a simple modification would be:
#include <Keyboard.h>
void setup() {
// Initialize Button Pins
Keyboard.begin();
pinMode(9, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
void loop() {
static bool pressed = false;
// does the pedal close the circuit with GND?
if (digitalRead(9) == HIGH) { // no
if (pressed) {
Keyboard.release(KEY_RIGHT_ALT);
pressed = false;
}
} else { // yes
if (!pressed) {
Keyboard.press(KEY_RIGHT_ALT);
pressed = true;
}
}
delay(500); // waste time
}
Does this code display the same issues?