MattyRay

Q: Random Keys Working Sporadically

I have a MacBook Pro OSX, that I bought about 4 years ago. It has worked PERFECTLY for me. Until now. What is happening is at RANDOM times and for RANDOM lengths, a few keys (t,y,u,i,o) will STOP working. It is totally random and there seems to be no pattern to it at all - they simply will work, and the stop, and then work again (as you can see, they are working NOW). I brought it in to the local computer shop (Best Buy) and they did a hardware analysis to see if the keyboard was broken. It came back and said the keyboard was functioning fine. I don't know what to do at this point?? I've read about the battery perhaps swelling up and causing this, but IDK...ANY help would be GREAT!!!!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Mar 10, 2014 1:32 PM

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Q: Random Keys Working Sporadically

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  • by Gypsycreative,

    Gypsycreative Gypsycreative May 27, 2014 11:49 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 27, 2014 11:49 PM in response to MattyRay

    Exact same problem here. With me, it's the middle row from A to L. If I press down hard and repeatedly they work. Then they don't. Then they do again. I'm struggling to type this out now.

     

    Early 2011 15" Macbook Pro. Odd that all these similar machines should suddenly have this issue.

  • by Farnk1,

    Farnk1 Farnk1 May 29, 2014 5:25 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2014 5:25 AM in response to MattyRay

    I have the same problem with my 13" MBA mid 2011.

    Letters q to t do not work. It's funny that the user AndreiX with the same MBA has the problem in the same row of letters.

  • by MrT2,

    MrT2 MrT2 Jun 1, 2014 6:16 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 1, 2014 6:16 AM in response to MattyRay

    I have a Macbook Pro 15" early 2011. At first, the E would give me trouble/would sometimes (not) register. Just a couple of days ago other keys (r, t, y, u, i, o) sometimes have problems registering. Pressing harder is not a solution. Keep pressing them often does work, sometimes within 5 seconds, sometimes up to 10 seconds, sometimes not at all. And a random period later (often a couple of minutes) the non-responsive keys work (for a while) again...

     

    I have done SMC and PRAM resets. Taken off the back-cover and removing and re-inserting the keyboard flat cable. None of the action solves the problem.

     

    This machine has already given me more problems ("monday model"?). Several keys have worn off (like: you can't make out whether it is an a, d etc). I had it looked at by Geniuses and resellers. Best i get is "we have never seen this before" and one time "maybe it's something in your sweat". Not: "We are an A-brand, this is not supposed to happen, you paid a premium price for this product, we will replace it free".

     

    I had the misfortune of having it make a nasty fall once: that will ensure that every malfunction will be tight to that fall :-(. A couple of months after the incident a yellowish discoloration started to appear in the left lower side of the screen. Found others on the Net with similar problems. The display was replaced (although they said it might be related to the fall and i really needed to talk a lot to reason it was months after the fall this started and i read about similar problems).

     

    A year later, after returning from holiday, i opened up my Macbook: battery had died, had to buy a new battery and was told it was a known (?) problem that when you totally drain the battery, it may die (really? 2011 A brand tech?). Only a couple of months later the screen stopped making any sense (unreadable, also at boot): brought it to a service store, and i had to pay for a mother board replacement. And now the keyboard :-( ...

  • by MartinB162,

    MartinB162 MartinB162 Jun 6, 2014 4:27 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 6, 2014 4:27 AM in response to MattyRay

    Same problem for me! (macbook air 13" 2011) q till o are not working very well. The problem started just with the letter w but soon it began to spread out on the other keys. After several software attempts (fresh insall of mac os; Pram; SMC) I opened the macbook to see if there is any dirt inside. I cleand the whole keyboard (which was very hard to reach) with alcohol and reassembled it, but unfortunalty it still has the same problem. Some times the keys work and sometimes they dont.


    Has anybody brouht it to the genius bar? What did they say about it?

     

    Actually, I am a bit disappointed right now. I would not have expect such a problem after 3 years. I also have a lenovo think pad which is 5 years old which has no problem at all (except of the battery).

  • by kevinfromsarasota,

    kevinfromsarasota kevinfromsarasota Jun 13, 2014 6:30 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 13, 2014 6:30 PM in response to MattyRay

    This problem started happening for me today.  Only the top row, from e to o.  Completely random, no liquids.  The MBP service guide wasn't helpful - listed the usual stuff like try known good OS, updates, replace top case, etc etc.

     

    Anyway your comment about the swelling battery interested me, so I tried unplugging the power adapter, then they started working again.  Then after a few minutes they stopped.  So I plugged it back in and they started working again.  Keys haven't broken since - YET.  I have no idea what being plugged in has to do with the keys, but it's worked for me so far!  Try it!

  • by cristi_tulcea,

    cristi_tulcea cristi_tulcea Jul 12, 2014 12:21 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 12, 2014 12:21 PM in response to MattyRay

    So what did you do guys about this? Yesterday started to happen to me as well, mbp late 2011, letters from r...o randomly not working. i noticed if i get them to work and play only with them and then i press 'e' they start not to work again. also if i keep a nonworking key longer it appears after a while. for now i followed the advice to remove the power and seems to work, but there's a long time ahead...

    This problem is incredible.

