Q: MacPro is Damaging USB Keyboards or Poor Build Quality?
I've had 2 Apple wired extended USB keyboards suddenly stop working properly, both lasted approximately 4 months before becoming defective. I'm now onto my 3rd replacement which currently in transit.
Initially I tried reseting SMC, PRAM, swapping USB ports etc. to no avail.
I run a dual-boot Bootcamp system and the issue occurs in MS Windows as well. I have an Apple Wireless Keyboard for another device and this works fine with the MacPro. Given the above and the replacement keyboard worked perfectly (albeit for a limited amount of time) it clearly indicates that there is a recurring hardware fault.
3 Primary Scenarios
1. MacPro doesn't recognise keyboard on boot, so I can't enter a password. Multiple reboots sometimes resolves this.
2. Incorrect and random keys are output. E.g. pressing 'i' may not display anything, yet pressed repeatedly it could print '8Iiop_IUOP{log' verified via on-screen keyboard.
3. Random characters appear on the screen without any HCI. Sometimes the help menu pops up repeatedly.
Is it possible that the MacPro USB port is somehow damaging USB keyboards? Apple Support staff claim keyboard problems are extremely rare, yet I'm onto my 3rd in under 6 months. Has anyone else experienced an issue with MacPro USB devices?
Hardware
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro6,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5
Processor Speed: 3.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 10 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Boot ROM Version: MP61.0116.B15
SMC Version (system): 2.20f18
Illumination Version: 1.4a6
Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)
Posted on Sep 20, 2015 5:26 AM