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 dochost,

    dochost dochost Feb 9, 2016 9:08 AM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 9, 2016 9:08 AM in response to MattyRay

    I got my MBA mid 2012 causing the exact same issues with the W,S,2 and Tab keys.

     

    also very random, i found that if I tilt the laptop very slightly they being to work for a while and then stop again. so I thought that I had some dirt under the keys.

     

    I followed some youtube video on how to extract the keys to clean under neath but there was nothing there.

     

    super weird. I hope Apple will realize they have a manufacturing defect and will allow us to replace the keyboard under extended warranty or some sort of recall as my apple care expired about two months ago i'm now stuck with this or have to pony up $200 for inspection not to mention to cost of fixing it

  • by simpalsimon,

    simpalsimon simpalsimon Feb 9, 2016 12:55 PM in response to dochost
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 9, 2016 12:55 PM in response to dochost

    I have the exact same issue. MBA mid 2012. S, W, 2, and Tab work sporadically.

     

    They also seem to suffer from the problem slightly less if I tilt or hold up the MBA. If, however, I set it down, the problem seems to return quickly.

     

    My apple care also ran out recently, o we're kinda ****** (that s failed to register as oonas I set down my laptop! Ha! There it i again! Come on..)

     

    Anyway, I'm probably going to take it into the Apple Store and ee what they can do.

     

    The S key is the biggest problem.

  • by IAmNotAMachine,

    IAmNotAMachine IAmNotAMachine Feb 9, 2016 1:18 PM in response to simpalsimon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 9, 2016 1:18 PM in response to simpalsimon

    Took my computer to the Apple Store Sunday. Diagnostics found no hardware faults. The tech found no signs of the battery swelling. The battery as it gets old and close to the end of its life can build up CO2 and swell/bulge and cause problems including sporadic keyboard problems.

     

    Talked the situation over with the tech and she said in her experience most often the upper case is bad, the upper case being part of the keyboard. I asked about the cost to replace the upper case and was quoted $174 and change. I left the unit to get a new upper case installed. 3 to 5 days ETA.

     

    While I asked for the old hardware Apple policity is to keep this.

     

    Looking forward to getting my MBP back in a few days with a fully functional keyboard.

  • by zegypt,

    zegypt zegypt Feb 10, 2016 4:05 PM in response to IAmNotAMachine
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2016 4:05 PM in response to IAmNotAMachine

    l would guess that there is nothing wrong with your upper case.  It is a software issue. I erased my computer and had the Apple Store return the OS to Yosemite from El Capitan and didn't upload all of my 3rd party apps.  NOT A SINGLE ISSUE WITH THE KEYBOARD IN OVER A WEEK.  

     

    I would say that is conclusive evidence that it's a software issue with most of you who are experiencing keys not functioning assuming you haven't spilt anyone on the keyboard.

  • by IAmNotAMachine,

    IAmNotAMachine IAmNotAMachine Feb 10, 2016 5:12 PM in response to zegypt
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 10, 2016 5:12 PM in response to zegypt

    While some users could be having software problems, I do not think that is the case with my machine. But still every user should take the time to eliminate this possibility.

     

    My MBP machine is very bare bones. I use it for email and some online forum activity. I have installed no other Apple or 3rd party applications on the machine. It has what software it shipped with and that's all.

     

    Evein though I have no 3rd party applications I do use the machine a lot enough to wear out several key tops. Thus I suspect in my computer's case it is the case, well, the upper case. I might add  while my MBP is in the shop I have gone back to using my Thinkpad some (I'm using my iPad Mini with a Bluetooth keyboard at the office to write this) and its space bar is acting up. I forgot about this. But the Thinkpad is going on 10 years old and has been used quite a lot and as a result quite a few of the key tops are worn out on it. I wear out keyboards.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Feb 12, 2016 3:21 PM in response to IAmNotAMachine
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 12, 2016 3:21 PM in response to IAmNotAMachine

    "Diagnostics found no hardware faults."

    Yes, I wouldn't expect either Apple hardware test would find a keyboard trace failure.

     

    "Talked the situation over with the tech and she said in her experience most often the upper case is bad, the upper case being part of the keyboard.

    I asked about the cost to replace the upper case and was quoted $174 and change."

    Yup, Apple is not going to go to the trouble of replacing just the flex keyboard. These can be had for as cheap as $20 but from China or $33.11 for the 13" from Michigan:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Keyboard-with-Flex-Assembly-For-Apple-Macboo k-Pro-13-A1278-/121555358622?hash=item1c4d43939e:g:14sAAOSwUuFWueUO

    It's a pain to do because in the Unibody, everything!, has to come out of the computer. Then there are about 50 tiny screws (Don't hold me to that number, they're really hard to count!):

    Keyboard attachment screws small .jpg

    that have to come out, then everything goes back together. I have done about 5 now. I also recommend using only new parts because I used a used one and it developed an "S" key failure. Like "ssssssss" and had to be replaced.

  • by DaveGarratt,

    DaveGarratt DaveGarratt Feb 16, 2016 6:46 PM in response to spudnuty
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Feb 16, 2016 6:46 PM in response to spudnuty

    I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) and have intermittent problems with the "r" key. It's usually worse just after boot up when it's cold then slowly improves. I tried cleaing with air duster and that didn't fix it. I also created a new clean user account and logged in with that but the same problem appears. This leans me to thinks it's hardware rather than software. If I lean on the button it generally works but its very tempremental. It's not been subject to any knocks or spills. I am using a apple bluetooth keyboard now and that works perfectly. Looks like a trip to the apple store this weekend. Not been the best of machines this one as it was only a few months back they had to replace the screen which was starting to de-laminate around the edges,

  • by Six7Six7,

    Six7Six7 Six7Six7 Feb 16, 2016 7:24 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 16, 2016 7:24 PM in response to MattyRay

    Spring 2011 Macbook Pro. Same problems as many of you, intermittent loss of random keys.