  • by Kcurtis123,

    Kcurtis123 Kcurtis123 Jul 13, 2014 10:39 PM in response to cristi_tulcea
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 13, 2014 10:39 PM in response to cristi_tulcea

    Exact same problem here (Late 2011 MBP), has been happening for around a month and getting continually worse. I am now unable to use keys E through O, although before it got worse I was sometimes able to repeatedly hit the key and/or hold it down to get them to work again for a few minutes.  No random spills or anything has changed since this has started.  I can only find replacements on places like Ebay, and the comments sound like the replacements aren't the best. Not to mention how long it takes to disassemble and replace the keyboard alone.  Short of going to my nearest Apple store 1.5 hours away and paying for a repair (likely charging me for a 250$ top case and lord only knows how much for labor), I am lost.  I can't believe so many similar systems just recently started having this issue.  Has anyone figured anything out, or can we get something other than a referral to the support article? I am very unhappy about this.

  • by kevinfromsarasota,

    kevinfromsarasota kevinfromsarasota Jul 18, 2014 6:47 AM in response to Kcurtis123
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 18, 2014 6:47 AM in response to Kcurtis123

    I figured out the problem.  I booted up into a known-good OS on a flash drive and plugged in an external keyboard.  No problems.  Then tried to  type on the top row of the Macbook's keyboard - didn't work.  Issue detected:  the top case.  -Fail horn-  Even though I hadn't spilled anything in it, sometimes those top cases go bad for whatever reason.

     

    So if you're having this problem:  plug in an external keyboard, boot into a clean copy of OS, and try it again.  If you can type on the external keyboard but not your computer's, it's the top case. 

  • by cristi_tulcea,

    cristi_tulcea cristi_tulcea Jul 25, 2014 12:59 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 25, 2014 12:59 AM in response to MattyRay

    What has the OS to do with this? You yourself say that it doesn't

    I'm probably the only one without an external keyboard so i'm left in frustration, i'll go to a service and let you know what they say.

    If you start typing like crazy 'tiryutioryuortiuyoitreuyoitruyoitreuyit' when is not working is starting to work again for a moment or more, it's really random, but the key 'e' is many times like a trigger to the problem, i made a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCtyUGWCTSQ

  • by Wojnar1,

    Wojnar1 Wojnar1 Jul 28, 2014 1:23 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 28, 2014 1:23 AM in response to MattyRay

    Same story here. MBP Late 2011.

  • by iCulture,

    iCulture iCulture Jul 29, 2014 12:56 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 29, 2014 12:56 PM in response to MattyRay

    This issue comes and goes a lot for me over recent weeks. May be the warm weather. However, have just found that turning off the keyboard under-key lighting helps, after a little delay.

  • by wbonx,

    wbonx wbonx Aug 27, 2014 8:02 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2014 8:02 AM in response to MattyRay

    Same issue here..... keys between E and O stopped working, I'm using now an external keyboard. Applying pressure on the sides of the laptpp or center of the keyboard makes the keyboard work again, so it is a wiring problem.

    Since we all experience the same issue means this is a manufacturing problem.

     

    I googled and seems a majority of people are experiencing this same issue.

     

    We should evaluate starting a class action together with the same people experiencing mother board relate (graphic card) problems on the mbp 2011, probably there is a whole stock of mbp with defects in the manufacturing of their mother boards.

    Consider that every user that writes here there are 100s with the same issue.

     

    Best regards,

    Water

  • by iCulture,

    iCulture iCulture Aug 27, 2014 9:16 AM in response to wbonx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2014 9:16 AM in response to wbonx

    Definitely a heat-related problem. Now that it's turning to autumn my keyboard works better in the cooler weather. When it does give grief, I put an Apple wireless keyboard right over the faulty keyboard and keep typing. It cost €69, which was a lot cheaper than the alternative of trying to get the macbook repaired. Frustrating, but a work-around.

  • by wbonx,

    wbonx wbonx Aug 27, 2014 10:38 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2014 10:38 AM in response to MattyRay

    Hi Iculture,

     

    thanks for the reply, I already checked, it is not a heat related problem, I was until now in vacation with a clima of 2 degree... same problem. I also tried with a fan and ice.

    Anyway, pressing around the keys makes a difference so it is a defect in the manufacturing. Thus I really don't care how much is an USB external key, mac are expensive, I expect a decent quality and them to last.

     

    Best,

    Walter

  • by MrT2,

    MrT2 MrT2 Aug 27, 2014 11:19 AM in response to wbonx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2014 11:19 AM in response to wbonx

    I have an early 2011 MBP, now with 10.9.4. I had the battery dead after arriving back from holiday (was told this could happen when your battery runs empty > was surprised to hear this, hard to believe), had the screen replaced due to discolouration on the edges, had the motherboard replaced after suddenly the screen was completely garbled and never showed a normal picture again, have the problem with the screen sometimes not waking up after sleep, had the problems with the q...p-row keyboard row ... and never does Apple admit there is a problem, you find many similar complaints ... i used to be an Apple fan (not fanboy), but this (and other) recent experiences (A brand, A price, C service) have turned me into someone saying to friends not to buy Apple... Over time almost all components got replaced, all paid by me/my employer :-(. If i would have known...

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