After many searches that result in almost as many methods, I'm still stuck here.

I've tried reading $ff, the scnkey kernel routine, reading the cia directly, etc...

Any help guys?

I'm guessing you may be using a Commodore 64, but you should keep in mind that if you include essential information like the computer you're using you'll probably get better answers.

After calling SCNKEY, which scans the keyboard but does not return anything, try calling GETIN to get the key that was scanned.

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Curt J. Sampson - github.com/0cjs

If you are using a Commodore 64, as long as the C64's interrupt service routine is running, SCNKEY is performed by the ISR.
All you need to do is call GETIN at $FFE4.
GETIN returns zero in the accumulator if no key has been pressed so you may want to run a loop that calls GETIN until a non zero value is returned.

Thanks guys. And yes... C64. Sorry about not mentioning it.