     

    Mine are the R, T, U, I, and O keys.

     

    Sitting with the Macbook on my lap at a slight angle seems to cause it every time.

     

    No amount of pushing or bending seems to help. Keys stop working and start working at will.

     

    I just tried unplugging the MagSafe Power cord it seemed to fix the problem. But then the issue returned several minutes later. I just had the logic board replaced about a year ago, so there's really no reason that there should be any sort of issue at this point. But it continues.

     

    I don't feel like paying several hundred dollars to keep this running every single year especially when I paid so much for it to begin with. Apple really needs to address this.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Feb 16, 2016 11:01 PM in response to DaveGarratt
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 16, 2016 11:01 PM in response to DaveGarratt

    I had a problem as noted above with a single "s" key. It would fire untouched repeatedly and also keep firing after being pressed. Like ssssssssss. Took the keyboard membranes apart and found this:

    S contactor failure.jpg

    There is an identical pad on the front trace and when the membrane is pressed the key activates. Not sure if it's resistive or capacitive but see that tiny hair in the lower right? That's what was causing the problem. Replaced the flex keyboard and the problem went away. 2nd time I'd done that but the first time I used a used keyboard but never again. It seems like a tiny hair that found it's way between the keyboard membranes.

  • by johnadel88,

    johnadel88 johnadel88 Feb 18, 2016 3:04 PM in response to MattyRay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 3:04 PM in response to MattyRay

    Try this, i think it will fix it

    And here’s the fix that worked for me:

    1. Go to System Preferences (you can get there from Mission Control, or the top left Apple icon on your screen, and then click System Preferences.
    2. Go to Keyboard.
    3. Go to the Input Sources tab.
    4. Click the + button (bottom left of window).
    5. Add a new keyboard (preferably of a similar language).  We had British running originally, so we added U.S. below it (i.e. you should now have 2 keyboards in the list).
    6. Your “broken” keys should now be working again (try with glee in an open text edit window, or similar).
    7. Feel free to remove your newly added keyboard (i.e. you should just be left with your original keyboard), as the fix should still work.  You can do this by selecting the newly added keyboard and clicking the button to remove.

  • by fredfromal,

    fredfromal fredfromal Feb 18, 2016 3:07 PM in response to johnadel88
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 3:07 PM in response to johnadel88

    That was a short lived solution for me. I also found that deleting and replicating a US or British keyboard slowly degraded the temporary fix.

  • by fredfromal,

    fredfromal fredfromal Feb 18, 2016 3:15 PM in response to fredfromal
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 3:15 PM in response to fredfromal

    I've decided to get the "top case replacement" done because I can't get anything done without plugging in an external keyboard. That's shown some issues too. Now that I've had this monstrosity sitting on top of my laptop for a few day, I've experienced a number of "disconnects"'. The solution has been to disconnect the keyboard and either quit and restart the browser or do a full restart.

     

    I'll post an update after I get it back. Wish me luck, because based on all of the posts, nothing's guaranteed.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Feb 18, 2016 3:50 PM in response to fredfromal
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 18, 2016 3:50 PM in response to fredfromal

    Sorry to see that this problem is continuing for you.

    "I can't get anything done without plugging in an external keyboard. That's shown some issues too. "

    So that's problematic in that it points to another problem that's not hardware related.

    It might help to know the exact model, year and OS you're running.

    "I've decided to get the "top case replacement" done"

    Not so sure I'd do that before exhausting all other possibilities. How long ago did this problem appear?

  • by IAmNotAMachine,

    IAmNotAMachine IAmNotAMachine Feb 18, 2016 4:47 PM in response to fredfromal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 4:47 PM in response to fredfromal

    Re top case replacement..

     

    Be prepared to wait.

     

    When I dropped off my computer on the 7th, I was told there was a new top case in stock and the wait would be 3 to 5 days. After 5 days with no word I got  online to check the repair status. Progressing or something like that. Not too long after I checked I got a phone call from the Apple Store lettinig me know the in stock top case was defective, incorrectly machined or something to that effect, and did not fit. Another one was ordered.

     

    I just checked today and  the repair is still progressing...

     

    Tokay makes it 11 days since I dropped the unit off. I'm a bit disppointed at the time this is taking.

  • by fredfromal,

    fredfromal fredfromal Feb 20, 2016 11:15 AM in response to spudnuty
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 20, 2016 11:15 AM in response to spudnuty

    The issues started showing up about 18 months ago (give or take). At first it was a rare and transitional issue, then got progressively worse over time. I can't pinpoint the "start" date for sure, but after reading all of the posts correlating OS updates to the issues, it remains plausible. Per another of my posts after installing the most recent OS update, the keyboard tanked. T,Y,U,I and O (Try typing any sentence that does not use those letters and you'll quickly understand what level of frustration I faced).

     

    One of the software related things that recently caught my attention was a discussion regarding potential cycling of the processors to keep temps down and fan noise to a minimum, that has now supposedly been integrated within the OS and regulated by the computer "profile" commands. T or F, I have no real evidence. I believe the newest processors do incorporate a Boost Cycle (2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor w/Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz). Just another plausible hunch.

     

    Wonder if IAmNotaMachince can advise on the Apple quoted cost to replace the upper case, regardless of the wait time.

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